Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Matriarchy a social probability ?

http://reason.com/archives/2008/01/15/the-coming-american-matriarchy < A very interesting article about the "coming matriarchy" in america and western cultures. 


The following article breaks down what a matriarchal society would be like in comparison to the current patriarchal one. It's very interesting. There are some really great points although I think I am not sure how a matriarchal society would work practically speaking. Is it possible to strike a balance between the two? That would be interesting and would probably be most beneficial. Opinions on this would be interesting. Send me a comment!


http://matriarchy.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=26

Monday, May 23, 2011

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Gender Neutral Language

Article on Gender Neutral Language <--- a very interesting article proposing a gender neutral language.


The English language seems to inherently favour a masculine viewpoint. When we talk about the human race collectively (through the words we use) we tend to subvert the feminine and exalt the masculine. Our terminology for different jobs and the word "mankind" promotes an exclusive view of humanity. A view that is masculine. It creates the impression that it is a man's world and women are just part of it.


I was thinking about all this and my mind started to focus on the everyday words that slip from our / our friend's lips. Why is it that most or much of the derogatory terms we use on a regular basis show a feminine bias. Eg.Slut,Whore, Bitch etc
These are all feminine terms that take on a derogatory meaning and are more often than not used for females.  Most gender aligned derogatory terms are feminine. In fact, men may even use these terms to refer to other men. This amplifies the insult. Not only is it considered an insult based on the definition of the term, but because it also identifies you as feminine. Ever heard the insult "you play like a girl!"..."don't be such a woman!" "Don't be a bitch!"...referring to a man... Why is it that the feminine is considered insulating? If a woman was told "you play like a man!" - this would never be considered an insult. Being considered feminine is considered weakness, a sign of submission and not being "up to par".


We need to develop a gender neutral language. It is a crucial step in equality. How can women and men ever be considered equal if the language we use everyday promotes patriarchy and gender bias? 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Living the life of a fat girl

Article about being a fat girl  <---- click to read an article I saw today in the Trinidadian  Guardian.


Now thats the kinda article I like to see!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Gender Roles

Today I want to address a couple of things..all fitting under the same umbrella: Gender roles and Sexuality


On that note:
Today is International Day Against Homophobiahttp://www.homophobiaday.org/default.aspx?scheme=4073 . Check out that page for more information. 


This couldn't come more timely enough. Today I had to listen to my fellow colleagues talk about how you need to teach a male child how to act like a boy and not effeminate... I'm not sure what the criterion is for such. Apparently this is important to establish his identity as a male and not a female or else he will become gay. I guess we should also ensure that all girls play with dollies so that she knows how to be a girl and a mother. NO giving her cars to play with I dare say!  If ignorance is bliss. We must be in heaven.


Even today we encourage girls not play sports, especially some sports in particular like rugby or american football. Girls are considered women only if they have babies. Not true? Well then why is it when a woman makes a decision not to have children she is looked at disapprovingly and or with pity? 


Men are taught to be "macho" and are supposed to be charge of the household. Women are to be the ones to cook and clean even if women and men both have jobs. "Most men in the polls said they were happy to share child care and domestic chores with wives who work outside the home. Yet household duties remain sharply divided along gender lines. Working mothers still do twice as much housework as their husbands, and more than half of all women questioned expressed at least some dissatisfaction with the amount of help their husbands provide around the house." Washington Post article: Gender Revolution




You would think in 2012 we would be elsewhere. Instead we are taught the need to fall into societal created gender roles and then told that these gender roles are biologically driven rather than societally driven. "You give a girl child dolls and tiny pink dresses, set her in front of my little pony and strawberry shortcake. You flood her with images of domestic life and when she grows up, goes though her rebel phase, and then find a husband to have a perfect little suburban life you then call it 'nature'. It isn't human nature to automatically fill roles, it's human nature to manipulate things into his or her chosen direction. We started with using sticks to gather insects from mounds for food, those sticks turned into spears. After learning how to manipulate nature to make tools, we manipulated animals to make pets and livestock. The wolf became the dog, but while we did this to other things, we did it to ourselves. The gender roles we now take for granted as 'nature' are simply institutions we have created to serve our needs. Our failing is in the religious way we go about living up to that true nature of alteration, we fall short of knowing how we adapt, so we fall short of knowing how to evolve." All Philosophy- Gender Roles 


"Gender identity is how people think of themselves and identify in terms of sex (man, woman, boy, girl). Gender identity is a psychological quality; unlike biological sex, it can't be observed or measured (at least by current means), only reported by the individual." All Philosophy- Sex vs Gender




Patriarchy plays a large role in defining gender roles. One of the main driving forces, if not THE main force behind patriarchy is religion. Therefore religious views have a lot to do with how we identify ourselves and how society defines our gender roles. I spent a good deal of time looking at posts on forums concerning gender roles and the predominant factor in the discussion is that gender roles as they have been defined : with the woman as a traditional housewife in charge of taking care of children, cooking, cleaning etc and man as head of the house is believed to be important or fundamental for religious reasons by many people and that true equality of the sexes ( not genders) is not appropriate both religiously speaking and for societal (and family related ) purposes. There were also those discussions on why man should be head...and concepts of god as masculine. I wont go there for now , but its something to think of. 


Before the Abrahamic religions spread, the dominant  ( or not so dominant religions). Were almost always, if not always, female centric; and consisted of goddess worshiping  and thus lead to matriarchal societies. Today we don't state that God is male but he is portrayed and spoken of in masculine ways and as such gender roles have been defined to make one group dominant and the other group submissive.



There is much much more to be said on this topic. Will discuss further very soon.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Body Image in Music

I was listening to the new popular singer from the UK, Adele recently with some of my friends. Like times before, for some reason whenever anyone feels  the need to comment on how much they "love her music" and "love her" , they tend to include "even though she's a big girl, even though she's fat", or they "prefer her as a big girl". It's great that people from all over seem to love her music and heck yea its great to see a talented woman in music that doesn't depend upon selling sex and that isn't a size 0. This is a woman many women can relate to. Physically speaking she is relatable to the everyday woman. This is perhaps part of her charm. 


Why do people feel the need to talk about a singer's body as part of liking her as a musician? What she looks like, in particular, her weight, has nothing to do with her talent or why you like her music. Also, qualifying a statement by saying you like her even though she's a "big girl" is very demeaning to the talent of this artist. 


The stigma of FAT is everywhere around us. We are constantly told that someone is beautiful in spite of her FATness or is talented or successful even though she is fat. Lets nip this social scapegoating in the bud once and for all and recognize it for what it is. A way to make some feel better than others through demeaning , a means to sell cosmetics, beauty and diet products. 


Lets embrace ourselves and others who are "big girls". And love them because of who they are , not in spite of. 

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Childfree?



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10786279 ----> Please read this article on Childfree lifestyle choices.


Having kids has long been an expectation for women. It wasn't a question of if but when? and how many?


Now with the invention of contraceptives, having children is more of an option. 
The stigma of saying you don't want to have kids is a big one. Women are looked down upon once they imply they may not want to have kids or worse yet if they flat out declare they don't want any. "It's only natural to have kids, its instinct, its your duty"- This is what women are told. Or other reactions are of pity , or "I bet you will change your mind". Other people ( most people) especially most women, feel that a woman cannot lead a happy , fulfilled life, without the feeling of "missing something" without having children. I have even been told by family that there is no point in living if you don't have kids.


I think wanting to have children is a great thing but women who choose not to should not be frowned upon. Choosing whether or not to have children is a personal decision, not public territory.


One thing I hate to hear is when woman or a couple who chooses not to have kids are deemed "selfish". On the other hand women who choose to have kids have also been called selfish. It is not more selfish to choose not to have kids than to have them. These are both lifestyle choices we are free to make and benefit from them in different ways.


Please read this interesting article posted above and all the comments made. 

Friday, May 13, 2011

Love your BODY

Continuing to focus on body issues. Why? Well because I think its one of the greatest personal issues facing women today. Because it affects  me daily, because its a part of my life. I mean these body issues extend to men too of course. All human beings, male and female alike should not feel like they are not good enough or are undeserving because of a number on a scale or a pants.


Check this out! , this is a link with something I really think is so true. Women, we should stop prejudging ourselves based on what we think others may be thinking of us. Speaking of ourselves in negative ways concerning our bodies not only makes others more aware or our perceived imperfections but also makes us look unconfident. Choose to be comfortable in your own skin.


How often do we look at other women, our size or bigger and think... "wow she looks great!" . Yet when we look in the mirror we can't say the same about ourselves. We cant see the beauty we see in others in ourselves. We are much more judgmental of ourselves. Or how often do we see very slim women and think.."wow I wished I looked like that. if i did i would be able to look great in that outfit". 


Let's make an active attempt to stop all this negativity. Look in the mirror in the morning and always start the day thinking something positive about yourself and your body. If you don't love your body no one will. NO one else can make you love your body but you.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Think for yourself...

Today's post is short and sweet. Just a little something to think of:


Think for yourself. Make your own decisions. Don't feel trapped to a certain lifestyle purely because you are a woman. Don't allow yourself to rationalize people trying to control your life as your "duty". Your opinion matters! It's your life, you only have one shot, make sure you are living it  your way, for you and those you love. Don't allow yourself to live with regrets.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Bodies of All types

Last night I was looking through one of my favourite websites for selling clothes. I know that this website tends to focus on the smaller body types. I mean all their clothes are modeled by size S - M (max) women, and thats fine and all but I was so disappointed yesterday. Upon seeing that there was a sale on Swimsuits on the front page, I went to check it out ( without any real interest in purchasing anything). Swimsuits are a relatively new addition to the website. The website for the most part focuses on selling clothes to women S-M and to some extent L. So when I went on that swim suit page, why exactly was I surprised when I went on the swimsuit page to see almost 70 swimsuits available in sizes S-L and a total of TWO, yes 2!!!!!?? bathing suits available for "plus sized" women. And a total of about 5 coverup options for the plus sized woman yet NO cover up options for the smaller sizes. 


Yes it tends to be true that the plus sized woman want to cover up more than a "normal sized" woman. But is there something about a plus sized woman that should be covered up? To me watching this was not only disheartening but it was a shout out to me that the view of fatter or plus sized women is really quite skewed.




We all fall victim to laughing at bigger women from time to time. Heck, we fall victim to feeling ashamed and undeserving if we happen to be one of those plus sized women. Shopping in situations like this really aggravates a feeling of self loathing and can even be plain depressing.


A couple of months ago a male coworker of mine pointed out that a larger female worker's underwear was showing and was laughing at her histerically and commenting on how "disturbing" it was considering the size of her buttocks. Whilst I obviously don't suggest or condone wearing something at work that would cause that to happen, at the same time I know if the woman hadn't been the size that she was and was perhaps slimmer then he would have had nothing to laugh at; in fact he would have probably liked it.


WHY the double standards?


I went shopping for a bathing suit relatively recently myself. I can wear a variety of sizes depending upon the bathing suit, material etc. So this can range from Medium to XL. I tried on about 5 pieces. I was determined to find a 2 piece bikini ( for the first time EVER) that I felt good in. Every piece I tried on, the top piece was either just right or slightly bigger than I needed and the bottom piece was too small. The thing about these standardized commercial sizes is that NOT every woman fits into this generic mold. Some women are bigger on the bottom, others bigger on top; some are tall, others are short. We need to make commercial clothing more accessible to women of all shapes and sizes. We are all unique. When we go shopping and are faced with sizes that don't fit, it is disheartening to say the least. In the end I ended up buying a whole piece with the sides of it cut out. Very sexy but I wasn't sold on it in the store. Only when I got home did I figure it was the best choice for me. Sexy but with the little more coverage that I wanted. Just because I got one ( a bathing suit) that I liked doesn't mean I wasn't upset that the XL bottom pieces were too small for me and the L top pieces too big. 


This has been a bit one sided so far in my references to fatter women but I am not just referring to clothes for more voluptuous women. I am talking about clothing availability to taller women, and especially shorter women. I cannot count the number of times I have either not bought something or simply been frustrated with a purchase knowing that no matter what I am going to have to hem it. Not all women are tall and slim.Nothing is wrong with tall and slim, all bodies are beautiful but there must be a balance.


I have a really good friend who is smaller, She can wear a Small to a XSmall. Shopping is a stressful and a saddening affair for her too. Relatively recently we went into a store that had a sale. Everything $10 US. Awesome..we were so excited. When we went in we realized that most of the clothes were Medium -Large. Even the Smalls were actually quite big. She was very sad and disheartened. I realized then that other women had issues with finding the "right size" when shopping.  I guess I didn't really realize it extended to smaller women too. Some women who are short and petite are forced to shop in the children's section. Really? The children's department? Something needs to be done about this ladies. We need to say to these clothing companies that this is not right. That all women of all sizes are important and need to be counted. We shouldn't have to settle. We don't fit into a little box of what we should look like. But thats ok because we love who we are and we are beautiful.


There is no NORMAL SIZE, THERE IS no PLUS size. There is only human. We are all women! We are all different, We all have different body shapes. There should be clothes readily available to all of us in all sizes. Buying clothing should not be a stressful ordeal.


LOVE YOUR BODY, even when the commercial world tries to tell you you shouldn't ; love it anyway. YOU ARE DESERVING! YOU only have one life to live and only ONE body to live it in. LOVE IT.





Monday, May 9, 2011

Treatment of Women across the globe

Whilst we focus on the difficulties women face in our region there are women in places like India and China that don't even get a chance at life purely because they are female. This is a great tragedy. I remember reading about this when I was a child. Now I am 24 and it's disheartening to believe its still happening. It's gotten so bad that they have had to ban sex determination through the ultrasound for fear the female children will be aborted. When they are born they may suffer from malnutrition or are poorly treated. Women are simply not valued in these places. This is a prime example of the damage of a fanatical patriarchal society.


Its amazing that in this day all across the world we have endless examples of how women are viewed as second class citizens at best. This is just one example. In this case this is a combination of a cultural / societal and to some extent religious phenomenon. But there are also several instances where religion plays a large role in elevating the man and devaluing the woman. A later post will deal a bit with that. Until then, Check out this article concerning the treatment of women in some parts of India:


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42892710/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia 

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Thought of the week: Love yourself

 Love yourself because of who you are .....not in spite of.


There are so many things we often wish we could change about ourselves: from what we look like to our personality to the things we like and dislike. Maybe we are too emotional or maybe we are too negative. This week try to love yourself just for who you are. That's not to say you can't change yourself for the better but I challenge you to wake up this week and instead of thinking something negative about yourself , think something positive. Love yourself for who you are because you are great just that way. Try to refrain from saying things like "well I'm not smart but Im pretty" or "Well....I look ok today even though I've gained some weight". Stop buffering positive comments with negative ones. Rather, choose only positive views of yourself . "I look great today!" "I deserve that promotion!". Remember YOU ARE DESERVING!


Of course we will slip up and from time to time the negativity may kick in, but hey we make mistakes. Just take each day at a time trying to love yourself more each day. Why? Because you deserve it, and studies show we are almost always more critical of ourselves than others.  Lets start this week only thinking great things about ourselves!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

On Motherhood

Tomorrow is Mother's day. We will be celebrating our mothers and showing them how much they mean to us for all they have done for us. Being a mother is certainly not the easiest of tasks. Is motherhood is a responsibilty of women; is it a choice - to decide to have children, or is having children a requirement of womanhood. 


When a woman rarely replies that they do not wish to have children , they are looked at in a shocked and almost disgusted manner. Society expects that all women want to have kids...that yearning, to well....mother is supposedly part of everywoman and thus the only way women are supposedly fulfilled is through having children. Often people perceive that women who do not want to have kids are "selfish". Even though men who do not wish to have kids are very rarely looked upon with similar disdain. 


Is a woman who chooses not to have children selfish? 
In my opinion it is not our right to judge a woman's personal decision to either have or not have children. Not having children does not make a woman less of a WOMAN; Neither does it make her less valuable to society. 


I think if we look impartially we can see that there is "selfishness" in both choosing to have kids , as well as choosing not to have kids. But this depends on why we are deciding to have kids or not have kids.
The most important thing is that we are allowed to make this decision. Having children is a personal choice and should always be so. 

Friday, May 6, 2011

"Make me a sandwich!"

Between yesterday and today I was confronted with a "joke"  by two separate males  on two separate occasions. With a smirk on their face, out of nowhere they looked at me and smugly exclaimed " make me a sandwich!". I knew it was a joke and they both meant it in jest and yes I do have a sense of humor. But jokes aside I was upset. When I reacted less than amused they appeared shocked at my annoyance. "It was just a joke! Why do you get so angry about that!?", was more or less the response of both in each occurance.

Men please be aware that whilst that joke is meant in jest it does show underlying sexist sentiments not only in yourself but also in our society. Would a woman look to a man and make such an exclaimation or something similar ? If we said in jest "go fix a car! " "Go watch sports!" would you like it? Well yes , I'm certain men would have no problem with it. Why is that? Well perhaps the stigma of the phrase "get me a sandwich" comes from years of associating women with cooking and subservience to men. "Make me a sandwich", a simple silly exclamation, expresses the dominance of men in a joking way, suggesting that the place of a woman is in the kitchen. 

Is this uptight of me to analyze a joke made in good humor? I beg to differ. I rather suggest that even these small , fleeting comments made without regard are in fact the clear symbol of deep rooted sexism especially when the male in question is unable to see the atttached sexism of the statement.


What do you think?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Motherhood

Last night I went to see leatherback turtles nest in Matura, Trinidad. That was about the 4th-5th time I ever went. Its one of my favourite 'touristy' / nature related things to do in Trinidad. Every time I am filled with wonder and awe at the amazingness of life. This time was no different. Watching the mother leatherback turtle go through all that effort to lay her eggs caused me to reflect on this blog. Or rather this blog caused me to reflect deeper on this MOTHER, this woman.


Devotedly the female leatherback turtle drags her heavy body up the shore of the beach, finds a place she wants to lay her eggs and then with her back flippers alone creates a hole large enough and deep enough to deposit her eggs which come about 80-100 or so at a time. During the process of laying her eggs she falls into a trance like state that is so intense that human beings can touch her at this time and she will not move, she will continue to deposit her eggs unflinchingly. After this arduous task she covers up her eggs, again just by using her back legs to cover back the hole she inititally made. After all this is completed she does what is known as "camouflaging". In essence she trys to camouflage the hole so that predators cant find it. All this is instinctual to her. If for any reason upon returning to the water she has reason to fear her babies aren't completely safe...back up the shore she goes to camouflage again ..even if it isnt in the right spot. Her determination to protect her babies is essential. This whole process takes 2-3 hours. She will repeat this again in the next 9-10 days and this will repeat itself a total of 5-7 times in a nesting season.


In about 2 months her eggs would have incubated and they will hatch. Out of each clutch (batch of eggs) about one will survive to adulthood. She will never see these children she spent so long and so much effort to give birth to. She will never reep the rewards of motherhood. For her motherhood is not a choice, it is a necessity. It is a duty to her species. It is her efforts alone that ensure the survival of her species.


This whole experience has made me relfect upon motherhood. What is motherhood really? Is it purely the physcial creation of another creature/being as with these beautiful creatures? Or is it something more? Is motherhood a duty or a choice.. should it be considered a duty? Well certainly our species is under no direct threat of extinction. How do you view motherhood, what does it mean to you? What does it mean to be a mother?


Photobucket

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Beauty/Body Image/ Body Love

What is BEAUTY?
Everyday we are faced with or rather bombarded by image upon image of what is considered "beauty" in todays world. The media fuels the concept of beauty. The image is one of thiness. It leaves me wondering:
Who is it exactly that has the authority to define beauty? Concepts of beauty and "perfection" have always changed with the times and with place. We have no reason to believe that 20 years from now , our concept of beauty will not be very different from what it is now.


The issue of beauty as thinness is quite complex, much more than it seems.
Is it an issue of  HEALTH
health= thiness therefore beauty= health=thinness ???
OR is it more superficial?


There also is the whole question of whether or not creating an ideal that is hard and even impossible to achieve for most women is made by the fashion and cosmetic industry in order to promote the sale of its products. By creating a feel of lacking, being insufficient ( not pretty enough, not thin enough, not young enough) women are meant to feel they need to be better. they need that face cream, they need to fit into that dress!


Art and photography has always been in a sense, whether directly or more subtly, a documentary of humanity at various points in time. If we compare imagery of women as portrayed in the past to now. The difference is astounding. When I walked theough the National Gallery of Art ( Washington) recently I was awed by the various concepts of beauty. From the chizzled, muscular , bulky bodies to more shapely, thick yet soft forms. The art alone was a testament to the change in the concept of beauty with time. If we compare these images alone with what we see today on billboards, magazines, advertisments then the comparison is almost unreal.


Here are some of the pictures I took of art at the museum:


PhotobucketPhotobucket












A movie I really enjoyed that I remembered whilst writing this is "Real Women Have Curves" (2002). It deals with body image issues, concepts of beauty and the role weight plays in it all. Are larger women beautiful? Is accepting yourself as a bigger woman a cop out from actively trying to be healthier and where is the line that divides it all?






For me I have always associated a certain stigma to the word FAT. Fat has always had for me a negative connotation. Nobody ever spoke of being Fat in a good light. To me the word always had some kind of hateful feeling attached to it. Does anyone even use fat as a compliment? Yet we hear " wow look how thin you got!" all the time. Is something wrong with this? Is it purely because fat is associated with poor health or is there something more to it? The term to me has taken on a derogatory meaning similar to the way "gay" may be used negatively. It is a means of separating someone from yourself. To me it seems to be a way to validate oneself through putting down another. Whilst in describing a person it may be true that they are overweight and indeed "fat". But must the word "Fat" always come with a sense of spite , anger and even humor at another's expense.


This brings to mind something that happened to me the other day. Well I shouldnt say happened , its more of one of those "AHhaha" moments. I too have fallen into the great desire to be not thin but a bit less curvaceous lets say. I have rid my diet of any drink that is sugar infused ( for the most part). This has helped a lot even when I splurge on junk. However I find that I just need that sweet in my diet and cant let it go. A couple of years ago I started using artificial sweetner to give me at least that physcological illusion of sugar. However, I find that over time I have become overly dependant upon it. I am continually reminded by my friends and family how unhealthy it is. Yet my usual causal response is
"well at least i will die thin and happy". I have been saying this for years as my retort. Not once, in those 4 years did I think twice about the meaning of it. But somehow last week as I repeated it, something else clicked in my head. I found myself thinking "Wait wait just a second!" "Am I really ok with sacrificing myself, my health and my life for the potential of being 'thin'" And does thinness even guarantee happiness? For so long I had defined my happiness in terms of the size pants I wear and I know to a great extent I still do. But when did it happen that I would rather choose thinness over health and when did this superficiality take over the way I think about and value myself. It was then that I realised that something had to be done about this, and I'm not just talking about my unhealthy eating practices like this, I am talking about how I and other people (especially women) perceive themselves through their bodies.
For a long time I was postponing this blog out of my insecurities and fears of what people might think but I realised then more than ever the need for converstation. The need for support. The need to come together and understand who we are as women and for those that are male to understand the women in our lives better.


Nothing is wrong with being thin. There are healthy thin women and unhealthy thin women, there are healthy fat women and unhealthy fat women. In my opinion : Thin is beautiful and Fat is beautiful! It is a struggle to adopt this view in a society where we constantly put ourselves and each other under the microscope for any possible imperfection. I think rather than criticize ourselves and others based on our bodies we must first come to accept ours for what it is: its strengths and its weaknesses. Only though self acceptance and body love can we promote the good self esteem that then leads to the acceptance of others. If we accept ourselves we have no reason to put down others to feel better about ourselves! Though we all fall victim to it from time to time I suggest we all try our best not to judge someone purely by the way they look; the size they wear. There is so much more to a person than that!


Tell me : What is your concept of beauty? What role do you think weight plays in beauty? In your country what is a sign of beauty? Do you think self acceptance and love should be promoted over the need to be thin or healthy? What is your opinion on FAT? What role does love and body acceptance play in all this?


Final Thought:
LOVE YOURSELF. ACCEPT YOURSELF. DON'T JUDGE YOURSELF BY OTHERS JUDGEMENTS. No matter what size you wear LOVE AND ACCEPT YOUR BODY! Nothing is wrong with wanting to change it , but do it for you and do it in a healthy manner!

Monday, May 2, 2011

WE are Woman: Beginnings

This blog began as a concept earlier this year, but perhaps it has been a long time in the making. I will begin first of all with a little background about me. I am an artist born and currently living in Trinidad, an island in the Caribbean.


I suppose my interest in understanding myself as woman began about 4 years ago. After going away to college in New York, miles away from home I had a lot of opportunity to try to understand myself and who I was in the world. I developed very strong feelings that eventually developed into strong views about myself and who I am as a woman. I became more aware of how other women feel and interact with each other as well as with men  and the complexity of feelings they feel towards themselves.
I also began to observe how they were both treated and viewed by men.


When I describe myself I say that I am a woman with strong female views. I prefer to reject labels that seek to define us because I believe labels only lead to separation rather than integration. It is truly sad that Feminism has long been viewed negatively. I cannot count the times I have dropped the F word and almost instantaneously seen the look of disgust on the face of men and women alike. Whilst I would not like to disassociate myself and "We are Woman" with the term, I would like to allow for an open mind as we focus on understanding ourselves and the women that shape our lives.


Much of my inspiration for this blog came from my current body of art, which focuses on the female and using that as a platform to understand myself and all women better. On a even more personal level I felt that need to connect to others. As mother's day approaches I find it no better time to begin this blog and hope that it becomes a place of constructive conversation about ourselves and all the women that surround us.


Some issues this blog will focus on :
* Relationships and Woman
* Woman and motherhood
* Woman and equality
* Woman and body issues
* Woman in the media
* Negative views of Woman
* Perceptions of Women by men