Ugly Betties

This isn't going to be a very empowering, gungho post about feminism, politics or witchcraft. It will probably read like a whingey, emo, teenangst blogpost that we all hate. But it's just how I am feeling at the moment.

I am not beautiful. This isn't a cry for sympathy or people to tell me "oh, but you are, blah blah blah..." It is simple honesty. Most of the time I don't really care. I know I can be beautiful, if I can be bothered to make the effort. But the basic scrubbed me is pretty much a plain jane. There should be nothing wrong with this, and like I said, most of the time I don't care. But sometimes I do.

I am fat too. I am doing something about it, not because I need to be slim, but because I want to be healthier for myself and my kids. My family's health is not great as they get older so I would rather sort it now when it is relatively easy to do. But add plain janeness and fat together and I feel like a total ugly lump.

It makes me feel a bit pathetic though, still being hung up on what I look like. It really shouldn't matter. So why does it? Why does it to me, and why does it to society? When does the mature assurance kick in and you really really don't give a fuck?

I feel like I am in a limbo some of the time. I am too old at 35 to be wearing stuff from Top Shop and the like, but my mum (54) is buying her clothes from Next and Wallis. My mum is cool, but I don't want to be dressing like my mum yet. Is that silly of me?

Okay, maybe there might be a bit of feminism in here. :P

I consider myself to be an feminist, trying to avoid falling into the traps of stereotypes of all forms, yet I don't seem able to get myself out of this one. I know I am worth more than my looks. So why is it still so important to me that I can have days where I can't bear the sight of my reflection. I wouldn't think so little of someone else, so why do I beat myself with this stick?

Answers on a postcard please...

Ban the Bunny -The House Bunny

Why there isn't a bigger fuss about this film, I have no idea. However there is an interesting article in The Guardian about it today.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/15/women

Seriously, WTF do they think they are playing at, making a film like this?

Maenad Prophecy by Starhawk

When kings wage unjust war,

When poison fills the skies,

When the rich prey on the poor,

When hope for justice dies

When a spell lies o¹er the land,

Of malice and of lies,

Then a wild and fearless band

Of women shall arise

Crazy saints, yoginis,

Peering through the gloom,

Maenads and dakinis

Witches grab your brooms!

Sweep away the stench

Sweep away the sneers!

Sweep away the clench

Of hunger and of fears

Dance to feel the passion

Dance to wake the wild,

To honor deep compassion,

For the forest and the child,

Dance to keep the Arctic cool,

To keep the jungle green,

Dance for every holy fool,

For every wound unseen.

Dance for justice, dance for peace

Dance for life to thrive,

May beauty, health and joy increase

For every being alive

Dance in love, dance in wrath,

For chains to fall apart,

Dance to choose a better path,

Dance for strength of heart,

All across the nation,

Bankers quail and glower,

Cracked is the foundation

Of the bastions of power

Strong walls crumble,

Kings face their final hour,

An angry earth shall rumble,

Down shall fall the Tower.

And through its stones shall weave the roots

Of a living tree

That offers us its shining fruits

Of truth and liberty

Fruit to fill each empty hand

With sweet gifts of the earth

Dance to heal this bleeding land--

A new world comes to birth.

Pro Choice does not equal Pro Abortion

I am completely, fundamentally, utterly Pro Choice. And I don't like abortions. But, seriously, who does? The Pro-lifers would have us believe that being Pro Choice means that we think abortion is a glorious thing, something to be celebrated. How wrong they are. I have been pregnant 3 times, but I only have 2 children. I was pregnant in Dec 06/Jan 07 and I had a miscarriage. It was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. But if, and it is a big if, I was ever in a situation where I knew that I could not cope with a pregnancy or a child for whatever reason, I would consider an abortion. I possibly wouldn't have it anyway. However the point is, that would be my choice and my choice alone.

Choosing have an abortion is probably THE most difficult decision that a woman would ever have to make in her life. I know of no-one who has ever taken the decision lightly. Abortion cannot be limited to only medical reasons, for incest or for rape. It must include the emotional reason, the financal reason, infact any reason why a woman would need an abortion. Why? Because ultimately, in my view, the lives of the living must come before the lives of the unborn. Women do not just become incubators as soon as they become pregnant. Once pregnant, personality does not step aside and the unborn foetus becomes the dominant force.

I wonder if the Pro Lifers feel that an embryo/foetus does not have a soul? Because to me, whatever is that spark of life that makes us what we are is rewoven into the universe (whether that be heaven or whatever) when it's human life ends, and it moves onto where-ever it goes next. (I personally feel that a spirit of an aborted or miscarried embryo/foetus would create itself once more in another pregnacy.) I ask because it would seem that they don't think they have a soul otherwise surely they would feel that an aborted baby would go straight back into the loving hands of God?

What a woman does with her body is none of anyone else's business. If pro-lifers don't like abortion then perhaps they should campaign for other linked issues. Health care, contraception, education, poverty, all those issues that have an impact on abortion rates. If our children were educated better, including about contraception, they wouldn't get/cause pregnancy. If poverty was abolished, then women wouldn't have to worry about raising their children. Simple things, but ones that would actually take some more effort than just lambasting women for their sexual choices.

(As an aside, I can not understand the Pro Life brigade that believe that the life of an unborn child is completely sacrosanct, yet as soon as it is born, commits a crime, than that's it, game over.)

(Second aside, other than Thou Shall Not Kill, which is conveniently ignored once you are born, there is absolutely no reference to abortion in the Bible. Check out this link to Sacred-texts.com http://www.sacred-texts.com/wmn/abib/index.htm#cnote )

Words of Power

As Witches we all know that words have Power. As Women we know words have Power. So why do so many people get irritated by the words Wimmin, Wombyns, Herstory and other words that have been created by the Feminist and Dianic movement. I will admit I did for a while, they just sounded so silly. But then I understood it, their silliness aside, it is important to have these words because they make people think. They jump out of you, and give your subconscious a nudge. They make you question the status quo, and realise that yes, History does alienate women. It is HIs Story. woMEN, etc, etc...

People that say these things have no effect, I will ask you, so NLP doesn't work then? For those that don't know, NLP is this,

NLP is about Language

Language affects how we think and respond. The very process of converting experience into language requires that we condense, distort, and summarise how we perceive the world.

NLP provides questions and patterns to make our communication more clearly understood. NLP teaches us to understand how language affects us through implicit and embedded assumptions.

The English language is full of traps and pitfalls for the unwary communicator... for example, if you are told NOT to think of a kangaroo, you will immediately think of a kangaroo, which is the opposite result from that intended!

Listen for the use of implied assumptions when you use the word "but". For example, "I like the way that you did that piece of work, but... ." The listener tends to forget everything that went before the "but", waiting for problems to emerge.

Since advertisers, the media and politicians use language to convey their messages, learning about language through NLP can increase awareness and "consumer protection" for your mind.
http://www.anlp.org/index.asp?CatName=What%20is%20NLP&CatID=32&PageID=199

Words have the power to change, to ridicule, to support, to harm, to do magick. So surely changing words that have hidden agendas is a valid exercise? Whether you like them or not.

Veh serious posting...

see more puppies

Or Not!

I just thought I would spread the puppy love. I am so puppy broody it is untrue.