"Its not you, it's the system." - every generation of women. (voice over: "but their words were not recorded or shared. Leaving the next generation to wake up to the same realization on their own")
I'm 76. I was in the 5th grade when I had the epiphany that boys were NOT smarter than girls! Everything up until that moment had taught me that boys were. 🙄
Recently I read an article about men's activities vs women's. Jobs, education, etc. Evidently once 60% of something is done by women, men no longer consider that activity masculine, but rather women's and that activity/occupation suffers loss of prestige, pay, and respect. The article explained how doctors and veterinarians and those institutions that taught that area of study were approaching that 60% threshold. This may explain why male college enrollment keeps decreasing and higher education is increasingly denigrated.
Then there are those occupations where men can take over, make more money, like chef, while women still languish in the "female" side of that as cooks.
And with it all, I just keep getting more militant and angry as I age.
Elaine, I also read the article you are referring to but, alas!, I can no longer find it. It was exceptional and so well researched and completely different than anyone was talking about. I will continue my quest for it b/c it comes up every once in a while in conversation and I can't correctly cite it. Oh well . . .
I just finished another semester of teaching the class Women’s Experiences in the USA. Needless to say, our discussions were influenced by the election that took place. I am emailing this Substack essay to my students as a parting gift.
This!! It's so amazing when you realize how many stories there are of women being powerful, women being strong, women not depending on men and then all we get historically is reiteration after reiteration of the virgin Mary as the ideal woman. The version of history in which women are powerful is erased again and again.
I agree with everything in this article, but if we are going to determine or try to decipher why feminism hasn't concretely taken hold in the culture in any meaningful, consistent ways, we need to address the elephant in the room, which is male violence. Its in the background whenever we are confronting sexism, whether individually or collectively, yet no one seems to know how to combat it. My question is, how will men ever give up their delusions of intellectual, moral or philosophical superiority if they are physically dominant? What leverage do women have if men are able to assert control over our bodies, and we cannot somehow physically demand equality or respect? I'm not suggesting anything, but I think we need to really examine the issue of physicality, and what is preventing women from being able to assert our value in any socially organized domain, over any period of time.
Good point- ability to physically dominate/ threat of and use of physical domination definitely factors into long term female subordination.
But it doesn’t doom us to that fate. Just because humans *can hit and kill doesn’t mean we always do. Our mindset, values and beliefs factor heavily into our actions.
The chapter in The Will to Change by bell hooks on male violence sheds some light on how men have been indoctrinated into glorifying violence for centuries (how do countries get men to willingly kill and die fighting for them? Feed them stories and glorification of heroes fighting bad guys bravely with fists, swords and guns from the time they are toddlers) This indoctrination of glorifying violence and domination coupled with not seeing women as human has been a deadly combo.
I pop out of bed to read this Substack every Sunday morning now, expecting God Our Mother to come hold me with your words. And I know that I know (in a way no individual will ever convince me out of) we’re all connected.
Healed women, heal women.
You are a healer, Celeste. And I pray these seeds of healing and resilience you faithfully plant with your work in our lives come back to you and everyone you love exceedingly, abundantly more than any of us could ask or think.
As a younger millennial, I started my own Substack to inspire change in the South Asian community. You are one of my greatest inspirations on here - I feel like every time I open one of your posts I think to myself, “Mhm yep I’ve thought of this exact same issue before.” despite us coming from completely different backgrounds! Now I’m curious about if women in my culture have articulated the same thoughts as me decades or hundreds of years ago. I’ve only come across works by men, so it currently feels like my generation is the first one to think about feminist issues. I don’t know anyone in my family who has openly challenged the patriarchal system either. This prompts me to do more research!
I’m sure there are so many women there who have challenged the patriarchal system there- the question is whether they wrote down their challenges and whether those writings were stored or preserved or spread. That’s exactly the hard part - every generation having the same thoughts but their words not written, saved, spread or shared. Good luck with you search Aliena!! And thanks for all your work - may all the women secretly thinking all the same things you are find you 🙏🏼
As a man in a privileged position, fighting the system is an important part of my purpose. Unlocking the potential in women in my organization come as showing the system, acknowledging the effects, and supporting the progress. There are days that I chafe at the words from employees asking for a promotion and have to acknowledge how important it is for women to speak up, and get to fight for their rights.
Thanks Celeste for starting this Substack. You deserve the pay for the incredible work you do, keep reminding us the value we get.
A friend who read this said, "because women marry “into” men’s families, the continuity of our bonds gets broken and restarted every generation," thus sabotaging our ability to organize together. We keep having to "figuring it out" instead of making more advanced changes.
Loved this! So true!! At a new job, in our first meeting, I was asked by my boss for an opinion on something. After I gave my opinion, a colleague disagreed with me. But he started his statement by saying, “Look, you seem like a smart woman, but I’m going to explain this to you in a way that anyone can understand…” The most amazing thing was, he didn’t even realize that was offensive!
Thank you Celeste for another great, informative piece!
The 70s also had Exponent II, the 80s and 90 s had Mormon Women's Forum and quite a few feminist writers. I hope Mormon women's history and stories are becoming better known. There's some amazing stuff in there -- as is true with so many others.
Christine de Pizan is my favorite -- I have a picture of her on my wall. I'm so glad you're spreading the word about her! I am downright angry about the British Library exhibit; I was just there in June, why couldn't they have had it then?? (The exhibit they had in June was fine, but the ones that came before and after are the ones I really wanted.)
The denigration of women is so deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness that many people - women as well as men - don’t actually realise how sexist and devaluing and in the case of women, self-denying, their thoughts, comments and actions are. Language itself is so full of female put-downs and anti female terminology, it will require a huge amount of conscious thought and action to eradicate it.
It is massive if one considers the whole world population and the deeply rooted traditions of male dominance in just about every culture. But now the time is right for the breaking down of all the old patriarchal structures - it IS happening and it can only gather momentum.
And there does seem to be a growing tide of strong female voices that will not be silenced now. Thank you so much for adding yours ❤️
I'm 76. I was in the 5th grade when I had the epiphany that boys were NOT smarter than girls! Everything up until that moment had taught me that boys were. 🙄
Recently I read an article about men's activities vs women's. Jobs, education, etc. Evidently once 60% of something is done by women, men no longer consider that activity masculine, but rather women's and that activity/occupation suffers loss of prestige, pay, and respect. The article explained how doctors and veterinarians and those institutions that taught that area of study were approaching that 60% threshold. This may explain why male college enrollment keeps decreasing and higher education is increasingly denigrated.
Then there are those occupations where men can take over, make more money, like chef, while women still languish in the "female" side of that as cooks.
And with it all, I just keep getting more militant and angry as I age.
Elaine, I also read the article you are referring to but, alas!, I can no longer find it. It was exceptional and so well researched and completely different than anyone was talking about. I will continue my quest for it b/c it comes up every once in a while in conversation and I can't correctly cite it. Oh well . . .
Here's the link to it:
https://open.substack.com/pub/celestemdavis/p/womens-history-part-1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=80k8x
Celeste Davis Oct. 6 2024
I just finished another semester of teaching the class Women’s Experiences in the USA. Needless to say, our discussions were influenced by the election that took place. I am emailing this Substack essay to my students as a parting gift.
I'm so flattered Hilarie! Thank you!
This!! It's so amazing when you realize how many stories there are of women being powerful, women being strong, women not depending on men and then all we get historically is reiteration after reiteration of the virgin Mary as the ideal woman. The version of history in which women are powerful is erased again and again.
Yes powerful women are erased or demonized as hysterical, bitchy or witchy
I agree with everything in this article, but if we are going to determine or try to decipher why feminism hasn't concretely taken hold in the culture in any meaningful, consistent ways, we need to address the elephant in the room, which is male violence. Its in the background whenever we are confronting sexism, whether individually or collectively, yet no one seems to know how to combat it. My question is, how will men ever give up their delusions of intellectual, moral or philosophical superiority if they are physically dominant? What leverage do women have if men are able to assert control over our bodies, and we cannot somehow physically demand equality or respect? I'm not suggesting anything, but I think we need to really examine the issue of physicality, and what is preventing women from being able to assert our value in any socially organized domain, over any period of time.
Good point- ability to physically dominate/ threat of and use of physical domination definitely factors into long term female subordination.
But it doesn’t doom us to that fate. Just because humans *can hit and kill doesn’t mean we always do. Our mindset, values and beliefs factor heavily into our actions.
The chapter in The Will to Change by bell hooks on male violence sheds some light on how men have been indoctrinated into glorifying violence for centuries (how do countries get men to willingly kill and die fighting for them? Feed them stories and glorification of heroes fighting bad guys bravely with fists, swords and guns from the time they are toddlers) This indoctrination of glorifying violence and domination coupled with not seeing women as human has been a deadly combo.
But indoctrination can change.
I pop out of bed to read this Substack every Sunday morning now, expecting God Our Mother to come hold me with your words. And I know that I know (in a way no individual will ever convince me out of) we’re all connected.
Healed women, heal women.
You are a healer, Celeste. And I pray these seeds of healing and resilience you faithfully plant with your work in our lives come back to you and everyone you love exceedingly, abundantly more than any of us could ask or think.
You’re too kind to me Grace thank you 🙏🏼
As a younger millennial, I started my own Substack to inspire change in the South Asian community. You are one of my greatest inspirations on here - I feel like every time I open one of your posts I think to myself, “Mhm yep I’ve thought of this exact same issue before.” despite us coming from completely different backgrounds! Now I’m curious about if women in my culture have articulated the same thoughts as me decades or hundreds of years ago. I’ve only come across works by men, so it currently feels like my generation is the first one to think about feminist issues. I don’t know anyone in my family who has openly challenged the patriarchal system either. This prompts me to do more research!
I’m sure there are so many women there who have challenged the patriarchal system there- the question is whether they wrote down their challenges and whether those writings were stored or preserved or spread. That’s exactly the hard part - every generation having the same thoughts but their words not written, saved, spread or shared. Good luck with you search Aliena!! And thanks for all your work - may all the women secretly thinking all the same things you are find you 🙏🏼
Thank you for your support 🫶🏽
As a man in a privileged position, fighting the system is an important part of my purpose. Unlocking the potential in women in my organization come as showing the system, acknowledging the effects, and supporting the progress. There are days that I chafe at the words from employees asking for a promotion and have to acknowledge how important it is for women to speak up, and get to fight for their rights.
Thanks Celeste for starting this Substack. You deserve the pay for the incredible work you do, keep reminding us the value we get.
Thank you for repeatedly being the only man showing up regularly in my comment section 👏👏👏
You are a few steps ahead of me.
Which is to say, your writings are doing for me what these previous women’s writings should have been able to do for… all of us.
This feels like progress. Is it progress? I hope it’s progress. Let’s make sure it is progress.
I hope so. Thank you Heather!
A friend who read this said, "because women marry “into” men’s families, the continuity of our bonds gets broken and restarted every generation," thus sabotaging our ability to organize together. We keep having to "figuring it out" instead of making more advanced changes.
This!!!
Loved this! So true!! At a new job, in our first meeting, I was asked by my boss for an opinion on something. After I gave my opinion, a colleague disagreed with me. But he started his statement by saying, “Look, you seem like a smart woman, but I’m going to explain this to you in a way that anyone can understand…” The most amazing thing was, he didn’t even realize that was offensive!
Thank you Celeste for another great, informative piece!
Oy the audacity and ignorance
Whoever coined the term "mansplaining" is a genius! Women everywhere should find this treatment offensive.
The 70s also had Exponent II, the 80s and 90 s had Mormon Women's Forum and quite a few feminist writers. I hope Mormon women's history and stories are becoming better known. There's some amazing stuff in there -- as is true with so many others.
Christine de Pizan is my favorite -- I have a picture of her on my wall. I'm so glad you're spreading the word about her! I am downright angry about the British Library exhibit; I was just there in June, why couldn't they have had it then?? (The exhibit they had in June was fine, but the ones that came before and after are the ones I really wanted.)
“Out of ash I rise with my red hair and I eat men like air.” Despite being held down and kept in the dark and discriminated against, women still rise.
Thank you for this. I have to say that I was gob-smacked to read the words of the man from Harvard. Harvard!!! Holee!
My jaw was on the floor researching.
Your words are poetry to embracing being a woman and knowing I have a choice. Thank you for your hours of research, it is a gift to us.
Thanks Melinda ❤️❤️❤️
The denigration of women is so deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness that many people - women as well as men - don’t actually realise how sexist and devaluing and in the case of women, self-denying, their thoughts, comments and actions are. Language itself is so full of female put-downs and anti female terminology, it will require a huge amount of conscious thought and action to eradicate it.
It is massive if one considers the whole world population and the deeply rooted traditions of male dominance in just about every culture. But now the time is right for the breaking down of all the old patriarchal structures - it IS happening and it can only gather momentum.
And there does seem to be a growing tide of strong female voices that will not be silenced now. Thank you so much for adding yours ❤️
Celeste and Ezra! I love to see it. Give them hell :)
Haha you’ll appreciate the utter blasphemy