Theos-Talk Archives (July 1998 Message tt00031)

Pam Giese wrote:
> by pregnancy and chilbirth) was abstinance or celibacy.  Even in our modern
> culture, birthing and raising children  binds a woman economically to a man
> (if she accepts the responsibility. There are exceptions of course, but
> statistically women who "go it alone" pay the price economically).  Actually, Pam, I disagree with you here.  It would be very interesting to see the statistics on the economic success of mothers who had either never been conjoined with a male or who had left a man who was keeping her and the kids in poverty!

Feminism
> and "equal sharing" of child rearing and household maintenance duties are
> new things.
I again disagree.  This culturally accepted state of affairs is
relatively recent and is prevalent only in warring tribes and societies
that follow the laws of ownership of property.

> It's also only been in the last 100 years or so that
> unless a woman came from a wealthy family, her only hope of learning to read
> or be educated was to seek admittance to a religious order.
Once again, I posit that any woman of any economic situation in any time
could educate herself or find education "in letters". It was recognition
and acceptance that was not forthcoming.  But what loss?  When it was
obviously necessary to burn women who had knowledge that mere letters
could never provide, what great gain these letters?

Generally, I
> think women are more able to channel chthonic energies than men and the ebb
> and flow of those energies are hard for men to deal with.  One of the
> reasons many women find Wicca and neo-paganism attractive is that the
> emphasis on the moon and earth cycles are verified by our own bodies, thus
> it's easy to assimilate the "as above so below" rhythm.
Oh Pam, I wish this was so.  Then I could feel a little bit normal and
feminine :)

IMHO, men have all the same rhythms and capabilities as women.  What
frustrates me is how they chose to shut it off and try to create a world
in which it is of no significance or import.
Appreciate your thought provoking comments.
Annette