Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00668)

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> From: Thoa Tran <thoa@withoutwalls.com>
> 
> Thoa:
> There is another side to women and sexuality.  There are cultures in which
> girls are taught to be ashamed of their body, that they should downplay
> their sexuality as much as possible.  In the Middle East, women are forced
> to cover their bodies.  My ex-roommate, a traditional Vietnamese woman,
> would note whether the young women were dancing with too many different men.
> As I was growing up, I constantly received this "Nice girls shouldn't ..."
> Also, in some cultures, after a woman is married, she has to look as plain
> as possible so as not to do the improper thing of attracting another man's
> attention.  I think women who have made it, such as Madonna, are saying, "I
> love my body.  I am not ashamed of it.  I am sexy, I am lusty, and I am
> powerful.  Deal with it."
> 
I've always thought there was more than one side to the Feminine Divine.
The one that was presented to me in the Catholic churches I was involved with,
including the LCC, was one of Mary, meek and mild.  Eyes downcast and
wearing a pale blue robe, extremely passive.  I believe the church fathers
pushed this image for centuries because that was what they wanted women
to immolate.  Probably a suppression of the pagan/goddess religions that
had come before, to be replaced with the patriarchal Judeo-Christian religion.

I've never bought the Mary image, not since I was born, although it was
always shoved in my face.  The sacred feminine image that I hold dearest to
my heart is Isis - courageous and strong.

For those interested, here is the URL for a page that I found about
the Sacred Feminine:

http://www.compumedia.com/~mo/

-AEB