I recently had a comment on one of my posts regarding my position on Feminism and was asked if I myself was a feminist. I thought I would take my commenter up on their suggestion that I should do this as a blog post, so here you go Marie Benoit :)
No. I do not consider myself a feminist. I read the article you linked me to and my stance remains. While I can agree on **some** topic within the feminist movement (such as equality for women), I have to say I do NOT agree with all areas. For one thing, I find most feminists are ALWAYS against men, and I think that's unfair. They feel that all the problems in this world stem from men and men alone...that men are the reason for wars, poverty, subversion and oppression towards women and the cause of ALL negative acts due to religion. This is an unfair assumption towards men. Sure, there are perhaps SOME men who are related to these types of problems in this world but those problems are NOT all the fault of men, as there have been many women who are just as guilty for creating such worldly problems.
For another thing, many feminists put themselves (and thusly all women) on some kind of pedistal, thinking that women ARE better than men simply because they decided to no longer allow men to dictate their role in the world (to be barefoot and pregnant). These types of feminists take things to a whole new extreme...that when women decide that they WANT to be stay-at-home-mom's they're looked down on as though they allowed their men to push them into a life of subversion, meanwhile the choice was completely theirs.
What does all this have to do with Wicca and Paganism you might ask...well the article I was linked to was on how Wicca is "dangerous" to women. That it creates women who are illogical and incapable of thinking like men. If that isn't a sexist comment...women who practice Wicca ARE just as logical and DON"T need a religion to determine their place in the world...women CHOOSE to follow it because it brings them a sense of spiritual fulfillment!
Though this article was written by a women, I think she's very naive, in my personal opinion. Being a "Manga' writer, does she not see how women are portrayed in many such writings? Perhaps in HER writings they're portrayed in more ways than a sex symbol, but in many of the Manga and other such things **I** have seen, women have always been portrayed in the same way...big breasted, blond, with a teeny-weeny little waist if not a teeny-weeny little skirt (see below for a link to images linked to "Manga") If that isn't a stereotype and sexist attitude that feminists shouldn't be up in arms about, then I don't know what is.
As for Wicca being harmful to women, I couldn't see how that's entirely possible. For one thing Wicca is seen as a women's religion. You'd think many feminists would be happy to see a religion geared towards women, but you'd be wrong. Most people misunderstand that Wicca is only for women, whereas Wicca stresses equality of men and women. As for creating a naive attitude in women that is not logical...far from it. I'm a Witch (not a Wiccan), but I think I'm far more logical now (after originally being a part of Wicca for a few years) than I was when I was Catholic. I cannot shut off my logical mind. If it doesn't make sense to me, then I don't agree with it, and that's my perogative. I hold great respect for the scientific community and it's discoveries. And also know that much of what is practiced within the spirituality of Wicca and other Pagan belief systems HAVE been scientifically verified (however many wish to deny it). The fact that energy manipulation CAN have an effect on oneself and others; that stones and plants carry vibrations that can be beneficial in healing ailments and illness...these are all things people have known for centuries. Sorry to say though that some cannot accept this as "scientifically based" simply because it wasn't featured in the latest issue of "Journal of American Medicine" or other sciency magazine.
I really have no problems with women seeking equality in a world that is now patriarchal...but we forget that our world once DID have a matriarchal society and we were just as bad off. Feminism can be ok, so long as people don't try to make it into another extreme...as it would come off in this article.
Article: http://www.skepticnorth.com/2011/05/wiccans-and-mystical-women-how-new-age-is-secretly-bad-for-feminism/
**Manga Imagery Link
Thank you for your response! I was actually surprised you don't consider yourself a feminist, I'm not exactly sure why. I agree with you the writer of this article was very naive on the subject of Wicca not to mention feminism since she said some very sexist and untrue things on the topic of feminism. I agree females can be portrayed very sexually in manga not to mention the infantilization of women/girls in manga/anime.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I would just like to say as a feminist and a Wiccan that feminists don't put themselves on a pedestal and think they are above men, what they strive for is equality not superiority. There are a lot of harmful stereotypes on feminism you harbour some of them but its understandable because they are so widespread and accepted as fact when nothing could be further from the truth.
Some matriarchal societies did have a better equality of life. The Mi'kmaq had a matriarchal society and were healthy, intelligent people with a vibrant culture until colonization (not that they aren't now but assimilation had negative effects on their health and traditional knowledge), I think the same is true for other native groups in North America also.
I want to recommend the book Feminism is for Everyone by Bell Hooks and the Ms. Magazine blog.
http://msmagazine.com/blog/
I hope you check them out and thanks again for giving your opinion no matter what people think.
I was wondering also if you could give your opinion on these issues.
-Commercialization of Paganism and "new age" spirituality.
This is something I noticed a lot when I first started taking an interest in Wicca there are a lot of useless books written by authors who become rich off them and really are writing ignorance and fluff (cough cough Ravenwolf), not to mention so many web-stores selling Pagan related stuff I even had a book called Faery Magick I forget who it was by but I was confused for a while by it because it recommended so much stuff you do not really need an sometimes I feel there is too much of a belief that there is power in the tools when really they are symbolism of the power within yourself and in nature. How can we fight commercialism in Wicca and other minority Pagan religions and make sure it stays rooted in our beliefs and not the stuff we "need" for ritual?
-Interest of native African religions in the West.
Have you noticed the growing interest of indigenous African spirituality in the West? How it is sometimes "watered down" and labeled under new age? What is your take on this? Do you think it is wrong to appropriate cultures we know little about and are very different from our own?
http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738706269
-Llywellyn for spirituality books.
There are so many views on this book company but I have heard some Pagans say to never bother with their books because they are mostly fluff best left avoided. Looking on their site it seems mostly commercial and fluff but also some well written books like Scott Cunningham.
-What is shamanic witchcraft and how is it different from witchcraft? I have heard the term and it confuses me.
You misread, and that happens with a lot of people. You will note that in my writings I don't paint people with the same broad brush...when I discuss a group, say feminists in this instance, I refer to most or some...I never say all because I don't believe in being naive, and understand that not ALL think this way. If you were to re-look at my post, you will see I said "MOST" feminists (not all) will always think this way. I'm not so naive as to assume that ALL feminists believe they are on a pedestal...but the loudest ones gain the most attention. Just the same, not all matriarchal societies were brutal, but some were. Again, not paining with the same broad brush. I don't do that.
ReplyDeleteI may have some previous posts discussing my view on the commercialization of paganism, however not in so many words. I believe I have made reference to authors like Silver Ravenwolf and their hinderance to the Wiccan world, but maybe I will do another post directly discussing Pagan Commercialism.
I have not actually noticed any rise in African spirituality, probably because it isn't really a topic of interest to me. I'm not of African descent, so much of the spirituality I tend to not involve myself in (much of what I believe and practice stem from ancestral interest).
I also think that many people who look down upon Llwelleyn publishing do so because of Llwelleyn's association with fluff writers like Ravenwolf, however much of the dislike and defamation is unfair to them. Personally I think that people should fire their ammo at the author, not the publisher...that's like shooting the messenger.
Thank you for your comments and I'll take your suggestions under consideration.
Ma'iingan
Thanks! Great to hear your opinion and now I am going to search to see if you wrote something on Pagan commercialization since I haven't been on here in a while!
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