Firebreathing
Every once and awhile , it is important to just cut loose and let it all out . To vent, if you will . To breathe a little fire ..
I have , recently , been gauging the conversations revolving around the issue of Women running for office and whether ‘blanket ‘ support of Women is a good idea . The discussions vary from diplomatic to civil , to friendly , to outright warefare .
Several posters and bloggers across the Pumasphere have very concrete positions onthe issue , other’s are developing , and still others are pliable if not passive . Being a Woman , and politically aware make this important discussion all the more relevant .
Rarely , however , does the surface or context of a dialogue interest me , but rather the perspective behind the individuals involved in the discussion .
There are some brilliant , informed , wicked smart and unceassingly active posters and bloggers whose ‘perspective’ I would LOVE to be able to wrap my brain around . So if you have the time , and the inclination , I would ask you to consider and respond to this one question ….
What is a Woman ?
This is not just a random , generic question . I REALLY want to know . When you think of Woman , what do you think ? If you had to describe “Woman” to an unknowing being , how would YOU describe her ?
What is “Woman ” to YOU ?
July 26, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Hey, Gabriel. Because my brain hurts from all this lively discussion going on around the blog sphere, I am going to answer off the cuff.
“Adoration” is what I think when I think of women. Seldom does this have anything to do with looks or sex. (Well, maybe a little about sex since I am a lesbian.)
The sensation of “adoration” does not normally shift for me whether women are conservative or liberal. If the adoration of women sensation shifts for me it normally has to do with my judgment of them as to how embedded they are in the patriarchy.
If I judge that a woman is unwilling to look at her degree of living and breathing the patriarchy, I loose respect. I have had to dig deep and self reflect on how I have participated in the rat race of the patriarchy and I expect them to do the same.
If they won’t then I feel as though they are abandoning all the uniqueness we share as women. I feel as though they are abandoning themselves as well and all our gift to be able to dig deep: Plunge the depths we are capable of.
Thanks for the invite and coming over to the Widdershins.
July 26, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Thank YOU .
July 26, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Hi, Gabrielsfire, I’d love to answer your question to the best of my ability, but, I’m a little too “ism-” raw (racism, sexism) at the moment to be able to do that as honestly and objectively as I’d like to. Give me a little while to “un-seethe,” so to speak, okay? We’ll probably all be better off.
July 26, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Agreed . I think we all are .. Thank you . I am incredibly interested in your perspective .
July 26, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I am interested in your question, Gabrielsfire, but I would like to know more about the parameters of the discussion.
I think it’s a given in the blogosphere that every post has both context and an agenda. By context I mean that every blog *post* and every blog *comment* arises from a person’s lifelong and immediate political-gender-religious-national-social-personal experience. And by agenda I mean that each post & comment is made to induce movement towards one or several immediate goals, such as: to persuade; to bond; to dissimulate; to collaborate; to explore; to inform; to spread propaganda; to change the direction of a conversation; to polarize; to make peace; to provoke empathy; to provoke distrust.
If there were no contexts & agendas, there’d be no blogs.
I am interested in the current conversation about the definition of feminism. I am interested in the current conversation about the power of women as an independent voting bloc. I am interested in the current conversation energizing disaffected voters.
Each act is a choice. So, another definition of context is the sum of yesterday’s choices, and another definition of agenda is one of today’s choices. To blog or not to blog? To comment or not to comment?
July 26, 2009 at 7:47 pm
LP , Good points .
In this (and probably only this ) instance my interest is to get a broader perspective on active bloggers and posters (pumas) various views of Woman .
The recent race discussions have really brought individual life experience to the forefront for me as far as collectivitity .
Pumas , some more than others , have this unique ability to enable me to embrace positions and define ideals that I had never before considered .
Individual pumas perceptions of Woman is a base . A retroactive starting point to learn and see and hear and understand .
How varrying are our views of what IS Woman ? How similar ?
Patricia Plourde said , “”The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could be.”
We have to start somewhere ….
July 26, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Thanks Gabrielsfire.
Every now & then I take a few steps back to reassess.
How much energy should be invested in a common endeavor? Should the size of the investment equate to the importance of the issues? The the urgency of the issues? Should the size of the investment be adjusted based on perceived level of integrity or goodwill? Is there someplace else where the investment might be more efficacious?
I am thinking about your question.
July 26, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Okay, here goes. I find this question extremely difficult because the simple answers belies the complexity. Basically, a woman is an adult female human being of at least childbearing age. And, while I don’t really like the poetic contemplation of the Divine She, (I think it’s overrated and most often trite) the beauty of woman for me is individuality. I mean, you might as well ask, “what is a tree? a flower, a sunset?” Each leaf, each petal, each horizon is unique, yet each species shares “treeness,” flowerness,” and “sunseticity,”in common, and one’s perception is further skewed by one’s perspective and point of view. Two women born to the same parents, raised in the same household can often be remarkably different, even if they’re identical twins. So, the question is, I think, what, besides plumbing, is the commonality of “woman?”
Not much.
While one can wax poetic about the nature of woman, her practicality, her cunning, her nurturing, loving spirit, one also doesn’t have to look very far to find women who are frivolous, stupid, selfish, and downright mean. They, too are women.
Personally, I find overt “femininity” to be a real turn-off. Put on squeaky-voiced, lacy, frilly, crinolined, pinky, giggly, girly-girl wallflowers are simply not my cup of tea. I find strength of character, sassiness, competence, and confidence to be incredibly sexy, however. But, by the same token, both stereotypes are women.
Personally, I’d rather explore that which makes each woman unique and special than to try to reduce the reality of womanhood to a single element. In the context of PUMA perspective, I find it impossible to compare Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin, for example. They are almost polar opposites, a fact which both women seem to accept, both rejecting any attempt to lump or bring them together. Rightly so, in my opinion, too. Other than the rather superficial, like, they’re both mothers, politicians, female, etc.; they simply don’t have much else in common. Nor do say, Condoleeza Rice and Maxine Waters. And, even though you’d have to say they all meet the competent, confident, sometimes even sassy (especially Sarah and Maxine) standard, I probably wouldn’t date any one of them.
What do I think of when I think of woman? I rarely do think in those terms. When I think of “mother,” I think of my own, a strong, confident, competent, practical, sexy woman. But, it would never occur to me to think of her as being representative of all women I’ve ever met, and, though some might disagree, I don’t think I’ve ever dated anybody that could be considered any more similar to her than the other women I’ve named.
So, basically, I’ve used a lot of words to say that to me, a woman is an adult female human being of at least childbearing age.
July 26, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Thank you , Cinnie . I had a feeling you would give me some thought provoking insights and , as always , you did not disappoint .
July 27, 2009 at 3:55 am
I’ve given your question some thought, Gabrielsfire. Here’s my answer -
If I had to describe Woman to an unknowing being … I think of the question in terms of an archetype. And immediately the image of my own mother comes to mind:
Good-hearted.
Fun loving.
Nurturing.
Having faults.
Unfailing.
Courageous.
Vulnerable.
Self-sacrificing.
Honest and affirming of her own needs.
Generous to a fault.
Sexual.
Soft.
Strong.
Honest.
What I see in this list of attributes is two dimensions – Relationship and Self-affirmation. I realize that these are the human values scorecards I unconsciously keep.
This is my own personal definition of Woman.
And, I would have a different if the question were about Women vs Woman.
July 27, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I think this is a tough question at this time- so many women have been for so long cut in two. Never allowed to be themselves really and perhaps either not wanting to or not feeling able to find out.
What is a women is too hard for a women to determine for so many reasons not the least of which because she is told from the day of her birth what she is not ! She is sold what she is by others BUT truely it is never what she really is so she is told and therefore sold a lie of what she is not – so how is she ever to really know what is woman?
In over 61 years I have been told what a woman is from birth and never once have i agreed! I guess then I would said a woman is nothing like what the world thinks- but instead a wonderful loving warm kind secret unto herself- indeed to all who do not know her – it is their loss.
July 27, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Where is your spell check – my old eyes could not see- Forgive my spelling – there is not an edit for my to save myself.
August 6, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Really tough questions. So many angles…
Well, a woman is a human who either/ and/ or: has a pair of XX chromosomes; post pubescent body including brain; transgender realization or operation, etc.
Mainly, for me, a woman is someone who is perceived as a woman (physically) by the majority of society, therefore she is treated, mistreated, judged, appreciated, abused, and loved by society *as a woman*….so this means (to me) that a woman needs to negotiate through life being viewed as a woman in order to fully understand just how very much loved and detested she is based on her gender alone.
Personal politics and political party affiliation does shape one’s life and of course one’s experiences in life, but no matter what: she will be loved and/ or hated strictly because she is a woman. All women share this.
If I had to describe “woman” to an unknowing being, I would explain what a mammal is and the process of menstruation, sex, conception, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding–these basic mammalian qualities attributed to women. Later on I’d get into how women can choose not to do ALL of the above, but that in general, it is all possible for most women (just on a basic science level).
I would then describe how this land is ruled by two different genders of humans (I do not mean to leave out people who do not fit into “male” or “female”–I’m just generalizing), then I would describe man. I would explain what their sexual function is and their physicality as well.
Then I would explain that this land is dominated by the male gender, and it always has been throughout history. I’d explain that it is an unfair land, since there is a woman majority population wise, but the men hold the majority of power in politics, religion, business, media, and finance.
This would make it seem like women are stupid to the unknowing being.
How can there be more women but the men have the societal power? I’d explain that it was carefully designed that way from the beginning. Men are generally bigger and more aggressive and violent. Not only did they gain their power via physical intimidation, but also through education and deception through writings and storytelling and Books. Folktales, myths, and prophesy described superior male Gods and superior male roles as the truth. It became a tradition, this Lie…to be told and lived, through allll the years on earth.
It was only later on that women began education, and won their right to work outside of the home, and to vote, and to learn about these stories and myths and finally witness the truth of their existence and the great Lie of society. Through rallies and protests and court battles women worked so hard to tear down that ancient Lie, and every time a woman fought against the Lie…the liar-keepers stormed them with hatred and violence and oppression, desperate to maintain their power via this failing Lie.
One of the greatest pains of all for the women was that other women believed in this Lie, not fully conscious of how powerful, deceptive, insidious, and ubiquitous this Lie was…
So the women continue to fight the Lie, and they have to protect the women, even the liar-keepers because they have not seen their truth yet.
In the future, all women will reject the Lies of the myths and Books that place them beneath man, and they will finally unite and destroy the Lie forever and be free.
August 7, 2009 at 12:31 am
Kat – “In the future, all women will reject the Lies of the myths and Books that place them beneath man, and they will finally unite and destroy the Lie forever and be free.”
_____________________
awesome . just awesome …
August 7, 2009 at 3:20 pm
A women is a being with a brain, who when she uses it can accomplish most anything.
A women is the being who teaches the future generations.
A women has the capacity for love, and the ability to show it
A women during hard times can endure and keep on striving for better.
A wise women will bring out the best in others and work with others to make things better for all.
A woman can stand on her own if she has to, but is smart enough to depend on another when she needs to do so.
There are many more things that define a women, but these are what I can think of now
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
August 8, 2009 at 2:17 am
I hope a woman is also someone who is prepared to stand up and fight for her country? We are going to have to! The president is unleashing Union thugs on citizens as he did during the primaries and the elections in order to supress the people. He is telling them we the people are an angry mob of paid lunatics and sending his union mobs out to put us down.
Woman had better show she is ready – willing and able to stand up for her country- herself and her countryman/woman while we still have a voice.
If the Iranian woman can stand before Dictators and bullets- can we do less?
Join me Monday night – let’s discuss what to do?
The Angry Mob are not paid we are citizen RIDsNow- COMMENTS?
http://freemenow.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/the-angry-mob-are-not-paid-we-are-citizen-ridsnow/#comment-6183