I just finished revising my novella "The Witch's Familiar" and e-mailed the latest draft to the editor of Wormhole Electric, a new science fiction and fantasy magazine. The stories are published in serial form, divided into seven episodes. If I understand the magazine correctly, an issue with the beginning of the story will be published for free online, and all subsequent episodes are available to purchase as e-books.
http://wormholeelectric.com/
What a sigh of relief.
Next I need to do a developmental edit for an Ooligan student and start writing another long story/novella to submit to Wormhole Electric in January, but I've got a cold and will soon be napping.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Cheers Script from my Undergraduate Years
The following is one of the assignments from my scriptwriting class (1993). I remember we were assigned to write a script for the TV show Cheers—specifically with the theme “Cliff swears off beer” or something like that. I wasn’t that familiar with the show, but we watched an episode in class and I interviewed my mother about it. My friend Alice hated Cheers so much (and I relate—the characters are so mean) that she killed them all off at the end of her episode; if I recall correctly, a bomb was responsible.
CHEERS EPISODE
SCENE: The Cheers bar. SAM, WOODY, and REBECCA behind bar, CARLA waiting on customers, FRASER at a table, CLIFF sitting next to NORM’s empty bar stool and carrying on a conversation with an imaginary NORM.
CLIFF: Hey, ol’ buddy, seen any good games lately?...Yeah? Did they win? 20 to nothing…. That’s amazing, Norm.
WOODY (to Sam): Gee, Norm hasn’t been here for almost a week. I wonder what’s up with him.
SAM: I don’t know, but I hope he comes here before Cliff starts talking to a big rabbit named Harvey.
CARLA: Maybe Norm fell over and he can’t get up. He’s just rolling around on the floor, trying to reach for a beer.
SAM: Could be Vera wants kids again. SHE might have him chained to the bed.
CARLA: Who’d she hire to help her chain him up? Arnold Schwarzenager?
NORM enters, anxiously glancing behind and looking around out of the corner of his eye, as though he thinks someone is chasing him.
CHORUS: Norm!
SAM: Hey, there he is.
CLIFF: Hi there, Norm. Gosh, there’s two of you. I thought you were just here…
NORM sits at his customary spot next to CLIFF.
SAM: What’ll it be, Norm, the usual?
NORM: I…I…
NORM beckons to SAM to come closer, and SAM leans over bar in front of NORM.
NORM: I gotta have a beer, Sam. NO, make it two beers. No, three.
REBECCA: Norm, are you all right? You’re not getting neurotic on us, are you?
NORM: I gotta have a beer. I gotta.
SAM: Ok.
SAM gives NORM a beer.
NORM: A whole week without beer.
CARLA: Gee, why didn’t I see that on the news last night?
SAM: Some reason why you haven’t had any beer?
NORM: I can’t take it anymore. That woman’s driving me crazy.
CLIFF: What—who’s driving you crazy? Vera?
NORM: No, her mom. Her mom’s visiting us from New York. She says if I don’t quite drinking, she’ll write us out of her will. I haven’t had a drink since she came.
WOODY: Why’s she against your drinking?
NORM: She’s a tea-totaler. Ever since her husband was killed by a drunk driver a couple months ago.
WOODY: Well, that makes sense….
NORM: Just because her husband died, why should I suffer?
WOODY: Yeah, why should you?
NORM: She’s got a bunch of money saved up. I could use it.
REBECCA: Since when are you interested in money?
NORM: Without that money, I may have to go out and get a job.
CARLA: Yeah, I’d like to see that happen.
CLIFF: I wouldn’t let some crazy old hag stop me drinking. She’s not gonna know, so long as you’re here.
NORM: I sure hope not….
CLIFF: What’s that supposed to mean?
NORM: My mother-in-law’s got a built-in radar that goes off when I’m drinking alcohol.
SAM: Hold on, Norm. You’ve got to be kidding. Nobody’s got a built-in radar. That’s impossible.
HILDA, NORM’s mother-in-law, storms in and slams the door behind her. She stands in front of door and glares at NORM for a moment.
HILDA: Aha! I knew I’d find you at a bar! I could sense it five miles away. And you’ve got beer, too! I may have to change my will.
NORM: I—I’m not drinking any beer. (He quickly shoves his beer toward CLIFF.) I—I was just about to order for some cranberry juice. Sam, I’d like a mug of cranberry juice. Make it a keg. On the rocks.
SAM: Ah, sure Norm.
SAM gets a bottle of cranberry juice out from under the counter. He glances at HILDA, makes sure she’s watching, gets out a glass, and pours the juice in clear sight of HILDA.
HILDA: That’s more like it. I’ll have one of those too.
SAM pours HILDA a tumbler of cranberry juice, and she sits near NORM. She gulps the drink down really fast. She then sets the tumbler down.
HILDA: Well, sonny, are you ready to go home to your wife?
NORM: Ah…
HILDA: Just as I thought. Let’s go.
HILDA slaps some money on the counter before she and NORM leave. Everyone remaining is frozen and silent for a moment.
CLIFF: Gosh. Poor old buddy. That’s awful.
WOODY: Yeah, I feel real sorry for him. Want another beer?
CLIFF: Nah, I don’t think I could drink any more, after seeing such a terrible scene….Sure, just one more.
REBECCA: That’s an idea. If Norm can quite drinking—
CARLA: He may quit living.
REBECCA: If Norm can quit drinking, we can all show that we’re strong, self-respecting, self-possessed human beings who can stand on our own two feet. Let’s each give up something.
FRASER: And those of us who are incapable of proving that we’re strong, self-respecting, self-possessed human beings who can stand on our own two feet—can make the greatest possible effort to convince the rest of us that they are strong, self-respecting, self-possessed human beings who can stand on their own two feet.
WOODY: Could you say that once more?
FRASER: No. Why, do you like the rhythm?
WOODY: No, I just…had a piece of wax plugging up my ear.
SAM: Hey, we could do this as a bet. Whoever survives the longest wins twenty bucks. We can all chip in. Let’s see who’s man enough to go through with it.
REBECCA: Or woman enough.
CLIFF: Well, I guess I could give up alcohol. Gee, I sure feel sorry for poor Norm. What are the rest of you going to give up?
REBECCA: I’ll…I’ll give up…chocolate.
SAM takes a huge box of chocolates out from under the counter, drops it on the counter, opens it, and offers it to everyone, under REBECCA’s nose. She stares, grabbing the edge of the counter. SAM pops a chocolate into his mouth and chews, savoring, making “mmmmm” noises.
REBECCA: You are evil, spiteful and malicious. You also have horrible table manners.
SAM: What’s wrong? Not woman enough to go through with this?
REBECCA: On the contrary, Sam. I’m more woman than you’ll ever be.
CLIFF: It’s your turn, Woody.
WOODY: OK, I’ll have the kind with raspberry filling.
REBECCA (Trying to remain calm): He means, what are you giving up?
WOODY: Gosh, I guess I…well…
CARLA: Well? Say it.
WOODY: It’s…I guess it’s about time I give up…my teddy bear.
CARLA (laughing): Your teddy bear! Sure you don’t wanna give up diapers first?
SAM: Ah, come on. Give him credit for honesty.
CARLA: Well, Sam, you know what you’ve got to give up.
SAM: What?
CARLA leans over the counter across from SAM.
CARLA: You gotta give up chasing women.
SAM: Hey, wait a minute!
CHORUS: She’s right, Sam. Can’t back out now. (etc)
SAM: Hey, this isn’t fair.
REBECCA: Yes it is.
SAM: You’re all giving up little things….Like chocolate, and teddy bears…. You’re asking me to give up…a way of life.
REBECCA: It’s only temporary, you know. Or aren’t you man enough to do it?
CLIFF: Here, Sam. I’ll make it easier for you. I’ll give up women too.
CARLA: Oh, that makes a world of difference.
SAM: I don’t know…Aw, all right. For now.
SAM notices a stunning-looking WOMAN enter the bar.
SAM: I hope Norm’s mother-in-law goes home really soon…Your turn, Fraser. I’ll be right back….
SAM starts heading toward the WOMAN who just entered, but he runs up against CARLA.
CARLA: Back up, Sam. Keep your testosterone behind the counter.
SAM moves back behind the counter, glances resentfully at CARLA, and then listens to FRASER.
FRASER: Very well, then, it’s my turn. I’m willing to sacrifice. For the duration of this experiment, I’ll refrain from reading Elizabethan sonnets.
SAM: Ah, come on.
CARLA: Good idea. I’ll do the same.
REBECCA: Isn’t there something else you can give up?
FRASER: I do have tickets for Thursday’s performance of Wagner’s Das Ring des Nibelung. (Patting his breast pocket.) I could let my wife go see it without me….No, I couldn’t.
REBECCA: Yes, you could.
FRASER: I’ve been anticipating this for weeks. It’s a Viennese touring company.
CLIFF: We’re all giving up something. Do it for Norm.
FRASER: Ah, well, here. I shall be truly magnanimous, and let one of you enjoy the performance that I shall be unable to attend. Is anyone free Thursday night?
WOODY: I’ll hold it for you.
FRASER reluctantly hands ticket to WOODY.
REBECCA: You only have one ticket with you?
FRASER: My wife has the other ticket. I am willing to let her see the performance without me.
SAM: Should I frisk him?
CLIFF: Nah, we can take his word for it.
SAM: OK, who hasn’t given something up yet? Carla?
CARLA: What is this, Lent?
SAM: I know what you can give up.
CARLA: What do you have in mind—my virginity?
SAM: How about if you quit picking on people.
CARLA: You mean like—be nice?
SAM: That’s right.
CARLA gasps and chokes and carries on. Suddenly she’s perfectly calm.
CARLA: I can do it. No problem.
SCENE: A couple days later. WOODY is behind the counter, hugging a beer mug as though it were a teddy bear. FRASER is reading the libretto of the opera he expects to miss. CLIFF is on his customary stool, where he is drinking apple juice. REBECCA leans against the counter and smokes a cigarette, as she stares at the box of chocolate that is still in the same place. CARLA is serving drinks at a table. SAM is pouring drinks.
CLIFF: This apple juice isn’t bad. It looks like beer in my mug, but it’s so much more wholesome than beer. Fruit juice has all those nutrients in it, and this stuff is all natural. No sugar, no preservatives.
SAM notices a gorgeous WOMAN come in, and she winks at him.
SAM: Apple juice isn’t the only thing that’s natural.
CARLA, approaching the counter, opens her mouth to speak, but doesn’t say anything. She grips a stool as she resists the temptation to be mean.
CLIFF: It reminds me of a family picnic I went to when I was ten years old. My family showed up late and the only thing to drink was apple juice. I drank so much I got really sick and haven’t touched it since…I’ve gotta have a beer.
The WOMAN is at a table, ogling SAM, who ogles back at her while he starts nibbling on chocolates.
CLIFF: Sam, those chocolates aren’t as healthy as apple juice. Chocolates are full of sugar and caffeine, they’re bad for your teeth, and they prolong zits.
SAM pigs out on the chocolates, turning the WOMAN off. A male customer, presumably her HUSBAND, comes in and sits by her, while CARLA notices the way SAM is eating.
CARLA: I could say something about the wrong kind of appetite, but I’m nice, so I won’t.
A CUSTOMER of any gender comes in, sits on a bar stool, and notices the way WOODY is hugging the beer mug.
CUSTOMER (to CARLA): What’s wrong with him?
CARLA opens her mouth wide open, as if to speak, and doesn’t say anything for a moment.
CARLA: Beats me. Want a drink? There’s …a special on Scotch today.
NORM comes in, excited.
CHORUS: Norm!
NORM gets to his bar stool and thumps his hand on the counter.
NORM: Pour me a beer, Sam. My mother-in-law’s plane left twenty minutes ago. My tea-totaling days are over!
Everyone cheers and rushes to whatever they gave up.
CARLA (Refering to Norm): Better just get him his own barrel with a really big straw.
REBECCA: CHOCOLATE!
REBECCA runs to the box of chocolates on the counter and starts pigging out.
CARLA: Gee, I knew I should’ve put something poisonous in those candies.
CLIFF: I’ll have a beer too, Sam.
CARLA: Have some more apple juice instead. It’s healthier.
Meanwhile, WOODY whips out his teddy bear from under the counter and gives it a hug.
CARLA (to WOODY): Had your diaper changed recently?
FRASER checks his watch.
FRASER: Gadzooks! It’s seven thirty—the opera starts in half an hour. Woody, pray give me back that ticket.
WOODY is distracted by his teddy bear.
WOODY: What ticket, Fraser?
FRASER: Don’t do this to me—not now, Woody. Where’s the ticket?
SAM is flirting with a woman CUSTOMER, WOODY turns away to pour drinks for a group of people, and FRASER is trying to be patient while he waits for WOODY.
SAM (to CUSTOMER): How about a bottle of champaigne. At my place. Saturday night.
(CLIFF turns on the TV.)
CLIFF: Let’s see what’s on the news.
While everyone’s goofing around, the news is on the TV and at first they ignore it, until the following report comes on…
TV REPORTER: Tonight, according to Donna Smith, flight attendant for Delta airlines, all flights from the Logan Airport have been delayed, due to severe weather conditions. The fog is not expected to clear till late tomorrow night.
The camera is on NORM. When he hears this, he chokes and spits out his beer. Everyone’s frozen for a moment. The phone rings, and WOODY answers it.
WOODY: Cheers bar.
HILDA (VO on phone): Get Norm on the phone this minute!
WOODY: Norm, it’s for you. It sounds like your mother-in-law.
REBECCA (pushing away box of chocolates): I guess this means we’ve all gotta hold on for another night.
WOODY: Sam, can I take the evening off? I wanna go see the show.
SAM glances at FRASER.
SAM: Sure, go ahead.
CARLA: Hey, Woody, don’t forget your ted—
WOODY: My what?
CARLA: Ticket. Your ticket.
WOODY checks wallet.
WOODY: It’s here.
REBECCA: Are you leaving your teddy bear behind?
WOODY: Yeah, it’s under the counter.
REBECCA: Good. I may need it.
SAM: You don’t need a teddy bear. I’m here.
REBECCA: I’d rather hug a rattle snake.
WOODY leaves.
FRASER: Oh, what a deplorable turn of fate.
CLIFF: Here. You can drink my beer, if it makes you feel better.
SCENE: Same place, the following day. Everyone is doing their usual stuff.
NORM: Sure is great to be back to normal.
SAM: Hey, Woody, did you enjoy the opera?
WOODY: Yeah, it was swell. The first scene takes place under water, with all these mermaids. And there’s a dwarf who steals a lump of gold out of the river, and he gets really powerful because of the gold. The story’s based on German folklore, you see, like most of Wagner’s operas.
FRASER: Well, I’m impressed, Woody. I didn’t know you had the distinctive taste to enjoy a Wagnerian opera.
WOODY: Oh, yeah, Fraser. I got you a Wagner t-shirt.
WOODY holds up a t-shirt illustrated with a caricature of Richard Wagner.
FRASER: I’m…speechless.
CARLA: That’s gotta be a first.
SAM: So you really liked the show.
WOODY: Yeah, and you should have seen the cookies and cakes they were selling in the lobby. But the best part was the water fountain.
FRASER: There was a functioning water fountain onstage?
WOODY: No, it was over by the men’s restroom. You push really hard on the button, and the water squirts up and gets people wet.
CLIFF: Fun night at the opera.
WOODY: Trouble is, the people who got wet didn’t seem too happy. A couple of ushers had to come along and stop these guys from beating me up.
CARLA: You should go to the opera more often, Woody. Must’ve livened the place up.
WOODY: But I don’t understand. I said I was sorry.
NORM: Pass me another beer, Sam. Gee, it’s just like old times.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Domestic Violence in Bigotville
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/06/338461/topeka-kansas-city-council-considers-decriminalizing-domestic-violence-to-save-money/
After I posted a link to the above article on Facebook, someone gave me the contact information to the city commissioner's office in Topeka, KS. It is jalcala@topeka.org or 785-368-3710. I wrote and e-mailed the following message:
I read an online article that indicated the city government of Topeka is seriously considering decriminalizing domestic violence. This is unfathomably disgusting, irresponsible, misogynistic and sociopathic. When I was in Topeka, Kansas, too often I heard men make "jokes" about beating their wives. A Topeka cousin of mine married an abusive man, and one of her children was so traumatized by her dysfunctional home life that she nearly stabbed her grandmother. Given what an extremely and blatently patriarchal town it is, trust Topeka to treat domestic violence as trivial. Indeed, no doubt it's epidemic there. "Decriminalizing" it will only make the situation even worse. The costs of medical problems and emergencies will in fact go up if you decriminalize domestic violence, which is very obviously a crime.
After I posted a link to the above article on Facebook, someone gave me the contact information to the city commissioner's office in Topeka, KS. It is jalcala@topeka.org or 785-368-3710. I wrote and e-mailed the following message:
I read an online article that indicated the city government of Topeka is seriously considering decriminalizing domestic violence. This is unfathomably disgusting, irresponsible, misogynistic and sociopathic. When I was in Topeka, Kansas, too often I heard men make "jokes" about beating their wives. A Topeka cousin of mine married an abusive man, and one of her children was so traumatized by her dysfunctional home life that she nearly stabbed her grandmother. Given what an extremely and blatently patriarchal town it is, trust Topeka to treat domestic violence as trivial. Indeed, no doubt it's epidemic there. "Decriminalizing" it will only make the situation even worse. The costs of medical problems and emergencies will in fact go up if you decriminalize domestic violence, which is very obviously a crime.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
October 2011 Feminist Discussion Group meeting
I have been the moderator for the Feminist Discussion Group at In Other Words (the only nonprofit feminist bookstore still in business in the United States) for some months now. I've finally gotten around to typing up the meeting notes, so here are the notes from the October meeting:
I recently visited Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Witch Museum.
For the spooky month of October, let’s talk about mass hysteria such as the Salem witch hysteria, McCarthyism, the Jewish Holocaust, Islamaphobia in the modern-day United States, and any other mass hysteria we can think of.
As always, we’ll have a feminist slant on all of the above. Feel free to bring a black cat.
DISCUSSION NOTES
Google “mass hysteria” and you find: the Red Scare and lots of contemporary right-wing things: misogyny, Islamaphobia, homophobia.
Free Speech isn’t Hate Speech when it’s your hate.
Arab in America = graphic novel about experiencing Islamaphobia
Mass hysteria in South Africa: Tanzania Laughing Institute—was gassed. Group think.
Millennium Hysteria: we discussed our memories of that. St. Louis was a really insane place to be during that time.
Burning Times
The Burning Times –DVD, documentary about the European witch hunts against women. (Burning Time is also the title of a historic novel by Robin Morgan, one of the books I brought to share.) http://www.nfb.ca/film/burning_times/
According to Gyn/Ecology by Mary Daly: in the Middle Ages/Renaissance, sugar crops were owned by the Catholic church. Women doctors told people not to eat sugar, for health reasons. The doctors were women then—that’s one of the things patriarchal backlash has taken from us. The Catholic church resented this, since they wanted to continue profiting from sugar, and they attacked these women in the Burning Times (also known as the Inquisition or the Witch Hysteria).
The most likely victims of the Burning Times were women who didn’t engage in male society—single, older, not married. Maybe they lived at the edge of the woods; maybe they practiced the old ways: midwifery and herbal medicine.
During the European witch hunt, women were raped and it wasn’t considered torture. The torturers didn’t understand why the women acted traumatized after they were raped.
What started the witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts? A group of girls ages nine and up listened to a Carribbean servant/slave tell supernatural stories. Puritan society was such an austere, drab, patriarchal, anti-artistic, fire-and-brimstone society, that people (especially the most disempowered people, girls) needed an outlet, so the hysteria started. Some of the girls were just acting, some believed it on some level. Accusing people of witchcraft and participating in trials was the only way girls could have some power in the community; it reminds me of women mediums (fake or genuine) in the nineteenth-century, when spiritualism and séances were all the rage.
Three Sovereigns for Sarah = a mini-series about the Salem Witch Trials, starring Vanessa Redgrave.
“Fear is the ultimate source of social control.” Police, patriarchy—they use force to keep us under control. The power-trippers usually attack on minorities or women.
Femme/butch—even in the feminist/queer community, there’s hostility to the feminine, toward femininity. At least two of us have experienced butch lesbians giving off disapproving vibes if we wore a skirt or dress (no matter the style—you could be wearing a hippie skirt with combat boots). Street harassment often displays a weird assumption that women dress to attract men (rather than dress for themselves). Hostility and ridicule are more likely to happen if you wear a skirt.
Beyond Beats & Rhythms: documentary about misogyny and rap (free online access). Cynthia McKenny—wanted hip-hop in politics—about everyone in power—people interviewed were not misogynistic. Originally rap and hip-hop were cool and rad—but eventually these music genres bought into white male patriarchy. Ani DiFranco touches on this in one of her songs. http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=226
Cold War Propaganda: film called A Day Called X. This was a film made in Portland. Why would the Soviets have bombed Portland?!
9/11 Hysteria was everywhere in the U. S. A. Even in Eugene, OR, people were afraid of terrorist attacks. Nonstop media coverage—one person’s roommate was glued to the TV and she was scared all the time. Terror Dreams by Susan Faludi is about the machismo/misogyny B. S. triggered by 9/11, particularly in WhiteBoyWorld media: a pretense that big, strong male fire fighters came in and saved women (when in actuality there were male and female firefighters saving men and women. This promoted an attitude that women need to have men to protect them (when anyone with sense can see that no, women need to learn self-defense methods and protect themselves; also, it’s ridiculous to want women to be protected by men from other men—both patriarchal and power-tripping).
ADD/ADHD Mass Hysteria. Our society is so over-stimulated all the time, what with the Internet and all—so it’s no wonder kids are over-stimulated and have poor attention spans. TV shows shower kids with ads, more ads and more frequent commercial breaks, so the show is abruptly and frequently interrupted. Nowadays, instead of getting several treasured gifts once a year, kids get toys all year around and receive a huge quantity of toys at X-mas and don’t treasure them but rather wear them out more quickly. I believe there are different ways for people’s brains to work; ADD is treated as if it’s a disease, when it seems to me like just a different kind of brain, like some people are southpaws or some people are introverts (in both of these examples, the minority is demonized).
Abortion is different for every woman and is a very personal experience. Some women are upset afterward, others are relieved that they no longer have an unplanned pregnancy to worry about.
Parental consent sends the message that you’re your dad’s property until you’re married and become your husband’s property—an archaic patriarchal system still prevalent in our society. Also, they don’t take into account that a teen could have abusive parents; perhaps the father or step-father or uncle is the one who impregnated her.
During times of famine: it is common for women to have abortions, because it’s folly to increase the population at such a time, when food is distributed thinly as it is. Also, it’s often irresponsible to have a child. If you’re not ready (emotionally or otherwise) to take care of a child, for instance.
I recently visited Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Witch Museum.
For the spooky month of October, let’s talk about mass hysteria such as the Salem witch hysteria, McCarthyism, the Jewish Holocaust, Islamaphobia in the modern-day United States, and any other mass hysteria we can think of.
As always, we’ll have a feminist slant on all of the above. Feel free to bring a black cat.
DISCUSSION NOTES
Google “mass hysteria” and you find: the Red Scare and lots of contemporary right-wing things: misogyny, Islamaphobia, homophobia.
Islamaphobia
The topic of Islamaphobia inspired me to tell the group about the Islamaphobic DVD distributed by the Oregonian during my first year in Portland. About five hundred mainstream U. S. newspapers distributed this, and the Oregonian had the choice to refuse to do so; they used “free speech” as an excuse to do it. I was with a Buddhist sangha at the time, and a meditation teacher who subscribed to the newspaper wrote a blunt letter to the editor and stopped subscribing. To this day I call it the Islamaphobian. Free Speech isn’t Hate Speech when it’s your hate.
Arab in America = graphic novel about experiencing Islamaphobia
Mass hysteria in South Africa: Tanzania Laughing Institute—was gassed. Group think.
Millennium Hysteria: we discussed our memories of that. St. Louis was a really insane place to be during that time.
Burning Times
The Burning Times –DVD, documentary about the European witch hunts against women. (Burning Time is also the title of a historic novel by Robin Morgan, one of the books I brought to share.) http://www.nfb.ca/film/burning_times/
According to Gyn/Ecology by Mary Daly: in the Middle Ages/Renaissance, sugar crops were owned by the Catholic church. Women doctors told people not to eat sugar, for health reasons. The doctors were women then—that’s one of the things patriarchal backlash has taken from us. The Catholic church resented this, since they wanted to continue profiting from sugar, and they attacked these women in the Burning Times (also known as the Inquisition or the Witch Hysteria).
The most likely victims of the Burning Times were women who didn’t engage in male society—single, older, not married. Maybe they lived at the edge of the woods; maybe they practiced the old ways: midwifery and herbal medicine.
During the European witch hunt, women were raped and it wasn’t considered torture. The torturers didn’t understand why the women acted traumatized after they were raped.
What started the witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts? A group of girls ages nine and up listened to a Carribbean servant/slave tell supernatural stories. Puritan society was such an austere, drab, patriarchal, anti-artistic, fire-and-brimstone society, that people (especially the most disempowered people, girls) needed an outlet, so the hysteria started. Some of the girls were just acting, some believed it on some level. Accusing people of witchcraft and participating in trials was the only way girls could have some power in the community; it reminds me of women mediums (fake or genuine) in the nineteenth-century, when spiritualism and séances were all the rage.
Three Sovereigns for Sarah = a mini-series about the Salem Witch Trials, starring Vanessa Redgrave.
“Fear is the ultimate source of social control.” Police, patriarchy—they use force to keep us under control. The power-trippers usually attack on minorities or women.
Misogyny in general as mass hysteria
Hysteria—Hys—the meaning is “from the womb.” So even the word “hysteria” is misogynistic. Fear of the female—big part of why emotion is not accepted in our society. I was a member of a nonviolent communication (NVC) discussion group, with a psychologist as the instructor; he pointed out that we live in a toxic (patriarchal) society in which typically you get to be about a year old and realize that your emotions and the needs behind them are completely unacceptable. A society that doesn’t even acknowledge something as essential as emotion and the needs behind those emotions is a dysfunctional society indeed. Patriarchy and emotions are the root causes of such things as war and violence.Femme/butch—even in the feminist/queer community, there’s hostility to the feminine, toward femininity. At least two of us have experienced butch lesbians giving off disapproving vibes if we wore a skirt or dress (no matter the style—you could be wearing a hippie skirt with combat boots). Street harassment often displays a weird assumption that women dress to attract men (rather than dress for themselves). Hostility and ridicule are more likely to happen if you wear a skirt.
Beyond Beats & Rhythms: documentary about misogyny and rap (free online access). Cynthia McKenny—wanted hip-hop in politics—about everyone in power—people interviewed were not misogynistic. Originally rap and hip-hop were cool and rad—but eventually these music genres bought into white male patriarchy. Ani DiFranco touches on this in one of her songs. http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=226
Child beauty pageants are popular and normalized in America. In other countries, such as Australia, people are trying to stop it.
The worst insults, the most derogatory terms, in patriarchal society are all misogynistic: pussy, sissy, girl, ladies, bitch. Weirdly, even some people who are biologically female embrace this—such as a female TV show character who calls other women “ladies” in a disparaging tone.Cold War Propaganda: film called A Day Called X. This was a film made in Portland. Why would the Soviets have bombed Portland?!
ADD/ADHD Mass Hysteria. Our society is so over-stimulated all the time, what with the Internet and all—so it’s no wonder kids are over-stimulated and have poor attention spans. TV shows shower kids with ads, more ads and more frequent commercial breaks, so the show is abruptly and frequently interrupted. Nowadays, instead of getting several treasured gifts once a year, kids get toys all year around and receive a huge quantity of toys at X-mas and don’t treasure them but rather wear them out more quickly. I believe there are different ways for people’s brains to work; ADD is treated as if it’s a disease, when it seems to me like just a different kind of brain, like some people are southpaws or some people are introverts (in both of these examples, the minority is demonized).
Anti-Abortion Hysteria. The term pro-choice = rhetoric of shame; just frankly, honestly, say “pro-abortion.” Pro-choice sounds like you’re veiling it; pro-abortion is straight and to the point, with no shame. This issue is discussed in the anthology Abortion Under Attack, edited by Krista Jacob. Lately Democratic politicians have been taking an inappropriate apologetic tone—such as saying, “It’s so sad abortion has to happen.” Actually, it would be a very good thing to have safe and legal and competently performed abortions widely available to women of all colors and economic backgrounds.
In indigenous cultures: abortion is a ceremony. Now, in our culture, you take a day or two off, or get it done over the weekend, you bleed, you wear pads, and that’s it—no ceremony, just detachment, not connecting with your body. Abortion is different for every woman and is a very personal experience. Some women are upset afterward, others are relieved that they no longer have an unplanned pregnancy to worry about.
Parental consent sends the message that you’re your dad’s property until you’re married and become your husband’s property—an archaic patriarchal system still prevalent in our society. Also, they don’t take into account that a teen could have abusive parents; perhaps the father or step-father or uncle is the one who impregnated her.
During times of famine: it is common for women to have abortions, because it’s folly to increase the population at such a time, when food is distributed thinly as it is. Also, it’s often irresponsible to have a child. If you’re not ready (emotionally or otherwise) to take care of a child, for instance.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Update on that Last Post
I just did a little more revision to my novella "The Witch's Familiar" and resubmitted it to Wormhole Electric. I've really got my hopes on this one. I should submit my writing more often.
http://wormholeelectric.com/
http://wormholeelectric.com/
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