Tawanda!
Dalt is home and things are back to normal.
The kids start school soon and I still don't have a job. I was thinking about going back to school to become a teacher so Dalt and I could have summers and holidays off together. Three years of school seems like an insurmountable mountain, but at 43, I need to finally do something practical with my life. I guess.
My mom came for a visit, and all that entails, while Dalt was gone. I wrote a little about it in my column for the MCN site.
I recently read Erica Jong's "Seducing the Demon: Writing For My Life." Her politics almost stopped me from reading it in the first few pages, but her writing tips and encounters with men kept me going through to the end. It appealed to my inner feminist, which isn't a ranting, man-bashing, women-are-superior being. It's more like something big inside of me that relates to my sisters and our shared experiences that are not often spoken out loud.
Erica's book challenged me, and awakened me, to the possibility of being honest in my writing. I didn't even realize I had painted myself into a corner by trying to fit what I have to say into a tiny, neat little package that would be pleasing, polite and acceptable to all. No wonder I can't figure out what to write.
Now what to do with this revelation?
I have always felt a connection to women and a desire to tap into the consciousness of girls so they can realize their self worth, to stand up for themselves, to get mad as hell when it's appropriate.
My own experience has been that there are certain behaviors that are tolerated. It's just the way things are. Every woman I know has been subject to the same conditioning, or a variation of it. The relative that cops an innapropriate feel, the date that went way too far, the teacher or mentor who crossed a line that shoudn't have been crossed. "It's just the way things are," "Don't worry about it," "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Surely we did something that either caused it to happen or excuses the perpetrator. Let's just not talk about it.
You know what? Let's do.
The kids start school soon and I still don't have a job. I was thinking about going back to school to become a teacher so Dalt and I could have summers and holidays off together. Three years of school seems like an insurmountable mountain, but at 43, I need to finally do something practical with my life. I guess.
My mom came for a visit, and all that entails, while Dalt was gone. I wrote a little about it in my column for the MCN site.
I recently read Erica Jong's "Seducing the Demon: Writing For My Life." Her politics almost stopped me from reading it in the first few pages, but her writing tips and encounters with men kept me going through to the end. It appealed to my inner feminist, which isn't a ranting, man-bashing, women-are-superior being. It's more like something big inside of me that relates to my sisters and our shared experiences that are not often spoken out loud.
Erica's book challenged me, and awakened me, to the possibility of being honest in my writing. I didn't even realize I had painted myself into a corner by trying to fit what I have to say into a tiny, neat little package that would be pleasing, polite and acceptable to all. No wonder I can't figure out what to write.
Now what to do with this revelation?
I have always felt a connection to women and a desire to tap into the consciousness of girls so they can realize their self worth, to stand up for themselves, to get mad as hell when it's appropriate.
My own experience has been that there are certain behaviors that are tolerated. It's just the way things are. Every woman I know has been subject to the same conditioning, or a variation of it. The relative that cops an innapropriate feel, the date that went way too far, the teacher or mentor who crossed a line that shoudn't have been crossed. "It's just the way things are," "Don't worry about it," "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Surely we did something that either caused it to happen or excuses the perpetrator. Let's just not talk about it.
You know what? Let's do.
posted by Cas at 10:35 AM
2 Comments:
bravo!!!!
You go girl! Your writing as always been an inspiration to me. I love reading your stories and your musings and whatever else you have to say. You have a gift my friend!
Post a Comment
<< Home