I’ve Got My Paws Set On You – The Cougar/Cub Social Phenomenon
23 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Politics and Economics, Sexuality and Power Tags: business, cougar, cub, digital, older women, online dating, power, sex, young men
The cougar and cub social phenomenon is one that raises many inquires as well as eyebrows. What is the fascination with the cougar? The cub? Is it truly a liberating avenue for womynkind or an easy way for young boys to receive sexual gratification from older, experienced womyn? Well, one way I found out some of the answers to these incessant questions of mine was by signing up to a well-known cougar website called CougarLife. Because let’s face it, it is a way of life, isn’t it ladies? Now, my motive was primarily to conduct social research and to appease my inquisitive nature on the matter; however, I ended up having quite the multitude of random; yet gradually predictable experiences. I will address the experiences with 3 main subjects I engaged with on this particular website. The online communicative tools used, the social context and implications, and the actual physical meet-ups will be explained from a sociological and psychological perspective.
What is a cougar? A cougar is a womun who fancies younger guys. Simple definition, but to what extent? Well, according to popular cultural representations of the cougar – primarily sexual. However, I venture to say that this intersects with an emotional, mental, and perhaps spiritual need. But then again, maybe I am speaking for myself here. Most cougars are between the ages of 30-50; however this is contested. Most cougars have already done the marriage, kids, white picket fence ordeal. She is ready for something she can dominate, consume, procure, conquer. Something easy, fun, playful. What’s better than a cub? A young boy who is sexually submissive, eager, and naive. Or is he? Is she really the aggressive, mature, experienced, detached womun she is represented to be? Is he so willing to allow her to have all the power? If not, when does this relational power shift and why?
This particular website, cougarlife.com, allows you to search for cubs in your location, by preferable physical appearance, etc. Earnestly, I began my search but I didn’t have to go far before I began receiving digital gifts, flirts, and messages from premium members. Yes, the cubs have to pay to view and send messages. Naturally, I assumed this website was mostly a ‘hook-up site’ but I decided to remain blissfully optimistic, and conduct my social experiment through a social scientist magnifying lens. Before I provide an overview of my subjects, I’d like to state that I NEVER showed digital nudity of any kind. Some of them did willingly when asked, along with sending nude pictures. Submissive little creatures…
The Subjects – The Cubs:
The power of the mark
Boy #1
- 21 years of age
- Welder
- Slept with 5 or 6 girls, one being an older womun
- From a small, rural town in the states. Still lives there
- Not cultured
- Not intelligent
- Very fit and adorable
- Not interesting
- Not communicative, but willing
- Good listener
Social engagement/context:
- Texted, talked on the phone, Skyped for nearly a month
- He willingly demonstrated digital nudity on Skype when asked along with sending nude pictures via email
- Communicated about sexual matters frequently usually initiated by me (I demanded him never to initiate)
- Talked consistently of meeting up physically. Never did because he flaked at the last-minute
- We talked about family, friends, life, goals, sex, death, love and everything in between. These topics were primarily initiated by me
Brief psychological assessment of the boy:
- Lonely guy who wanted a womun to initiate and dominate because he didn’t have the self-confidence or communicative skills to do so. He was insecure about his height, and didn’t really know what he wanted, but was certain it was a ‘older womun.
- He still views my profile on CougarLife
Boy #2
- 20 years old
- Slept with 4 or 5 girls
- Mechanic
- Currently lives in a big city in the states
- Pisces
- Easy going
- Gentle
- Not intelligent
- Slightly paranoid
- Insecure
- Good listener
Social Engagement/Context
- I found him on the CougarLife website and pawed him. I asked him to email me so he did.
- Texted, talked on the phone, and Skyped for about 3 weeks
- Met up physically twice
- Talked about politics, government, sexual matters, and everything in between
- Asked him to take me to the airport when I was leaving the big city; although I had a ride. He never did.
Brief psychological assessment of the boy:
- Lonely guy once again. Took his profile off CougarLife whilst we were talking. Insecure in his communicative abilities. Looking for an older womun who would take control and ‘teach him a few things sexually.’
- He still texts me
Boy #3
- 22 years of age
- Slept with 3 girls
- Bachelors Degree
- Computer Science occupation
- Canadian
- Moderately smart in his field only
- Higher socio-economic status
- Easy going
- Seemingly content
Social engagement/context:
- Talked on the phone, texted, and video chatted for about 3 weeks
- Sent me a picture of himself when I didn’t ask (tsk, tsk) Not full nudity
- Came off as quite innocent, naive about life in general
- Talked about everything and meeting up
- We planned to have our first friendly outing – he texted 20 minutes before he was supposed to show up and said an emergency came up. We never did meet up; although he still looks at my CougarLife profile.
Psychological assessment of the boy:
Lonely – third times the charm. Insecure about his communicative abilities. Confident about succeeding in his profession. Focused on financial matters. Claims he wants the conventional lifestyle of the nuclear family unit. Stated that he liked ‘the system.’ Fancies womyn who take control in sexual matters and within the household domain.
A sociological assessment of the cubs is that most of them don’t really know what they want as far as relational matters are concerned. They all share an intrinsic need for a confident, sexually experienced womun who is dominant; yet not too controlling in other realms of life. All 3 cubs were insecure about their communicative abilities. A deeper insecurity possessed all 3 that permeated and exuded from their exterior protective matter they have formed. I believe this insecurity had to do with their inability to perform the traditional form of masculinity which enforces men to be sexually initiative, aggressive, dominant, secure, and assertive. They did not possess these traits in general.
What they had to say about me:
- I’m a Goddess
- Too intelligent
- I use big words they don’t understand
- Do womyn like me really exist?
- Couldn’t believe I’d fancy them
To conclude, I DO NOT think the cougar concept is a liberating, sexual and/or relational movement for older womyn, especially in terms of online dating. I think it’s a social phenomenon, digital social engagement, and lucrative business that is primarily based on a reversal of sex roles. Womyn being the dominant creatures whilst men performing as submissive cubs. However, is the foundation purely sexual? Yes, I believe it to be. That is the main drive and motivation, and a website dedicated to the provision of practicing these reverse sex roles is inevitably going to establish a sexually driven relational occurrence. I am not against the idea of an older womun dating a younger man; however when you submerge yourself in an online world where the womyn (cougars) are represented as sexual, predatory beings and the boys (cubs) are willing, sexually charged, submissive creatures…well, only one thing can happen here – A sexually implosive cosmography of sorts.
The obsession with the Virginal – the Revirescent boys
21 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Culture and Social, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power Tags: boys, fetish, Goddess, masochist, power, religion, sadist, sexual, spiritual, virgins, worship, young
An addiction to a seemingly impasse of insurmountable ecstasy. A phantasmic realm of realistic elemental pastures. I’ve always wanted to officially date jesus - a young virginal boy conceived of a virgin himself. But I always imagined him to be 5’10 – 6 ft, sandy blonde hair, piercing blue – deep green eyes, flawless, hairless, smooth skin, full dark pink lips, and a smile that sends sensational enigmas through my soul. His spirit needed to replicate that what I knew of jesus. I needed the utmost pure, organic form of spiritualism. I needed him to infect, affect, release, restore, heal, pleasure, and provide unconditional love for me whilst being completely engrossed in humility and assurance. Along the way, these desires were reversed. During my transitional process from fundamental, charismatic christianity, I realized I desired both roles if you will. I was infatuated with the young, virginal, pretty boy, but rather than the jesus boy infecting me in every way, I desired to infect, affect, release, restore, heal, pleasure, punish, cure, educate him. I cannot say I desired to provide unconditional love.
What I speak of transcends the performative, taboo S&M scene. I don’t wish to objectify, perform violent acts, treat someone or be treated as if a toy for our disposal. I wish to empower, smite (lovingly), educate, procure, and rebuild. A mold of which I will find full satisfaction, abounding respect, and unquenched, glorified thirst. I have reached a new level of complexities in this regard. The main, problematic underlying factor in this beautifully chaotic ordeal is a matter of control. I perceive my control to be absolute because it needs to be given I am the Goddess, and desire to be treated as such. Not just a goddess, but The Goddess. Therefore, I have both explicitly and implicitly provided guidelines, rules, commandments, demands onto the virginal boy. However, I don’t want absolute control and domination over him. I also wish for him to purely, genuinely glorify me without force or coercion. Just guidance, education, and influential energy. I wish to stand as an influential energy and force to guide him in his identification process. Furthermore, my objective is to lead him into being obsessed, enamored, possessed, consumed, helpless, and vulnerable through my exalted presence.
I have incessantly questioned if much of my obsessive, fetishistic structure is excessively contradictory. An antithetical dilemma. My subject was not technically a virgin in the physical sense. A 19-year-old boy who had minimal sexual predispositions, and experienced relational pain through the process of rejection. He wasn’t my ideal subject, but he possessed traits I was experientially and experimentally fond of:
- Innocence – He was not free from sin or moral wrong. He lied frequently to obtain what he desired and thought he was good at it.
- Simplicity – The subject was a simple boy in many ways. Primarily in the lack of knowledge and understanding.
- Harmless – Absolutely.
- Naive – The boy encapsulated naiveté; however, he was shrewdly in denial about this subconsciously.
- Vulnerability – He was susceptible to popular culture, social pressures, etc. He could be enticed in his vulnerable state, but it would take time given his early disposition to sexual and relational experiences.
- Eagerness and Openness – Utmost appeal to me. He possessed these traits immensely.
Within this fabricated realm I created, I commanded him to address me as The Goddess. I provided 11 commandments for him to follow and memorize. I ordered him to be in continual admiration, adoration, and worship of me, The Goddess. He attempted to be my worshipper, but he wasn’t always successful which irritated me, and reduced my desire to continue in this creation. I soon realized I didn’t have the patience nor the inclination to monitor and reprimand him for his repeated wrong doings. I gradually felt like a maternal figure in a sense which was not what I had aspired to be in this fantasy. I believe this unfortunately occurred because he wasn’t a virgin physically. In other words, he possessed certain characteristics of a virgin, but not entirely which produced confounding variables in this experiment. Therefore, the mediator variable (not being a virgin physically) had negative effects on what I expected – the hypothesis.
Confounding variables are variables that the researcher failed to control, or eliminate, damaging the internal validity of an experiment.
I did not fail to control him, but as I said earlier, I became a maternal icon which refuted the purpose of my experiment. The fact that he wasn’t a complete essentialized virgin, had a direct impact on the internal validity of my experiment.
In conclusion, I venture to conduct an experiment with a true virgin. Perhaps the result will be more relationally and sexually dynamic. Although my desire and infatuation has ceased, a temporary sadness mystically lingers. In my evangelical faith when I was 19 years old, I made a vow that I would not engage in sexual or romantic activity till I met my future boy of god. (Religion makes you do absurd things). The sign I prayed for was a white rose. My subject told me his favorite flower is a white rose. I felt rippling, divine movements through my ovaries and stomach as the pastures of the small town air electrified my face. I deeply sighed and chuckled at the idea of metaphysics.
The Florescent Powers of Androgyny: the Progressive Gender
08 Jul 2011 2 Comments
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Politics and Economics, Sexuality and Power Tags: androgyny, anthropology, capitalism, culture, feminine, Gender, masculine, psychology, sexual identity, sexuality, sociology
The mystification of androgyny. The ability and creation of both masculine and feminine characteristics and traits within an individual. The inhabitance and possession of a duality still unknown to hu-mankind. Is androgyny the epitomized construction of gender progression? Is an androgynous persona of necessity in establishing a more effective egalitarian system? What classifies or defines an individual to coalesce both what is perceived as masculine and feminine traits? I wish to address these questions and provide a psychological, sociological, and economic perspective as to why androgynous beings would be advantageous to our society and culture. One area that is still untapped and under-researched is the establishment of androgyny cross-culturally. Anthropologically, there has been limited evidence of androgynous communities.
What exactly constitutes an androgynous being? One definition states, “Androgyny is a term—derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- (anér, andr-, meaning man) and γυνή (gyné, meaning woman)—referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics. This may be as in fashion, sexual identity, or sexual lifestyle, or it may refer to biologically inter-sexed physicality, especially with regards to plant and human sexuality” (Wiki). My primary focus of androgyny in this particular post will be the possession of masculine and feminine traits. Dr. Sandra L. Bem’s work on the measurement of psychological androgyny has provided an expanding insight into the dimensions of hu-man sexuality and gender identity. She developed a new sex-role inventory “that treats masculinity and femininity as two independent dimensions, thereby making it possible to characterize a person as masculine, feminine, or “androgynous” as a function of the difference between his or her endorsement of masculine and feminine personality characteristics.”
So how is this scale assessed?
“The Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) contains a number of features that distinguish it from other, commonly used, masculinity-femininity
scales, for example, the Masculinity-Femininity scale of the California Psychological Inventory (Gough, 1957).” There are neutral items (characteristics) which are also presented. For further information, please refer to this article (p. 2). The results and findings of this study has shown that those who identified as more androgynous beings were considered to maintain a more positive psychological health than those who identified with singularly femininity or masculinity. Psychologist Carl Jung was also preoccupied with androgyny during the twentieth century. “Some of his followers have suggested that androgyny is a way of overcoming dualism and regaining a primal unity; the half-beings of man and woman as we know them must yield to the complete man-woman.” In other words, a Utopian vision of gender identity is one of androgyny.
How will this benefit hu-manity?
From an economical standpoint, the mainstreaming of gender in politics, government, and within an economic infrastructure is necessary to the balancing of hu-man power and control. “Sexual is the dominant discourse of reproduction and love – therefore the base of human power. The complementary dual[ity] of male and female gender roles and gender powers constitute even the sexual and the biological. The war between sexes is the symptom of the war between genders that all too often end in wars between nations, classes, races and other groups” (Gender Economy). Within a capitalistic framework, the primary target for mass consumerism and mass production are fe-males. Given my informed repugnance for AmeriKan capitalism, a globalized androgyny would transform the current economic system. A metamorphosis of a capitalistic structure would contribute to the balance and equality of gender powers which would then create an economic androgynous global identity. This would minimize wars, the utilization of militarism, violence in all forms, and the mass production of gender stereotyping.
A sociological and psychological perspective as to why androgyny would benefit hu-mankind is one that is quite multi-dimensional. Dr. Sandra Bem states, “Androgyny was a concept whose time had come, a concept that appeared to provide a liberated and more humane alternative to the traditional, sex-biased standards of mental health.” Within any institution, whether it be the nuclear family unit, religious organizations, corporatism, mental health, government, military, etc., gender roles and stereotyping continues to prevail. This has not improved society at all; rather, it has continued to denigrate and regress the natural state of hu-mankind – the encapsulation of both masculine and feminine energies. The study I have mentioned in this post among others, show significant levels of positive psychological and emotional well-being in those who identify as more androgynous beings. This shouldn’t come as much of a shock given traditional gender roles have maintained a capitalistic framework in tact along with womyn being treated as secondary citizens. In saying that, not ALL men are benefiting from conventional gender roles. Instinctual hu-man traits such as the development of emotional maturity and capacity along with the mutual understanding of the feminine energy has been removed from their psyche. The progression of cognitive development in regards to affection, expression, passion, and nurture have been severed from men’s psychological advancement.
There are many reasons as to why an establishment and development of a global androgyny would be advantageous to hu-manity. Far too long to list in this post. To sum up:
Research studies have shown a bunch of positive associations between androgyny and wide range of outcomes such as self-esteem, satisfaction with life, [relational] satisfaction, subjective feelings of well-being, ego identity, parental effectiveness, perceived competence, achievement motivation, cognitive complexity when evaluating careers, cognitive flexibility, and behavioral flexibility. Kelly and Worrell (1976) found that androgynous individuals were raised by parents who stressed cognitive independence, curiosity, and competence (Psychology Today).
Again, this shouldn’t appear to be staggering news. So how do we become more androgynous? I should say I am not proposing a negation of what we currently perceive as masculine or feminine traits. My objective, rather, is to promote the dualistic features and assembling of masculine and feminine traits. A synergy of the balance of masculinity and femininity along with the complete awareness of the holistic individual is vital to the creation of the progressive gender – Androgyny. This starts with a spiritual introspection which I will discuss in my next post. Stay tuned, stay plugged, be androgynous!
PORN, porn for Everyone: An interpretation of the fe-male gaze
09 Mar 2011 3 Comments
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Politics and Economics, Sexuality and Power Tags: erotic, Feminism, industry, money, nude, Porn, pornography, power, sex, sexuality, Women
This is not necessarily another blog post about the negative effects the multi-billion porn industry is having on society. It’s not solely on the sexual objectification of womyn in the porn industry; although this is clearly a widespread, continuous issue. It’s not directly a feminist criticism of how harmful porn is towards womyn and sexuality. This post is a declaration, a proclamation, a demand for the porn industry to evolve and transform. To reflect and promote a diverse, healthy representation of womyn and sex through embracing the fe-male gaze. This is about EROTIC INTELLIGENCE!
Pornography can be defined as: ”the portrayal of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement and erotic satisfaction” (wiki). However, is it truly erotic satisfaction? Mainstream porn is easily accessible. You can go to your friendly Google search, type in Porn and voila! Before you will be displayed a number of free porn websites you can curiously penetrate. Now, the initial perception may be the appearance of choice and difference. Don’t be fooled. There may be a colorful array of categories before your eager eyes, but it’s practically the same, mundane performance.
These are some of the main characteristics of mainstream pornography:
- Oppressive gender roles are intact.
- Dominance and submission to varying degrees are performed. Always serving the male character!
- ‘Dirty’ talk is necessary (Most of the time targeted at the more feminine character).
- Lesbian sex is NOT really lesbian sex! Rather it is constructed through the heterosexual, commercialized male fantasy.
- Male cum on the fe-male face (Yes, I’m sure most womyn enjoy this depressingly instilled act).
- WOMYN ARE RARELY IF NOT EVER FULLY GRATIFIED!
I cannot stress the last characteristic enough! I don’t believe the idea of porn is the problematic issue here; rather, it’s the way it’s being depicted. The subject matter and visual content not only caters to the seemingly insolent male ego and pleasure, it completely eradicates womyn out of the sexual experience. She stands alone as object. Not human. The focus is not on the whole man in most videos, but the penis. However, the penis is active, moving, exerting, spilling, procuring. The whole man is not necessary. The whole womun is exposed; yet composed of chronic emptiness.
A commercial perspective for this poignant situation is that if males are the main consumers of pornography, then we must primarily tailor the content to their virtual voyeuristic desires. I have written and researched numerous essays, articles, theories on pornography during my bachelor’s and master’s degree, and for my own personal endeavors. My inquisitive mind led me to question approximately 100 men through survey research design on what they thought about mainstream porn. These are the prevalent answers I received:
It’s an easy release, I don’t take it that seriously.
It’s one-dimensional, but it does the trick.
I don’t sexually objectify [womyn]. I’m not sure why porn videos show this frequently. Does it matter?
[Womyn] in subservient positions don’t always excite me. Sometimes I get bored watching this.
As you can see, it does not seem climatically satisfying or realistic to them. Now, I’m not negating the idea of fantasy, a form of sexual escapism. However, that is not what is being displayed here. Why should porn be this easy, inadequate, dead-end masturbatory session? Surely, it can incorporate creative and innovative imagery and storylines which transcends, provokes, and entices us both mentally and sexually. Most porn focuses on gender roles where womyn are usually extremely dominant or subservient. There is no complexity or intricacy in the design. Calling womyn and the occasional man a slut, dirty, whore along with belittling my vagina to a pussy, doesn’t stimulate my emotive or cognitive self. Our minds are connected to our sexual organs. Some of the best orgasms begin and are manifested in the brain – located primarily in the hypothalamus. Sexual arousal is a mosaic phenomena. So why shouldn’t the visual stimuli be more satisfying to the mind?
As a feminist with radical views, I do NOT believe most, if not all, men are particularly erotically charged by mainstream pornography. If I am wrong, then men must be universally obscene, one-dimensional, obtuse, semi-misogynistic, prosaic creatures. I choose to be optimistic.
As always, I will now provide solutions to an essentialized issue. The porn industry needs to change in these areas:
- Portray womyn and men as equals by implementing strategic and elicit actions. Don’t let the sex organs dictate perceived and conditioned gender roles
- Display diversity in an all-encompassing, healthy manner and language. Don’t continue to use words like ‘gang bang’ or ‘fucking a 18-year-old pussy.’
- A creative, sensual, variation with a flair of intellectualism to appeal to a wider demographic. This surely would generate more revenue for the business, and allow womyn to participate in consuming porn.
- Focus on fe-male pleasure and do it right!
The porn industry must attract a wider, more diverse audience by instilling creativity, intelligence, passion, and inspiration in their imagery and content. I’m not proposing a Danielle Steel novel (a moral failure), or porn to be interpreted exclusively through the fe-male gale.
I am demanding integrated, intensified, compelling, sensational, mentally stimulating, emotively triggered, raw, organic, explosive ORGASMs from viewing pornography!
P.S. Free of charge!
The Revitalization of the Goddess and Humankind
25 Sep 2010 2 Comments
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Politics and Economics, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power Tags: economics, Feminism, God, Goddess, History, Patriarchy, philosophy, political, psychoanalysis, spirituality, Women
As I mentioned in my previous post, Oh Goddess Divine, Where art thou: The Fear and Intimidation of the Goddess, I will provide a psychological perspective on the annihilation of the Goddess as well as the social and economic implications of her diminishment. In my first post, I aimed to inform the reader of a brief his-tory of ancient Goddess worship, and how her elimination originated. My objectives in writing this post are to:
- Discuss why it is important to engender a rebirth of the Goddess, and uphold her existence
- Provide discursive consequences of her extinguishment within a social, political, and economic context
- Critically analyze the meaning of the Goddess and how her existence impacts and influences an individual’s life
My objective is NOT to outline a spiritual assessment of Gods and Goddesses in order to create another widely accepted cult, but to examine why hu-mans need to create divine beings to impersonate and perpetuate their existence and purpose. I will propose my analysis based on the ideology that people, hu-manity creates that which is worshipped, obeyed, denied, admired, and oppressed. Let’s begin with a psychoanalytic view of identification. How does one identify itself?
Primary identification: this is rooted in primitive and emotional attachments usually during the infancy stage. The infant doesn’t know itself because its brain is not fully developed, and its environment both culturally and socially has not affected it extensively; therefore, it identifies with its relations and objects. For example, the child needs the breast to feed itself; therefore, the child identifies with the breast–the mother–the Fe-male figure. It becomes the breast given it doesn’t have any previous socialization and/or identification.
Narcissistic (secondary) identification: This stage is early on and provokes the loss and/or abandonment of an object. The child becomes aware of its environment, personality, relations with others, and itself. It begins the process of melancholia because it is coerced and forced to abandon the primal, emotional attachment–the Fe-male figure. The one who fed, nurtured, and embedded it within her. Once she was the Goddess–the primal Mother. Now, she must be unconsciously mourned because of the patriarchal-father head system it encounters.
Partial (secondary) identification: This stage deals with the subject identifying with someone it admires or wishes to become. This specifically contributes to the ego and the development of the character. As this stage, one is conscious of its desires and needs based on socialization, perceptions, and observations of its surroundings. Even its primal needs are to a degree predicated on a hierarchical order. While it continually mourns the loss of the primary identification–the Fe-male figure, it requires a replacement which becomes that which exists.
The male representative is born-God.
In my last post about the Goddess, I take on a more positive, optimistic perspective of Her given I acknowledge that s-he possessed a historical and spiritual significance that transcended womynkind. However, Simone De Beauvoir in the Second Sex, states just the opposite. S-he proposes that Goddess worship and her significance was primarily created by men to represent the womun and her unexplained mystical identity. This of course reduces her connotation to that of men’s creation, in addition to a peculiarity which s-he possess classifying her as the Other. Keep in mind, this is a matter of perspective meaning Simone De Beauvoir takes on a more cynical standpoint of the his-tory of the Goddess. So, what does that tell us about the psychoanalytic model I outlined above?
Essentially, because I’m not providing a spiritual assessment or an invitation to a new cult/religion, I base this on the assumption that spirituality and subjects who participate within that realm are created by man. The lost fe-male figure in the model represents the Goddess – the primal one. The beginning and the end – the Alpha and the Omega. However, s-he is lost in a state of the melancholic unconscious, because of the systematic processes which occur through socialization, subjectification, and objectification. S-he is the beginning and the end which one encounters, but s-he doesn’t perform a primary role during. S-he is forgotten because s-he is coerced and forced to be. Why does this matter to us?
To put it simply, when 2 things simultaneously exist, and you ignore or disregard one, it has a direct impact on the other. The one who hasn’t been disregarded typically formulates and creates a social order of some sort and objectifies the Other. This causes an eruption and a rupture among the masses and creates identification processes. It causes disorder, chaos, and an imbalance. How is this repressed? Through that of social learning – imitation and models given to one from the time of birth, and it continues and learns to prevail. To clarify, I am now expressing the formation of hu-man existence. Wherever an oppressive hierarchy exists, a group of people are ceasing to abound in life’s glory. Therefore, the Goddess desperately needs to sprout from our unconscious so that we can truly re-connect with her truth. For so long, we have lived in a world ruled, occupied, and dominated by a masculine god – men. The saddening fact is that men suffer from the repressed Goddess as well. All of hu-mankind continues to do so.
Her distinguishment affects every realm and dimension of our lives including the economic and political arenas. Laws, regulations, opinions, forums, theories, etc. are dictated by a world which is constructed without the Goddess, without that which is meant to exist on the same plane as the god. The formation of capitalism, mass production/consumerism, fascism, mass media production, white male supremacy, economic hierarchies, social injustice, hunger, poverty, marginalization, etc. are all the result of the forgotten Goddess – the fe-male figure. Her thoughts, opinions, creativity, inventions, actions, love are suppressed, forgotten, and/or lost. Nothing is to her complete potential, and she is taught to live in fear, desolation, and adapt to a powerless persona unless it benefits the world that god – men constructed.
Whether or not the Goddess ever reached her full potential and existed in a world free of the patriarchate, s-he does exist. She is there in the depths of our minds, in the crevices of our hearts, in the trajectory of our souls. It is ultimately our choice if we choose to let her escape from the shackles which have been placed upon her. We must question what was (in hi-story) in order to delegate what will be now. The Goddess is there and once we relinquish her to abound in all of her glory, only then will we progress into a more neutralized, harmonious existence in this world we continue to occupy and consume.
Oh Goddess Divine, Where art thou: The Fear and Intimidation of the Goddess
09 Jul 2010 5 Comments
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power Tags: Ancient, church, God, Goddess, History, Oppression, Patriarchy, religion, spirituality, worship
In the beginning there was the Goddess and all was in harmony. The Goddess. What springs to mind? Greek Mythology? Aphrodite? Little girly fairies? When I was living as an evangelical christian worshipping a sadistic father god, and his masochistic son, I never thought about the Goddess much.
Perhaps because s-he’s never mentioned. The three dominant religions in the world–christianity, judaism, and islam all include male prophets, a male god, and primarily male followers. The representation of the fe-male divine, the one who controls and gives life, who nurtures the living in her physical embrace, the one related to the moon and earth, the one who heals and counsels is not spoken of unless it’s to oppress and to debase fe-male divinity. This post will not only provide a historical overview of Goddess worship, but analytically examine why hu-mans (mostly the men in power) have eliminated the Goddess from our minds, hearts, and souls. Questions such as how the elimination of the Goddess affects the economic, political, and social system, and why the exclusivity of worshipping male deities is destructive and oppressive will be answered in a part 2 post.
Most historians have agreed that hu-manity originated from Africa 200,000-250,000 years ago. At this time, a systematic society was organized whereby there had to be hunters and gatherers. Also, death was recognized as an inevitable occurrence which resulted in producing a need to create religious beliefs.
The importance of fertility in crops, in domesticated animals, in wild animals and in the tribe itself were of paramount importance to their survival. The female life-giving principle was considered divine and a great mystery. Some Goddess statues still survive from this era. One website contains photographs of Goddess statues from circa 30,000 BCE to 1987 CE.
Therefore, the divine fe-male became the ‘vegetative Goddess.’ Now, some historians believe that the carvings and statues they discovered of the fe-male Goddess could be an erotic image of the ancient womun; yet this hasn’t been confirmed. This idea comes from the Victorian images we see today of the fe-male erotica.
This “old European” culture lasted for tens of thousands of years in what is now Europe. They generally lived in peace; there is a notable lack of defensive fortifications around their hamlets. As evidenced by their funeral customs, males and females appear to have had equal status. Many historians and archaeologists believe that:
- Their society was matrilineal; children took their mothers’ names.
- Life was based on lunar (not solar) calendar.
- Time was experienced as a repetitive cycle, not linearly as we think of it.
Shocking? It definitely consumed me with both vexation and discomfort. However, this is a liberating and empowering discovery! Our ancestors used to worship and revere the Goddess globally. Both men and womyn lived in a more civilized, egalitarian society where the worshipping and glorifying of both deities was the norm. How long did Goddess worship really last for? This varies based on historical documentation. Here is one overview that is generally agreed upon:
Among the first human images discovered are the “Venus figures,” nude female figures having exaggerated sexual parts that date back to the Cro-Magnons of the Upper Paleolithic period between 35,000 and 10,000 BC.
In southern France is the Venus of Laussel which is carved in basrelief in a rock shelter. This appears once to have been a hunting shrine which dates to around 19,000 BC. In this carving the woman is painted red, perhaps to suggest blood, and holds a bison horn in one hand.
Also in Cro-Magnon cave paintings women are depicted giving birth. “A naked Goddess appears to have been the patroness of the hunt to mammoth hunters in the Pyrenees and was also protectress of the hearth and lady of the wild things.”
Other female figurines were discovered dating back to the proto-Neolithic period of ca, 9000 – 7000 BC, the Middle Neolithic period of ca. 6000 – 5000 BC, and the Higher Neolithic period of ca. 4500 – 3500 BC. Some of these figurines were decorated as if they had been objects of worship. In black Africa were discovered cave images of the Horned Goddess (later Isis, ca. 7000 – 6000 BC). The Black Goddess images appeared to represent a bisexual, self-fertilizing woman.
During the predynastic Egyptian period, prior to 3110 BC, the Goddess was known as Ta-Urt (Great One) and was portrayed as a pregnant hippopotamus stand on her hind legs.
The Halaf culture around the Tigris River, ca. 5000 – 4000 BC, had Goddess figurines associated with the cow, serpent, humped ox, sheep, goat, pig, bull, dove and double ax. These things were known to the people and became symbols representing the Goddess.
Keep in mind, these are only some discoveries I have listed here, and that there are many more to be uncovered. So, I have established the fact that Goddess worship was a natural divinity of religious processes for a long period of time. This brings me to my second question: why has s-he been eradicated, dismissed from the lives of womyn and men? Well there are many reasons and explanations for this unfortunate occurrence, but I will discuss the ones I believe are of greater importance. Firstly, it’s always an issue of power relations and competition. Although much of Goddess worship and reverence also included godly acknowledgment resulting in an egalitarian societal structure, men were still intimidated by the Goddess. She held a magical power including both physical and psychic capabilities that men didn’t understand. Reverence then led to confusion which caused anger and war.
Many historians agree that the Divine Goddess began to diminish when war and strife increased. Given men were the primary entities who fought in the wars because of their ego and general physical strength (used for violence rather than to benefit hu-manity in a harmonic way), this aided them in establishing a definitive dominion over womyn.
The beginning of the Hebrew religion with its God Yahweh is said to have marked the end of the Goddess’ Golden Age. Approximately this was between 1800 – 1500 BC when the prophet Abraham lived in Canaan.
The Christian Church, and especially the Roman Catholic Church, has fought hard to suppress or root out all Goddess worship. The Goddess along with all pagan deities were labeled as evil. But, little proof has been offered for this. One notable example is The Canon Episcopi.
Even though the Church attempted to completely abolish Goddess worship it never successfully did so.
This leads me into another reason for the attempted removal of the Divine Goddess–witch burnings/trials. To clarify, ancient Goddess worship and the embrace of the Feminine Divine was not directly related to witches or witch craft, but paganism extended the evolution of witch craft and spiritual abilities. The christian church (mostly white, senior men who were deluded) decided to gain control, power, and domination over its people and conduct witch trials/burnings.
The large-scale European extermination of individuals charged with Witchcraft or other heresies reached its peak between 1550 and 1650 CE.
Current estimates of the total number of executions of innocent people range from 3,000 (by one Roman Catholic source) to 9,000,000 (by many Neopagan sources). The actual figure, based on the examination of court documents and estimates of the number of lost records, is probably in the range of 50,000 to 100,000.
Most of the deaths seem to have taken place in Western Europe in the times and areas where Protestant – Roman Catholic conflict — and thus social turmoil — was at its maximum.
Unpleasantly interesting. So, basically thousands (one numerical theory) of womyn were tortured and killed because a few men were battling over which god had a larger male organ within the constructs of the oppressive church. One psychoanalytical explanation is that these men in power who proposed and executed such absurd and evil acts upon womyn feared the power, mystery, and unfamiliarity of what womyn encompass and possess. Their physical presence and sexual ardour are astounding–men fear the intense metaphysical bodily and mental reactions. Their natural intuition and charm is unsurpassable and mysterious–they are overwhelmed with confusion which results in anger for men. Finally, their spiritual capabilities and intellect are unexplainable and continually increasing–men become deficient, monstrous beings with only social codes to keep them sane.
Essentially, the only reason Goddess worship and the Feminine Divine have been silenced for so long is because the fear, manipulation, and control some men have imposed on womyn through the utilisation of their physical strength. Pathetic? Disheartening? Disgusting? Absolutely! As stated earlier, the practice of witch craft, neopaganism, wicca, and Goddess worship is still prevalent today from a global perspective; yet it has been tainted. It has been harmed. It has been wounded. However, there was a time in ‘history’ where the Goddess was admired, respected, and adored. Where a balance, a unification, and equality was treasured and revered. There is hope. As I’ve always interjected, power and control only benefits the ones who are deluded, disturbed, and never satisfied. Patriarchy within a spiritual context does not benefit all ‘mankind.’
My goal and objective is to create a world where both the Goddess and God are valued, respected, and worshipped. Where differences are embraced and tolerance is practiced. An egalitarian society is established, and social order is beneficial to all hu-mankind. At the end of the day, whether or not there is a true divine, transcendental, supreme Goddess or God, there is one who lives within all of us. That is the one we should explore and discover without any limitations, restrictions, or harm.
I will end this post with an ancient Goddess prayer to inspire and revolutionize:
Divine Mother of All there is, whose essence Lies within us all and in all things.
Please fill this place with your sacred light and presence.
Please protect me and heal me.
Please bring me to wholeness and wisdom.
Make this a day of fresh starts, new beginnings.
Melt all obstacles in my path–gently, gracefully, lovingly.
Reconnect me to my highest self.
Awaken me to what I need to know next.
Let my higher self select and connect with the divine energy that is right for me, right now.
May I be uplifted and empowered by your Love.
So be it and so it is.
–Laurie Sue Brockway,
from Discovering the Goddess
Links:
Three part Goddess Documentaries: http://www.nfb.ca/film/goddess_remembered/
religioustolerance.org
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/g/goddess_1_intro_and_history.html
Feminist-Religious Book: She Who Is, Johnson
A Love Affair with Jesus: The Ultimate Heartbreak
10 May 2010 1 Comment
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power, Uncategorized Tags: christianity, church, evangelical, God, heartbroken, heaven, homoerotic, jesus, love, perfect, religion, sexuality, spirituality
The inevitable question of ever having been in love. How can I communicate that I have been in love, but with a mystical entity–jesus. The blank stares I would receive when I blatantly answered-jesus. I don’t blame them really. It’s like expecting someone to understand why you fell in love with the easter bunny or something to that effect. This post will be slightly more subjective and self-reflective; although, as always, I do have a concrete and influential agenda. I aim to critically and analytically dissect and reveal the misconceptions, lies, and manipulation behind having a ‘personal relationship with jesus christ’ within the constructs of christianity, and provide a psychological assessment of the process. In an earlier post on sadomasochism and evangelical religious experiences I focused on AmeriKan evangelism. This post will also primarily focus on that religious sect, because of my extensive knowledge and experience of the denomination. Furthermore, I will not capitalize christianity, jesus christ, or god in order to reduce its significance in the world.
Having been raised in the AmeriKan evangelical church without choice, I immediately became immersed in it. At one point, more so than my family. To eliminate one misconception, my family was by no means the ‘cookie cutter, happy’ christian family we all have come to love (sarcasm). It was exactly the opposite. One of the main reasons I was extremely involved in what I now call a widely accepted cult was to suppress the trials I encountered in my family life. In a sense, it’s escapism, a release from the world you are forced to believe is evil and separate from god, and to therefore be consumed by an all-encompassing being. By the way, under evangelical christian beliefs, everyone is or will be given an opportunity to believe in jesus christ so the blame is continually on others for choosing not to believe and accept him as their savior. The approximately 7 billion people on this earth must completely surrender to a mystical entity in order to be saved from eternal damnation. Brilliant.
Many AmeriKans will identify as a christian in order to essentialize themselves, and portray a moral, ethical, and righteous persona. Others don’t question why they call themselves christian, but continue to do so unknowingly. Family is a contributing factor in enforcing and influencing christian ideologies. People may argue–Well, not all the messages in the bible are vile and fallacious. Love is the center of what jesus exemplifies throughout the new testament. Well, consider this analogy. A politician delivers a moving and transcendant speech before s/he gets inaugurated about radical change, a seemingly utopian world, and of an idealistic form of hu-man existence. Simply how s/he will make the nation a better, more tolerant place to live in. Does most of what s/he says become reality? Is it entirely incorporated in society? No. My point is that jesus, his homoerotic buddies (apostles), disciples, and all the people who followed his wishes were of hu-man nature, including jesus himself. It takes ignorant, unreasoning ‘faith’ to believe jesus had super healing powers considering he contradicted himself in saying he was god.
I and my father are one-John 10:30
…I am going to the father, for the father is greater than I-John 14:28
My intent is not to unravel all the contradictions the bible has to offer the people who unawarely believe in it; rather, to uncover this mystical jesus. Who was he? Why did men need to create this superman to be a masochistic hero to hu-manity? Finally, why are christians encouraged to fall in love and possess a personal relationship with him?
If the [g]od who is said to be love exists in the imagination of men it is because they have created [h]im (Greer & Dworkin).
It does not take a feminist philosopher to authorize this idea in religious doctrine. The bible is an indoctrinated tool used to invoke laws through a hierarchical, sadomasochistic plan. The father god ordered his one and only son to be brutally murdered and humiliated so that the father can prove to the world that he is a loving god through the vile act of sacrifice? Sacrifice requires a choice void of manipulation, control, and fear. Why did jesus submit to such a will delegated by his father? The only logical reason is that he believed through fear and control that he would be the ultimate sacrifice in redeeming ‘his’ people. Currently, if someone claimed that he was the son of god and that he was sent to carry out his father’s will through the ultimate sacrifice, we would most likely find him to be insane.
The need for christ is essentially the need for hu-mans to believe there is a greater force in the world. A self-sacrificial, altruistic, organic being who will transform hu-mans into perfected individuals in an alternate universe. As individualistic beings with flaws, faults, and imperfections, we long for an entity which is pure and unadulterated. However, one can only be that deity through the sacrifice of itself to save another. The ultimate form of equilibrium provoked in order for hu-mans to possess faith. The idea that a person came to earth-born of a womun who was absurdly said to have been a virgin (implying the holy spirit doesn’t fuck, but implants against someone’s will), and give birth to a savior of the world ordered by a god who encourages war (old testament). The supernatural man will provide unconditional love, protect you, offer you eternal life in paradise (whatever that is), and provide for you in every aspect of your life on one condition–You must surrender to him, and abide to his laws. Sound familiar?
Governmental bodies, political parties, the wealthy socially elite ordain and delegate social conventions and constructions we abide by and conform to unawarely. We don’t question ‘them’ because we trust in the actions they execute and in the messages they continue to promise. We have an incessant need to believe in the people who we must be subservient to. The reason for this logic is that hu-man’s idea of love, the only form we are accustomed to, is a narcissistic one.
“Narcissism is the personality trait of egotism, often used as a pejorative, denoting vanity, conceit, egotism or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others” (Wiki).
Dirty Words: How the male has perverted the English language
09 Apr 2010 2 Comments
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Politics and Economics, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power, Uncategorized Tags: economics, English, Female, Gender, Language, Linguistics, Male, Oppression, Patriarchy, Performativity, politics, power, Women, Words
Consider for a brief moment a world dominated by fe-male pronouns, fe-male centered language, and fe-male linguistics being used as the norm among society. How will this affect the power structures of our culture? Of social constructions used to delegate how we should perceive one another and the world around us? Hu-mans continue to ignore and overlook the power and implementation of language in the world. This is not going to be a lesson on languages per se, but how gender specific language, performativity, and linguistics produce meaning to objects and people, specifically womyn in our society. My intent is to educate and enlighten people to understand the power of language, and how the English language is patriarchal and oppressive to hu-mankind. Furthermore, as I mention in all my posts, my main intent is to raise awareness so that people can QUESTION, PROBE, and ANALYZE dominant discourse.
Firstly, here is a list of gender specific-male dominated language used in our English language. I will hyphenate some to emphasize an initial change I wish to see take place in our society.
S-he, His, Him, He, Man-kind, Hu-man, Wo-man, Wo-men, God, M-rs., Lord, His-tory, Fe-male, Chair-man, Fire-man, Police-man, Kingdom, etc. ( I can go on and I’m sure you can add more).
Language constructs power which is the foundation of power relations in our society. The male pronouns are typically used to refer to both womyn and men; therefore, people perceive it as being gender neutral. WRONG! That is not logical reasoning. How can something that is blatantly not neutral be perceived as being so? Also, why were the male pronouns chosen to wrongfully be gender neutral? Why not the fe-male pronouns which actually have the male spellings associated with it? (S-he, for example). You may enquire: Why should we care? Well, like I stated above, language is the foundation of power in our society. It creates and constructs subconscious hierarchy which we conform to unknowingly. This is primarily advantageous to the male species, and womyn have not defiantly and actively questioned this oppressive form of westernized language.
During the nineteenth century, Nietzsche warned against the mistaken tendency to take grammar too seriously: allowing linguistic structures to shape or determine our understanding of the world…(Barad, 2003). This has obviously been ignored because words are simply powerful, and language is a highly effective way of communicating meaning and associations of the world in which we occupy. The use of language functions in politics, religion, culture, sexuality, education, and economics; therefore, making it impossible to disregard.
The Oppressive Embrace of Male Language
Performativity can be defined as “a concept that is related to speech act theory, to the pragmatics of language, and to the work of J.L. Austin. The concept of performativity has also been used in science and technology studies and in economic sociology. Michel Callon has proposed to study the performative aspects of economics, i.e. the extent to which economic science plays an important role not only in describing markets and economies, but also in framing them. Other uses of the notion of performativity in the social sciences include the daily behavior (or performance) of individuals based on social norms or habits. Philosopher and feminist theorist Judith Butler has used the concept of performativity in her analysis of gender development, as well as in her analysis of political speech” (Wiki & Gender Trouble). Therefore, “performativity is precisely a contestation of the excessive power granted to language to determine what is real” (Barad, 2003).
For the sake of my argument and intent of this post, I will focus on Judith Butler’s work dealing with the philosophy of language and linguistics. Her foundation predominantly relied on Foucauldian theory. Foucault simply believed power is exerted throughout society through discourse by the dissemination of knowledge. This then controls and constructs people’s realities and beliefs within a society including language and linguistics in relation to gender construction. The exclusion of womyn focused language and linguistics is detrimental to the fe-male species in relation to advancing oneself in areas such as science, technology, economics, literature, and so forth. Furthermore, it limits womyn in possessing or gaining autonomy and agency in the public arena where they can have a direct influence and impact on society.
The way language, linguistics, and meaning has been constructed in the English language is through the male. The way HE speaks. The way he perceives the world around him. The way he thinks and behaves. To accept and conform to the ludicrous idea that the English language is gender neutral is utterly moronic. Furthermore, performativity represents meaning through the visual fields such as pornography. ” Pornography makes the world a pornographic place through its making and use, establishing what [wo-men] are said to exist as, are seen as, are treated as, constructing the social reality of what a [wo-man] is and can be in terms of what can be done to her, and what a man is in terms of doing it” (MacKinnon, 1993).
How can we operate in a truly egalitarian society when the his-tory of the hu-man language is male formulated? This is a perturbing question that cannot be ignored if we as a hu-man race believe womyn and men are equal in their rights. Language, the way we communicate through representation, semiotics, meaning should be independently expressed through the fe-male species. Womyn should no longer be represented and perceived as:
Masochists, Subordinates, Objects, Secondary citizens, solely mothers/wives, seducers, temptress, mistresses, etc. These are titles and descriptions of the fe-male species through a man’s experiences and consciousness developed and incorporated in the English language to signify the subordination of womyn even if it is on a subconscious level (which I don’t personally believe it to be). So, how do we construct and constitute the social reality of what wom-un is? Perhaps, we must unravel and form an original approach to the English language through womyn’s own consciousness and experiences? One unsettling criticism of this is how can one undo centuries of oppressive and limiting language that has constructed an entire gender? This is truly the insurmountable challenge I propose to womyn and men.
One suggestion that I use in my own daily life is changing the spelling of words to truly be gender neutral. (See the glossary section of my blog). Some examples include:
S-he, Womun, Womyn, God(dess), Chairperson, Fireperson, Policeperson, Sistory, Fe-male, His-tory, etc. There are many more, and you can utilize this change in the English language. It’s powerful and delivers a vital and revolutionary message that womyn desire to possess agency in the world they occupy and represent themselves as an independent entity.
New World Order: A Conspiracy Worth Considering
13 Mar 2010 1 Comment
in Culture and Social, Politics and Economics, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power Tags: America, capitalism, corporate, economics, Fascism, government, media, New World Order, politics, religion
“In conspiracy theory, the term “New World Order” or “NWO” refers to the emergence of a bureaucratic collectivist one-world government” (the one and only technologies corporation-Google). There are so many approaches I can take on this potential futuristic affair, but I will focus on eradicating the misconception and fear that the NWO is a conspiracy theory. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and ideas, but a provision of facts, an understanding of what the New World Order actually entails from both a religious and political view, and a willingness to break away from the social constructions we have succumbed to will all lead to a more open mind of the potential globalization of the hu-man race.
A simple definition of a conspiracy theory is “a term that originally was a neutral descriptor for any claim of civil, criminal or political conspiracy. However, it has become largely pejorative and used almost exclusively to refer to any fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by conspirators of almost superhuman power and cunning” (Google/Wiki). For the sake of my argument and my disagreement with a conspiracy theory necessarily being of a “superhuman power and cunning,” this analysis will focus on a political conspiracy conjured up by actual facts and evidence that is indicative of events and affairs that took place or will be taking place primarily in AmeriKa. For those who do not consider the New World Order or political conspiracy theories to be valid, you may find it ‘pejorative and debasing’ for someone to have such seemingly audacious views, but I would ask for anyone who is reading this post to continue to have an open mind, and allow your approach to be receptive.
Another perspective and/or evidence worth considering of the New World Order throughout his-tory:
“NEW WORLD ORDER” is the GLOBAL TOTALITARIANISM dream that a BANKER called Mayer Amschel Rothschild, helped revive in 1760′s to protect his private bank from global government regulation. His grand blue print is best described by his paid social engineer called Dr. Adam [Spartacus] Weishaupt, Professor of Canon Law in the university of Ingolstadt. Weishaupt adopted the term “Illuminati.”
Objectives of the NWO:
Abolition of all ordered governments, private property, inheritance, patriotism, family, religion, a global population of 500 million, creation of a world government.
Religion, particularly Christianity, is a key factor in the reproduction and unraveling of the New World Order. Revelation, the last book of the bible, goes into very descriptive; yet elusive detail about the ‘end of the current world’ and beginning of a ‘new world’. Most theologians don’t really know what to make of the last, apocalyptic book written by John who was ‘consumed’ by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps too many intoxicating herbs/plants on the Greek island John? Who knows really, but the question here is: Is the AmeriKan political, corporate, and governmental agenda following biblical revelations written by a man who was not necessarily conscious or is there a repetitive his-tory being emulated until we (the hu-man race) can finally reach one nation under one-government? I’m not going to quote the whole book of Revelations here, but what I am proposing is that people keep in mind to why AmeriKan religious institutions continue to forcefully recruit followers and ambassadors for god? Perhaps because religion is another tool used by those in power as a mask to cover up what is truly occurring behind closed doors. Furthermore, it forces people to debate over trivial, insignificant matters, and ignore what the government and private banks are doing economically, legally, and socially to our ‘democratic, free AmeriKan system’. Does god truly bless AmeriKa as all the white male presidents & Obama consistently say to win more votes? I mean because they are actually genuine about the male deity in the sky blessing us with his golden wand.
The European Union common foreign and security policies are joining up to create a strong empire along with AmeriKa which in some ways is an even stronger, foreboding empire. This unification and sovereignty of currency, government, nation, policies, and social conventions is a gradual process, but it is occurring whether we agree to it or not. The problematic issue here is that radicalism, revolutionist movements are not being considered or actively pursued. “But it is not only the hostility of others that may prevent us from questioning the status quo. Our will to doubt can be just as powerfully sapped by an internal sense that societal conventions must have a sound basis, even if we are not sure exactly what this may be, because they have been adhered to by a great many people for a long time” (Alain De Botton). Radicalism, a fight towards a true democratic global nation, will not occur because people don’t have a reason to believe we need one.
AmeriKa is ‘taking care’ of its people in a way where patriotism and capitalism benefit the people on a smaller, insignificant scale. Therefore, there is no reason to question for example: Why celebrities are idolized, visionary mass productions of society. Why that in such a seemingly democratic, prosperous nation as AmeriKa, there are areas nationwide which are equivalent to developing countries both economically and socially. Why we pay Federal Income tax when it’s not even legal. Instead, people are content to work a 40+ hours a week job they are not happy in whereby becoming a capitalistic slave to a corporation, accept social conventions that are not innately and naturally reasonable, conform to evangelical, extremist views of a religion (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) that are founded on phantasmic ideologies and folklore, and sell their bodies and minds to mass consumerism and popular culture. The common individual is willing to trust the ‘system’ that has failed us miserably and continues to maintain a socially elite, seemingly educated group of people belonging to one race, one gender, a few bank investors at the top of the injustice pyramid.
Praise God and spank me: The parallelism of religious experiences and sadomasochism
28 Feb 2010 2 Comments
in Culture and Social, Feminism, Religion and Spirituality, Sexuality and Power Tags: America, evangelical, Feminism, God, masochist, pentecostal, power, religious, sadist, sexual, submission
Sadomasochism is a taboo topic. A dark subculture we don’t really wish to discuss. Of course, once you move past the mindless ignorance, sadomasochism happens consistently in our daily lives. What I mean is that power structures and relations exist and permeate in society. Because of my more extensive knowledge, research, and experience, I will focus on AmeriKa the great on this particular subject. I will provide an overview of Evangelical AmeriKan Pentecostal religious experiences and the parallelism and correlation of sadomasochism.
Sadomasochism is another broad topic inclusive of many different practices triggering physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual senses. I will centralize on the major assumption that womyn are typically the masochist. There are several theories and reasoning behind this redundant, oppressive ideology. Psychoanalysts such as Freud and Richard von Krafft-Ebing believed all womyn were innately masochistic meaning they received pleasure from the pain inflicted upon them. Go figure, two men who studied the human mind/brain and believed womyn were hysterical during the early 19th century (Freud) also regarded womyn as desiring to be in pain. Well, let me clarify. Not just any pain, but pleasurable suffering inflicted upon them by the opposite sex (male). It is quite contradictory simply because it was considered improper for womyn to expressively speak about sex. We wouldn’t dare want to be hu-man and sexual like men! (Gasp) That would affect the intricate configuration of patriarchy and capitalism.
Sadists take pleasure in inflicting pain unto others which, according to theorist Deleuze, the sadist must have a non-compliant masochist to truly enjoy him/ itself. If the masochist–one who takes pleasure in receiving pain from another–is compliant, that subsequently defeats the whole purpose of the sadist’s desire. Now, sadomasochism can also be about a fantasy realm where both parties are performing roles and have mutually agreed to the act/s. Now, that doesn’t sound too taboo right? Well, some couples tend to go too far like when a womun is hung for too long and both accidentally lose track of their safety codes, because they’re enveloped in their orgasmic experiences. Oops.
I want to take this a step further. Let’s conform to the popular male favoured his-tory that womyn are the masochists which appoints them as the passivist, the subservient, the submissive ones. Men, on the other hand, are the sadists: dominant, aggressive, in control. Now, I will centralize on one form-fantasy of sadomasochism my dear friend has partaken in which is quite common. She submits to his power, his words, his actions. She is enthralled with his physique, violence, controlling demeanor. There is a physiological response in taking on the masochistic role. One gets light headed, aroused, irrationally excited, mesmerized. Some have explained it as a certain high, a spiritual awakening if you will. Consider this, orgasms are a powerful mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual experience. Combine the desire to receive physical pain from someone you completely trust and have entirely surrendered your body, mind, and spirit to. Who in complete awe, in utter subservience allows our most private (body, sexuality, mind, spirit) to be consumed and possessed by someone else in control. Does this sound familiar?
This is what precisely goes on in an AmeriKan, charismatic, Pentecostal church. I will be referring to my experiences mostly, but based on my research and interviewing other people in similar upbringings, they’re all very similar. The pentecostal denomination can be classified as bible thumping, charismatic, holy spirit filled, delivering evil spirits groups of people. It’s a cult like community of people who are borderline mentally unstable and emotionally incapable. When you eliminate the fervent God belief from the equation, these frantic, chaotic beings completely rely on their self-righteousness, schizophrenic tendencies, and self-absorbed persona to compensate for their consistent self-denial, chosen ignorance for the world around them, and explicit thoughts and behaviour they don’t account for.
Pentecostalism was born in AmeriKa during the 19-20th century which is not at all surprising. It was a movement branching from Protestant beliefs. Its foundations and beliefs are in being baptized by the holy spirit (a mediator if you will between God and Jesus, also gender neutral). In addition, it is grounded in speaking in tongues, being demonically possessed and/or oppressed, gaining/receiving spiritual gifts, being ‘slain’ in the spirit, and intense worship.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4).
The sound of the blowing violent wind is presumably an act of God. God is the sadist. ‘He’ is the one who controls, ordains, appoints. According to the Old Testament mostly, God is jealous, violent, and in some cases quite heartless. He causes and ordains battles, war, famine, death, and suffering. One example is the book/story of Job. Now, on the other hand, God loves unconditionally. He asks for us–His people–to surrender, submit, trust, and obey. Are we seeing the parallelism here? The day of pentecost (the verses above) is a sadomasochistic act. Essentially, God used a ‘blowing, violent wind’ to get His people’s attention. To whip them under his dominion. To lure them into a phantasmic realm of masochism. There were ‘tongues of fire’ that fell upon them. Again, that portrays quite an intense, powerful picture of power relations that took place among those people. The Holy Spirit then enabled them, in other words, forced them to speak in ‘tongues.’
I grew up seeing a congregation full of holy spirit filled chaotic folks speaking in a language that truly sounded like gibberish. There was more to it though. I remember feeling uncomfortable at the emotional impact it was having on these people I have had normal conversations with. Their eyes would roll back, they began to shake, some fell down, some looked as though they were in agony, weeping and sobbing took place. It was a mixture of emotional trauma and mental chaos for long periods of time. It didn’t look peaceful, but apparently it was. Some explained it as an emotional release that God imparted upon them. Others claimed it was a spiritual awakening; yet they appeared tormented to me. Children and teenagers were encouraged to partake, or rather, forced into such a sadomasochistic act. I still remember vividly the day I had my sadomasochistic, religious experience.
