You Shouldn't Give a Damn About Your Reputation!

Tonight I was driving around on the coast and listening to the radio. The following song by Joan Jett came on, which I had totally forgotten about, and needless to say I am having flashbacks of the good old days when MTV actually, uh, played videos all day and night. Imagine that! 

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: Bad Reputation

You shouldn't give a damn about your reputation either! I've always had a bad reputation, and if I listened to every rumor out there about me then I wouldn't be the bad ass bitch that I am today. Fuck what everyone says about you! 

Who Are You Calling a Witch, Bitch?!

I have been obsessed with all things "Wicked" for years. I read the book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" a couple of years ago and I just absolutely loved it! I love women who are wicked, as well as those women who have been framed as being wicked. Let me tell you a little about the book:

Elphaba (who you know as the "Wicked Witch of the West") is wrongfully accused of being a witch-she was nothing more than basically a bad-ass little girl who happened to be born green (for reasons that you will just have to learn about later). People mistreated her throughout her entire life and wrongfully labeled her as being wicked because she was a little kick ass girl.

The Wizard in the land of Oz is basically a tyrant, who enforces segregation and more or less genocide towards the animals in the kingdom (stratifying animals into Animals with a capital a, and animals with a lower case a). At one point the animals became educated, and he is once again making them work back in the fields again. He forces the munchkins to labor, breaks labor unions, rapes the Earth for rubies, etc. Elphaba finally decides that she has had enough and she goes underground in order to do him in. No wonder they labeled her as a witch--Oz's very own revolutionary domestic terrorist!

Here is an excerpt from the first chapter that I really loved. Dorothy and the others are resting under a tree and the "witch" is on top of the tree listening:

"Of course, to hear them tell it, it is the surviving sister who is the crazy one," said the Lion.

"What a Witch. Psychologically warped; possessed by demons. Insane. Not a pretty picture."

"She was castrated at birth," replied the Tin Woodman calmly. "She was born hermaphroditic, or maybe entirely male."

"Oh, you see castration everywhere you look", said the Lion.

"I'm only repeating what folks say," said the Tin Wooodman.

"Everyone is entitled to an opinion," said the Lion airily. "She was deprived of a mother's love, is how I've heard it. She was an abused child. She was addicted to medicine for her skin condition."

"She has been unlucky in love," said the Tin Woodman, "like the rest of us." The Tin Woodman paused and placed his hand on the center of his chest, as if in grief.

"She's a woman who prefers the company of other women," said the Scarecrow, sitting up.

"She's the spurned lover of a married man."

"She is a married man."

The Witch was so stunned that she nearly lost her grip on the branch. The last thing she ever cared for was gossip. Yet she had been out of touch for so long that she was astonished at the vigorous opinions of these random nobodies.

"She's a despot. A dangerous tyrant,"said the Lion with conviction.

When I first read this over a year ago, I instantly identified with the Witch and fell in love with the story. Any woman in power has probably heard similar gossip about herself. This excerpt brings to mind something that happened to me about six months ago. I was coordinating a training for a couple of hundred teachers, and as I walked down the hall I heard two teachers standing in one of the rooms, talking about none other than yours truly. I swear that the excerpt is more or less what I heard these two teachers talking about. What really pissed me off was that these two teachers have asked for favors in the past.

I stood outside the room for almost fifteen minutes with the main reason that I would be there when they exited the room. I listed to them talk about what a bitch I was, how I was self-interested, only making them go to the training in order to justify my "over-inflated salary, how I date married men, slept My way to the top, was a lesbian (um, I thought I date married men?), control everyone, and the list goes on and on.

Long ago I used to let this type of gossip bother me because I used to actually want other people to recognize my hard work and dedication. Over the years as a manager, I have come to the conclusion that no matter how hard I work and how much I bend over backwards, some people are so miserable that they will do anything in their power to try to bring other people down to their level. The incident that I mentioned wasn't the first nor the last time that I have overheard people talking crap about me behind my back. I could give a rat's ass what anyone says about me now--I figure that if people are gossiping about you, then that pretty much signifies that you are pretty special.

Last Halloween, I went to see the musical "Wicked". I didn't care much for the musical, particularly because I thought that there was too much of an overemphasis on the "good witch". One song in the musical though resonated with me and it's pretty much along the same lines of not letting anyone bring you down. The song is called "Defying Gravity" and I just LOVE the lyrics because they are so powerful:

Isn't she a bad-ass? I really like these lyrics that she sings at the end:

So if you care to find me

Look to the western sky

As someone told me lately -

Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly

And if I'm flying solo

At least I'm flying free

To those who'd ground me

Take a message back from me -

Tell them how I

Am defying gravity!

I'm flying high

Defying gravity!

And soon I'll match them in renown

And nobody in all of Oz

No wizard that there is or was

Is ever gonna bring me down!

I really love that message-I couldn't have said it any better! Tell it, Sista!

Unleash Your Inner Freak

I really LOVE the lyrics to the song "Still Dirty" by Cristina Aguilera. Here's a video of her singing the song in concert, as well as another song that I'm not familiar with.

Tales of a Wee Little Badass

Ever since I was a little girl I always had an obsession with women who were different than the "average woman".  When I was a wee little girl I was smacked on the knuckles by the nuns far too many times for asking why everyone always blamed Eve for everything. When I was nine years old, I was given a spanking at school because I wrote a paper in class that I thought that Adam was the weak one because he ate the apple and that Eve was merely curious. I was sent to confess my sins to the priest and was sent home for the day.

Growing up as a little feminist bad-ass in a Catholic school was very difficult until they finally ended up kicking me out, thank Goddess. From a very young age, I can remember asking my mother why the man was the one who led the services and not the nuns. I would constantly get in trouble when I asked questions as to why females were portrayed somewhat negatively in the bible. They tried to brainwash me, but I've been known to have an extremely strong character and thumbed my nose at all that they taught me about being a good little girl.

As a young Latina growing up in Los Angeles, I rarely had role models of women who rejected conventional gender roles. Most of the women in my immigrant neighborhood catered to their husbands and sons, my young friends catered to the boys in the neighborhood while practically doing backflips to get pregnant, and my teachers pretty much expected me to grow up and wipe a man's ass. Frustrating and depressing, to say the least.

The only refuge I had were my books and occasional shows on television. The first book that made my heart jump for joy about being a bad-ass little girl was The Paper Bag Princess. I've blogged about the book before, and the first time I read it as a child it was like a little light bulb went off in my head that I was not the only girl who was different than the others. It was the first time that I had ever seen a girl or woman who was portrayed in a powerful light. 

I later graduated to reading all of the Nancy Drew books, which I can't currently recall, but I remember loving as a child. I also fell in love with Anne Frank and Wonderwoman. I didn't have many other examples of strong, independent women and girls until I was in high school. After reading The Scarlet Letter in high school,  I made a pact to myself that I would never let anyone make me feel ashamed for my sexuality. The book The Awakening was the first time that I had ever heard about a woman who was not happy with being a wife or mother and would rather commit suicide than live a constricted life. 

These small little glimpses of unconventional women that I read growing up were life savers for me. Young girls who don't fit the typical mold can be prone to depression and might internalize that there is something wrong with them because they are different than other girls. 

I've been running in search of strong, unconventional, and diverse women for years. I look for them everywhere-in books, on television, in music, in real life and make believe. It's something that I need to nourish my soul on those days when I walk around and am reminded that I am different than the average woman in society. It's my own personal brand of therapy and sometimes the only thing I can do to maintain my sanity in a world of fools. 

Am I the only woman who was in this predicament as a child??

Nikki Giovanni-The Fire in My Soul

Today our guest blogger is Pinksugacupcake from twitter! I asked her to write about the biggest, baddest woman who has ever influenced her as a woman and she choose Nikki Giovanni. I would have to agree because she's also one of my favorite, favorite women! Read what Pinksugacupcake has to say: 

When I was asked to write this guest blog, I was humbled as well as delighted. Being the Feminist/Womanist that I am, it is always a pleasure to write about stars which shine brightly in my galaxy. 

I can remember the first time I read a poem by Nikki Giovanni. I was meandering through an old musty bookstore in Georgia uttering the mantra of all morose teenagers, “Moooooom I’m bored”. My Mother is Southern and does NOT play. She told me in that special tone to find a book, sit down, and be quiet. In my haste to stay out of trouble, I grabbed a book of poetry and quickly claimed a musty velvet chair in the dimly lit corner of the store. 

Uninterested, I thumbed through the seemly ancient pages until a title procured my attention. The title of the poem was “Ego Tripping”.  As I read the words, I felt something change inside of me. It felt as if I was being scorched by the sun from the inside out. When the poem concluded, I felt a profound sense of loss, similar to the feeling when your favorite movie concludes. I wanted to reclaim the sense of being consumed by her words. 

“Ego Tripping” is full of life, emotion, wisdom. I couldn’t get enough. Lines like “I am so perfect, So divine, So ethereal, So surreal, I cannot be comprehended except by MY permission” or “I’m so hip even my errors are correct” resonated into my soul.

After that experience, I couldn't get enough of Nikki Giovanni. I researched her as if I were her biographer. Anything remotely connected to Nikki Giovanni, I consumed voraciously and was still ravenous for more. I spent the majority of the summer trying to convince my family we were related to her, especially since our families are from the same state. Unfortunately, we are of no relation.

Nikki Giovanni has lived an amazing life which is eloquently chronicled through her poetry. She was an activist when activism was dangerous. Nikki was a feminist when feminism was unpopular. A womanist before the term was even conceived. Her poems are full of strength and never vacillating. She wrote about the black experience without watering it down for the masses, yet presented it in a manner in which it could be digested by all eager for enlightenment. Nikki Giovanni is courageous, fierce, bold, and most of all secure in her womanhood. That is why she will always be the fire in my soul.

Check out some of Nikki Giovanni's books of poems here, and some of the children's books that she's written here. She's a bad-ass.

You can follow our guest blogger Pinksugacupcake on twitter, or read more about her on her blog Absentminded Oracle. 

A Male's Perspective: Clarice-Part I

Today we're featuring our second guest blogger....Inkognegro! I asked him to post about the biggest, baddest bitch who has ever influenced his life and I hope you enjoy part one of his story: 

I am often asked how it is my understanding of women is so progressive.   My usual wink-and-a-nod response is “Good Home Training” but the reality is much more complex.  While my mother did represent a valuable role model for me to see the power of a strong woman, she isn’t the one that opened my eyes.   That “lead by example” mode was easily counteracted by a patriarchal day-to-day life that dominated my formative years.   My moment of clarity wasn’t courtesy of a teacher, family member, or church member.  Ironically enough, my moment of clarity was courtesy of a woman who was supposed to be my subordinate. 

The year was 1989, and I had just arrived in Hartford, CT for the first year of my college internship at a major insurance company.  As a person who was completely new to any sense of Corporate America, who had never known a male family member to put on a suit and tie to go to work five days a week, I was a virgin in more ways than one.  I had at least gone to a few workshops on how to dress for success and had been to church so much that wearing a suit and tie didn’t make me uncomfortable.  But I was a boy who knew school and church.  Occupying a lead cubicle (what the hell is a cubicle?)  in a pod (What am I a pea now?) and having an administrative assistant (that I shared with my mentor, but still….WOW) was a culture shock that totally neutered any of the usual ego driven bravado I usually carried around with me.  On that fateful May afternoon, I was a sheep being led to some kind of exotic slaughter.  And there I sat in the conference room with all the other sheep waiting for our respective shepherds.

Clarice was a woman of uncommon grace.  Some women are well schooled and trained in all the scholastic, cultural, and physical rigors of learning the savoir-faire that goes into being a woman of the ages.  It was plain to see from the second Clarice called my name out of orientation that she was a natural in every sense.  I looked up from my orientation handbook and locked eyes with a set of dark brown eyes that defied the glasses that aided them to diminish the degree to which they sparkled.  I knew enough about Black women to know that if they looked 25 they could be almost forty so I didn’t even bother to guesstimate her age.  I settled on the fact that she might be old enough to be my mother and was probably my boss and defaulted to the manner in which I treat elders.

I stood and humbly acknowledged her smooth southern twanged alto with a snap to attention and a strong but deferential “Yes ma’am”.   The fact that I had no idea where I was going allowed me to walk a half step behind her and behold her walk, a walk that was equal parts Military General, Runway Model, and Gangster; a walk that evoked leadership in every possible facet.  I had known Clarice for 3 minutes and I had already decided I would do whatever she said.  And for the next 12 weeks, I did.

Stay tuned for Inkognegro's sequel. You can find him on twitter here, or read his blog here. 

I am Now Pronounced "Me, Myself and I"

I have decided to take a mini-break from my previously planned "raising feminist children" mini-series in order to celebrate the biggest, baddest bitch that I've ever known. Me!!

Why am I excited about myself, you ask? Well, frankly, because I thumbed my nose at society and married myself this weekend. Let me tell you all about it and how my idea got started:

Years ago I remember watching a Sex in the City episode when Carrie went to a baby shower (?). When she entered her friends house, she had to take off her very expensive shoes and leave them by the door. At the end of the party her shoes were missing and her friend gave her an ugly pair of shoes to wear.

Weeks passed and the shoes were nowhere to be found. Her friend didn't even seem to be concerned about it one bit. One day, Carrie went to her friend's house to inquire about the shoes and her friend offered to pay for the shoes. When her friend found out that the shoes cost approximately $400 dollars, her friend told her that she would not pay for such an extravagant waste of money. "I'm a mother now and it's irresponsible to pay that much for shoes," the bitch said.

Carrie went home and thought long and hard about all of the gifts that she had given her friend all the years-the bridal shower, the wedding gift, the babyshowers, blablabla. She asked herself, "What about those of us who never get married? We just don't count in anyone else's eyes. Besides graduating from college, when do we ever have the chance to be celebrated?"

Carrie went to the shoe store and registered herself for the very same shoes that she lost. She then called her friend and said that she was marrying herself and that her friend could buy her a gift at a particular shoe store. When the friend arrived at the store, she paid for Carrie's "wedding gift", which just so happened to be the $400 dollar pair of shoes.

Ever since I saw that show I thought, "Damn right. What about those of us who don't ever want to be married?? What type of day do we get to have all of our friends show up and celebrate?" It was then and there that I decided to marry myself. This was almost 6 years ago.

Six years have passed and my friends and I have always jokingly planned my wedding. It was not until last week when a few of my friends flew in from out of the country and challenged me to pull off the wedding while we were all in town. Well, I am one competitive bitch and I don't take challenges lightly. So, we planned a wedding. I wasn't going to say anything about it online because I like to keep some things private, but I just couldn't control my excitement so I spilled the beans.

Saturday all of my non-bridesmaids assembled in their sexy black dresses. A few of my male friends, and my long-term boyfriend, were also non-bridesgrooms. I registered for gifts (mostly books...but of course). I walked myself down the aisle to the song "Independent Woman" by Beyonce (or whatever her old group was called). When I got to the front of the room, my professor gave a speech about how I would vow to love myself, always be independent, strive for continual self development, etc. I put on my Goddess tiara that my friends gave me for my birthday, instead of a ring because frankly I didn't have time to buy myself a ring.

Afterwards we had a fabulous dinner and reception. When the reception began, I burst into the room to the song "Brick House", and I most definitely had cleavage to die for. I drank and partied and danced all night long. Sunday and Monday I took myself on a honeymoon (and I invited my boyfriend along).

Ha, what a fabulous experience. I also figure that this was my three-year-belated 30th birthday celebration, because on my 30th birthday I was sitting in a stupid ass quantitative methodology/statistics class and I was pretty much having a nervous breakdown over the PhD program. I figure I had to make up for lost time.

It's been brought to my attention that it's a good thing that I did this so quickly because knowing just how fucked up the state of California is regarding marriage equality, it will probably be any day now that a proposition is put up on the ballot that some of us bad ass bitches can't have commitment ceremonies to ourselves.

Sound bizarre to you? I hope so. That's what I strive for in life-to think outside of the box.

Written by Anarela de Rossi

Counteracting the "Princess Myth"

Class is now in session!!

In my last post, I explained the itch that I have been feeling lately to reconnect with my teaching roots, and decided that I would kick off this week with a series of posts on teaching and/or raising feminist daughters and non-sexist sons. I'd like to discuss one of my very favorite books that expose children to a different type of princess than what they typically see in many of the mainstream books and movies regarding princesses: "The Paper Bag Princess". 

I think that the whole princess culture is pretty stupid, if you ask me. The castle, the prince and the fluffy dress have never appealed to me in the least. Someone once told me that she was going to put a curse on me so that when I have children that I will have little girls who worship the princess cult. Well, I most definitely hope that will never happen because it's something that I refuse to tolerate. The only princesses I want anything to do with are the bad ass little princess who knock the knight down and steal his horse. Or men who dress up as a princess.

"The Paper Bag Princess" is a great book to read to children, adolescents, and even adults in order to have discussions regarding the princess myth. It's also a great book to have discussions with boys and males about respect for women, selfishness and patriarchy in general. Let me tell you a little about "The Paper Bag Princess", if you haven't already read this classic book:

The book begins with a beautiful princess who wore all the pretty princess clothing and was of course betrothed to the handsome prince. One day, a mean dragon flies into the kingdom, burns everything down and kidnaps the prince. The poor princess is left with nothing, not even clothing, and she uses a paper bag to dress herself before she sets off to find and rescue the prince. 

The princess arrives at the dragon's castle and ingeniously devises a plan to outwit the big, bad dragon. She appeals to his ego (yes, HIS ego..) and persuades him to huff and puff and show her how big, bad and strong he is. The dragon soon grows tired of his huffing and puffing. Then she convinces the dragon to show her how fast he is, and the dragon zips all around the place to demonstrate his speed. Finally....the dragon collapses from exhaustion and the princess swoops into the castle to rescue the prince.

Immediately after she beats down the door and saves the day, the prince begins to criticize her for the paper bag she is wearing. He says something to the effect, "Princess, you have ashes all over you, your hair is messy, and you are wearing a silly paper bag. You need to clean yourself up before you marry me!"

And what do you suppose the princess did??

Well, she kicked him to the curb. She tells him, "You know what, you fuckhead?? You don't appreciate anything that I did for you. You are USELESS!" (My summary is obviously an adult reconstruction of the children's book, but she really did tell him that he was useless).

My favorite part of the story (besides her telling him that he was useless) was the ending when the princess skips off into the sunset. Instead of the "happily ever after" bullshit, the book ends with: "The princess didn't marry the prince after all". 

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book and highly recommend it. I have even read it to adults when I have trained teachers, and they love it. You've got to have it on your bookshelf. If you only have boys, you should still read this book to them because there are many productive conversations that can be made regarding the prince's behavior. You can buy the twenty-fifth anniversary edition here.

Additional Resources:

Just because I am on the topic of princesses, there is another really great story called "The Princess Who Stood on Her Own Two Feet".  It has a similar theme--the prince doesn't accept a princess because she is too tall, too smart, and the list goes on and on.  You can also check out some additional non-traditional princesses in the Bad Ass Femmes store.

For some of you adults who have been trained that you need a man to take care of you, maybe some of you need to read this book to beat that princess ideology out of your heads--Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money. Stop sitting around and waiting for a future prince to save the day. You're a grown ass woman, for Goddess's sake!

Class is in Session!!

Lately I've been feeling an uncontrollable itch to get back into touch with my roots in teaching. Although I'm currently in the field of educational administration/management, I have been a teacher at the elementary and middle school levels. As all good educational administrators know, that itch to get back into the classroom never quite goes away. If you are glad to be out of the classroom, then you more than likely were a crappy teacher who shouldn't have been in the classroom in the first place, and definitely don't need to be in charge of a school site or school system. 

Working as an administrator in an urban school setting has its challenges, which includes working with a variety of people with different views, including some conservative people. As an administrator, I have publicly stated that I am a feminist a few times and the majority of people actually look at me in shock and/or awe. (Administrators are obviously supposed to be bland, boring people who don't have a life and don't rock the boat). 

I have a position that many other people in the institution would love to have, so I've decided that it is in my best interest that most people know the least amount of information about me, including some of my political views. Everyone knows damn well that I'm a political leftist and feminist, but I've decided to be selective in what I publicly say. I have begun to learn that the less I say, the more leverage I have because people don't know what to expect from me. Not to mention that it is often quite irritating and a major buzz kill to discuss feminist issues with a bunch of women and/or men who tend to buy into the traditional notion of gender roles. 

So I have decided that I will scratch my itch here on the blog, and kick off a couple of posts about teaching and/or raising children from a feminist perspective. I tend to get on these rants with certain topics, so let's see how long this will last. (Remember when I was on my Frida Kahlo kick? Well, I'll get back on that bandwagon sooner or later!). I'm most definitely not a mother, so my posts will be more from a teacher's perspective as to which resources are out there for parents who would like to raise strong, independent, and confident daughters as well as non-sexist boys. 

Stay tuned for my first post tomorrow about my favorite children's book that turns traditional gender roles upside down and provides an independent role model for little girls. Maybe, just maybe if you're lucky I'll even have some give-aways because I've got tons of resources that I have refused to give away over the years. 

Now, pardon me if I excuse myself because I've got a feminist agenda to spread. Knowing the perverted circles that I run in, some of you will probably expect me to be cracking the ruler on your asses to keep you in line. I just might do so, if you're lucky!! 

Bad-Ass-Bitches Videos of the Week

I just had a friend who discovered that her husband was cheating on her. Needless to say, he isn't going to know what hit him after she gets through with him. This post is inspired by her situation and is dedicated to her getting the best possible revenge on that womanizer! 

Bust Your Windows-Jazmine Sullivan: You just don't fuck around on some women, or they will make your life miserable. They'll bust the windows out of your car, etch their initials in your brand new paint job, spray paint your expensive art collection, poor red wine all over the house, break your wine glasses, throw all your vintage records around, and give you a big ass headache. 

Ese Hombre-La India: If you know salsa music, then you know that La India is one bad ass salsera. One of my favorite songs by her is "Ese Hombre", which is nothing but a long string of shit-talking and insults aimed at a man. Even if you don't know Spanish, you should learn the lyrics so that you can learn some insults--here are the Spanish lyrics. This is what she is basically saying:

"That man that you see over there-who appears so gallant, so attentive and so arrogant, I know him well. That man that you see over there-who appears to be so divine, so nice, only knows how to cause suffering. He's really annoying...a stupid ingrate... egotistical and sneaky... a vain clown...inconsiderate and stuck-up... full of jealousy...insecure of himself..."

Pardon my translation, as I am not a professional translator. You get the point. Anyhow, enjoy!

P.S. Thanks to Femina Prudentia for reminding me about La India song!! 

Every Strong, Independent Woman's Worst Enemy Just Might Be Another Woman

I didn't want to have to write this post, but apparently I am going to have to. I never want to be the type of woman who bashes or betrays other women, but lately I have been sick and tired of women who hurt other women.

I'm officially stating for the record that the people in this world who have hurt me the most in my life have been other women. Female colleagues, former friends, family members...you name it. I've carried around this naive "female solidarity" idea for way too long, and I am officially ending my belief in that nonsense.

I'm a bad-ass, take-no-nonsense woman. All ambitious, intelligent, confident and assertive females probably know exactly what I am talking about when I state that other women can be our worst enemy. Fuck the glass ceiling--other insecure females who attempt to maim, lame and "do us in" can be much more damaging than any man or glass ceiling could ever be. Insecure, petty and passive aggressive women just can't take a strong, successful woman and will try to do anything in their power to tear her down.

I will save my frustration and details for a later post. In the meantime, I have been poking around online and buying some books pertaining to this topic. I plan to continue on with this topic, because I am sure that it is something that most assertive, ambitious and confident women can relate to.

I initially started this blog to document my search for and life-long love affair with bad-ass women. I've always loved the stories of the whores, renegades, rebels and wicked bitches of the world. If you dig just a little deeper, you'll find that most of the rumors and myths that circulate about these women are bullshit.

Some myths were crafted with care by the women themselves (a much needed skill for all bad asses), but other myths and rumors were started by other people in an attempt to discredit, oppress or hurt strong women because they more than likely didn't fit into someone's boring little box. Femina Prudentia delineated a perfect example in her guest post about Jezebel; many of us have been taught that Jezebel was a whore, but we can't recall any whore-istic escapades that she had.

I've always thought that it is even more damaging when another woman is the one who is spreading rumors and discrediting strong women. I mean, hell, I expect it from insecure men, but I would love to believe in that ideal notion of sisterhood. So now I am on a quest to shed a little insight into these bitches who attempt to hurt and hold down strong, independent women.

A few weeks ago in the bookstore I came upon the book Woman's Inhumanity to Woman. I admire the author for her courage to write a book that she suppressed for over twenty years out of respect for that feminist cultural myth of sisterhood and solidarity. The author raises some interesting points in the book about indirect aggression between women through the use of rumors, gossip, social isolation and all such nonsense. I haven't yet finished the book.

Coincidentally, I came upon the "Odd Girl Out" movie on television last weekend. The movie is once again about indirect female aggression and bullying between adolescent girls. I figured that I would also buy the book to see what it has to say, and the book just came yesterday. So far, it's pretty similar to the previous book that I mentioned with a specific emphasis on adolescent girls.

And, just because I sometimes get fanatical when I am studying a topic, I also decided to get the book "Mean Girls Grown Up: Adult Women Who Are Still Queen Bees, Middle Bees and Afraid-To-Bees". The book just arrived today and it looks similar to the others, but with an emphasis on adult women and possibly indirect aggression of females in the workplace.

I was raised by a feminist mother to be a feminist myself. My mother came through the feminism of the sixties and the seventies and taught me that sisterhood and solidarity with other women is of utmost importance. I believe this and practice this with all my heart. But my mom also taught me that my worst enemy would be the envy and jealousy of other women who will want to hurt me and hold me back because they are too scared and/or weak to be a trailblazer themselves.

I think that we need to start having more discussions about the damage that women can cause to other women in addition to our discussions of patriarchy. In the meantime, let's all start slapping the shit out of these bitches who try to muzzle and box some of us wild women into a menagerie.