ESTHER AND FEMINISM
{L'article en version française}
Our first experience in Italy as workawayers was hosted by an amazing woman, Esther.
- ESTHER -
I chose writing about her because I think she is a really courageous and inspiring person. Before arriving to Italy, this Swiss woman lived in a trailer. Sometimes, over the winter, travelled abroad. She was sharing this way of life with a dozen of friends.
After 15 years roaming around, and with her natural spontaneity, she decided to embark on a new adventure:
building and renovating an old Italian house. By then, she didn’t know anyone or either spoke the language
Trusting her feelings of independence and freedom, she led this superb project by herself. Unfortunately, this is not a detail. Often, when a woman lives alone, she get judged by the society, and Esther, despite of her joyful character, encountered many of those situations. Misogynistic stories are still on sometimes in her life butEsther did not give up and continued going outside, in the pubs, to meet the locals.This is how she found a way to learn the language and especially a place where her currently friendships kicked off.
She definitely felt powerless and less credible when having a discussion only due to the fact of being a woman. For exemple she told us this story: after settling in her new place, she contacted a man who was going to renovate a part of her house. She was communicating him her ideas about how she wanted the work to be done and at some point the man stopped listening to her. Eventually she had to call a male friend to make the man come to his senses and follow the instructions.
I wouldn’t want to generalise about male gender, nevertheless this situation highlights the difficulties that this woman encountered, that she still faces, and that can also happen to many other nowadays. Personally I faced many misogynistic stories and situations in my life and I believe all women were one day victims of this kind of discrimination.
I think it is important to talk about theses abnormal stories because it is through this communication that the archaic vision of woman can be overcome.
- MODERN WITCHES -
This story of a woman choosing to live alone echoes a very interesting book: "Sorcières,
la puissance invaincue des femmes" (Witches, The unconquered power of women) written by Mona Chollet. The work of this essayist is about the condition of women. In her latest book, which I'm talking about here, she explores the image of the witch in the Renaissance times of Europe and its consequences on today's independent women: the single or widow woman, the childless woman and the elderly woman.
In the first chapter, dealing with single women, she evokes the fear and the feeling of imbalance that provokes an independent woman without male subordination in the society.
Thus, techniques are being put into place in our society to make them renounce, as the denigration of their appearance: "Feminist claims would only hide the bitterness and frustration of ugly people" (p43), or by giving them an assisted image: "During his campaign to become governor of Florida in 1994, Jeb Bush felt that those on welfare would do better "to take control of their lives and find a husband."" (p46).
The threat of a failed life that arouses fear is also used: "She dreads the twilight, that painful moment when the darkness envelops the city and where the lights come on one by one in the cozy kitchens" (p59).
Moreover, the image of the cat lady is still widespread: "the cat is the witch's" familiar [...] spirit" [...] attached to witch" (p57).
In this part, she also mentions claims and advances in feminism such as the use of the acronym "Ms" on the American federal documents; a title that does not designate any marital status.
The second chapter mentions the difficulties to be accepted of women who doesn’t want a child. According to our archaic image of the woman, her deepest identity would be to want children and raise them. "We have become accustomed to hear metaphors as "the biological clock "[...] as mere neutral and factual descriptions of the human body." (p104).
Anti-abortion activists, Catholicism and society in general use the same weapons against childless women as for unmarried women: fear, guilt, blackmail and denigration.
So that they would only be egocentrics, full of hatred and bitterness towards mothers and children, "like witches devouring small bodies roasted during the Sabbath" (p110). They will die alone, sad and full of regret, having had a life empty of meaning.
As you can imagine, the reality is different 😌. Of course, the reasons are different for each woman but they overlap.
Some of them follow their thirst for freedom, spontaneity and personal fullfilment. "This choice [...] authorizes the excess, the immoderation: an orgy of time and freedom for themselves, which they can explore, in which they can roll themselves until being breathless" (p95-96) .
The author also speaks of an act of emancipation and equality with men. The motive can simply be economic.
The present and future ecological crisis can also cool any desire for offspring. Mona Chollet testifies: "I could not add a member to society when it has so spectacularly failed to establish a harmonious relationship to its vital environment and seems so good at destroying entirely" (p99).
In the third chapter, the essayist examines society's vision of the elderly woman as a fallen member of the feminine gender. Like merchandise, women would subject to planned obsolescence.
Indeed, over time, the woman would lose her main assets: her beauty and fertility. Mona Cholet demonstrates that only the aging of woman is considered ugly; White hair is accepted for males as a sign of wisdom but is considered for women as a form of "letting go". She is then considered as an asexual being, who must give up her sensuality and desire for seduction.
Behind these prejudices hides a fear, "the fear that always arouses a woman when she "does not exist only to create other beings and take care of them, but also to create herself and take care of herself "" (p145). Because, as she gets older, a woman asserts herself, discovers her sexuality, does not submit herself and abandons her fears.
Also, when a mature woman manifests her convictions, the author explains that she is easily considered as a shrew, an arrogant, a harpy:
"If witch hunts particularly targeted older women, it is because they showed intolerable insurance." (p156).
- A MUTUAL AID AND A REVOLT OF WOMEN -
All over the world women are meeting, exchanging about their oppressions, freeing themselves of their fears and making their disagreement known.
This movement comes in different forms: famous feminist associations struggle to reduce these gender inequalities (such as in France, le Planning Familial and le Collectif national pour les droits des femmes). Recently, the #NousToutes movement organized protests about violence against women on March 8th (International Women's Rights Day) and on November 23rd of 2018. They are currently preparing a national meeting, on the 6th and 7th July, to organize the next walk of November 23rd of 2019 (registration here if you are interested, women and men are welcome 😉).
Besides, woman are taking part in ritualized meetings such as women's circles or red tents. These places allow women to express themselves in a non-mixed way.
On social networks, many exchanges are built around testimonials. On Twitter, the famous hashtags #BalanceTonPorc and #MeToo were followed by many reactions. On Facebook, many feminist groups open to women and men are setting up (I know for example the groups "Répondons !" (Let's Respond !) and "Les féministes par inadvertance" (Feminists inadvertently)).
In the cultural milieu, feminism is also present. I can talk about Titiou Locoq's novel "Les Morues", Mona Cholet's essay "Beauté Fatale, les nouveaux visages d'une aliénation féminine" (Beauty fatal, The new faces of a woman's alienation) or Cy's comic book "Le vrai sexe de la vraie vie" (The true sex of real life).
I would like to conclude this article with a quote chosen by Mona Cholet; it comes from Susan Sontag, an American essayist and activist. I hope it will inspire you. 😉
"Women have another option. They can aspire to be wise, not merely nice; to be competent, not merely helpful; to be strong, not merely graceful; to be ambitious for themselves, not merely for themselves in relation to men and children. They can let themselves age naturally and without embarrassment, actively protesting and disobeying the conventions that stem from this society’s double standard about again. Instead of being girls, girls as long as possible, who then age humiliatingly into middle-aged women, they can become women much earlier – and remain active adults, enjoying the long, erotic career of which women are capable, far longer. Women should allow their faces to show the lives they have lived. Women should tell the truth." (p176).
--------------------------------
/BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES/
Mona Cholet, Sorcières, la puissance invaincue des femmes, 2018
Mona Cholet, Beauté Fatale, les nouveaux visages d'une aliénation féminine, 2015
Titiou Lecoq, Les Morues, 2011
Cy, Le vrai sexe de la vraie vie, 2016
Our first experience in Italy as workawayers was hosted by an amazing woman, Esther.
- ESTHER -
After 15 years roaming around, and with her natural spontaneity, she decided to embark on a new adventure:
building and renovating an old Italian house. By then, she didn’t know anyone or either spoke the language
Trusting her feelings of independence and freedom, she led this superb project by herself. Unfortunately, this is not a detail. Often, when a woman lives alone, she get judged by the society, and Esther, despite of her joyful character, encountered many of those situations. Misogynistic stories are still on sometimes in her life butEsther did not give up and continued going outside, in the pubs, to meet the locals.This is how she found a way to learn the language and especially a place where her currently friendships kicked off.
She definitely felt powerless and less credible when having a discussion only due to the fact of being a woman. For exemple she told us this story: after settling in her new place, she contacted a man who was going to renovate a part of her house. She was communicating him her ideas about how she wanted the work to be done and at some point the man stopped listening to her. Eventually she had to call a male friend to make the man come to his senses and follow the instructions.
I wouldn’t want to generalise about male gender, nevertheless this situation highlights the difficulties that this woman encountered, that she still faces, and that can also happen to many other nowadays. Personally I faced many misogynistic stories and situations in my life and I believe all women were one day victims of this kind of discrimination.
I think it is important to talk about theses abnormal stories because it is through this communication that the archaic vision of woman can be overcome.
- MODERN WITCHES -
la puissance invaincue des femmes" (Witches, The unconquered power of women) written by Mona Chollet. The work of this essayist is about the condition of women. In her latest book, which I'm talking about here, she explores the image of the witch in the Renaissance times of Europe and its consequences on today's independent women: the single or widow woman, the childless woman and the elderly woman.
In the first chapter, dealing with single women, she evokes the fear and the feeling of imbalance that provokes an independent woman without male subordination in the society.
Thus, techniques are being put into place in our society to make them renounce, as the denigration of their appearance: "Feminist claims would only hide the bitterness and frustration of ugly people" (p43), or by giving them an assisted image: "During his campaign to become governor of Florida in 1994, Jeb Bush felt that those on welfare would do better "to take control of their lives and find a husband."" (p46).
The threat of a failed life that arouses fear is also used: "She dreads the twilight, that painful moment when the darkness envelops the city and where the lights come on one by one in the cozy kitchens" (p59).
Moreover, the image of the cat lady is still widespread: "the cat is the witch's" familiar [...] spirit" [...] attached to witch" (p57).
In this part, she also mentions claims and advances in feminism such as the use of the acronym "Ms" on the American federal documents; a title that does not designate any marital status.
The second chapter mentions the difficulties to be accepted of women who doesn’t want a child. According to our archaic image of the woman, her deepest identity would be to want children and raise them. "We have become accustomed to hear metaphors as "the biological clock "[...] as mere neutral and factual descriptions of the human body." (p104).
Anti-abortion activists, Catholicism and society in general use the same weapons against childless women as for unmarried women: fear, guilt, blackmail and denigration.
So that they would only be egocentrics, full of hatred and bitterness towards mothers and children, "like witches devouring small bodies roasted during the Sabbath" (p110). They will die alone, sad and full of regret, having had a life empty of meaning.
As you can imagine, the reality is different 😌. Of course, the reasons are different for each woman but they overlap.
Some of them follow their thirst for freedom, spontaneity and personal fullfilment. "This choice [...] authorizes the excess, the immoderation: an orgy of time and freedom for themselves, which they can explore, in which they can roll themselves until being breathless" (p95-96) .
The author also speaks of an act of emancipation and equality with men. The motive can simply be economic.
The present and future ecological crisis can also cool any desire for offspring. Mona Chollet testifies: "I could not add a member to society when it has so spectacularly failed to establish a harmonious relationship to its vital environment and seems so good at destroying entirely" (p99).
In the third chapter, the essayist examines society's vision of the elderly woman as a fallen member of the feminine gender. Like merchandise, women would subject to planned obsolescence.
Indeed, over time, the woman would lose her main assets: her beauty and fertility. Mona Cholet demonstrates that only the aging of woman is considered ugly; White hair is accepted for males as a sign of wisdom but is considered for women as a form of "letting go". She is then considered as an asexual being, who must give up her sensuality and desire for seduction.
Behind these prejudices hides a fear, "the fear that always arouses a woman when she "does not exist only to create other beings and take care of them, but also to create herself and take care of herself "" (p145). Because, as she gets older, a woman asserts herself, discovers her sexuality, does not submit herself and abandons her fears.
Also, when a mature woman manifests her convictions, the author explains that she is easily considered as a shrew, an arrogant, a harpy:
"If witch hunts particularly targeted older women, it is because they showed intolerable insurance." (p156).
- A MUTUAL AID AND A REVOLT OF WOMEN -
All over the world women are meeting, exchanging about their oppressions, freeing themselves of their fears and making their disagreement known.
This movement comes in different forms: famous feminist associations struggle to reduce these gender inequalities (such as in France, le Planning Familial and le Collectif national pour les droits des femmes). Recently, the #NousToutes movement organized protests about violence against women on March 8th (International Women's Rights Day) and on November 23rd of 2018. They are currently preparing a national meeting, on the 6th and 7th July, to organize the next walk of November 23rd of 2019 (registration here if you are interested, women and men are welcome 😉).
Besides, woman are taking part in ritualized meetings such as women's circles or red tents. These places allow women to express themselves in a non-mixed way.
On social networks, many exchanges are built around testimonials. On Twitter, the famous hashtags #BalanceTonPorc and #MeToo were followed by many reactions. On Facebook, many feminist groups open to women and men are setting up (I know for example the groups "Répondons !" (Let's Respond !) and "Les féministes par inadvertance" (Feminists inadvertently)).
In the cultural milieu, feminism is also present. I can talk about Titiou Locoq's novel "Les Morues", Mona Cholet's essay "Beauté Fatale, les nouveaux visages d'une aliénation féminine" (Beauty fatal, The new faces of a woman's alienation) or Cy's comic book "Le vrai sexe de la vraie vie" (The true sex of real life).
I would like to conclude this article with a quote chosen by Mona Cholet; it comes from Susan Sontag, an American essayist and activist. I hope it will inspire you. 😉
"Women have another option. They can aspire to be wise, not merely nice; to be competent, not merely helpful; to be strong, not merely graceful; to be ambitious for themselves, not merely for themselves in relation to men and children. They can let themselves age naturally and without embarrassment, actively protesting and disobeying the conventions that stem from this society’s double standard about again. Instead of being girls, girls as long as possible, who then age humiliatingly into middle-aged women, they can become women much earlier – and remain active adults, enjoying the long, erotic career of which women are capable, far longer. Women should allow their faces to show the lives they have lived. Women should tell the truth." (p176).
--------------------------------
/BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES/
Mona Cholet, Sorcières, la puissance invaincue des femmes, 2018
Mona Cholet, Beauté Fatale, les nouveaux visages d'une aliénation féminine, 2015
Titiou Lecoq, Les Morues, 2011
Cy, Le vrai sexe de la vraie vie, 2016
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