‘At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst’ and ‘Future is Feminine, The: Capitalism and the Masculine Disorder’.
‘At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst’ by Carol Lee Flinders.
What’s it about:
Another feminist read from Glasgow Women’s Library. This looks at the compatibility of religion, spirituality and feminism – the overlaps and the tensions. Themes include freedom, silence, violence and power.
What Lynn learned:
· That pages that are old with tiny print totally put me off reading and I make slow progress!
· Girls can be good and achieve and tick the hoops… but often this is not accompanied with a deep desire for life.
· Gandhi did not just focus on a political approach for change, he championed inner transformation first before changing others.
· Often we take the patriarchy for granted as natural. I’ve studied structures and inequalities in society loads before, but sometimes we need reminding.
· Those who can exist in ‘spirituality uncontaminated by patriarchy’ (p. 137) are able to embody the authentic feminine power – being playful and nurturing.
· When a girl strays out with the walls of ‘good girl’ safety, which parents want to encourage, she will be at risk which presents a very difficult problem.
Fave quotes:
· ‘she has governed her behavior carefully, lest she be found ‘abrasive’, ‘assertive’, ‘pushy’ or ‘ambitious’’ (p. 86).
· ‘The price of male protection and support has been absolute restraint of one’s own sensual desire’ (p.109).
· ‘when she stops trying to do it all herself, emptying herself of everything but trust and love, she opens the way for the miraculous’ (p. 195).
· ‘Each of those girls had been deeply cherished, and not as a possession or an asset, but for the vibrant, lovely, intelligent being that she was and for all the promise her life held. But in the eyes of the man who destroyed her, she was absolutely nothing. She was, in fact, an object- a thing.’ (p. 208).
· ‘Which is to say, I believe, that if a woman knows who she is, she cannot be drawn into an abusive relationship or manipulated by corporate media or prevented from playing the active role in politics that her country’s laws entitle her to. She is quite simply immune to exploitation of any kind.’ (p. 305).
Why relevant right now:
Personally useful for the spiritual awakening Useful at a societal level as it exposes structures of exploitation and inequality. No biggie.
Interest factor: 3.5/5
Coffee table cred: 3/5
Ignorance of external world while reading: 3.5/5
Book cover design: 2/5
Help the existential crisis: 4/5
‘Future is Feminine, The: Capitalism and the Masculine Disorder’, by Ciara Cremin.
What’s it about:
And another feminist read from Glasgow Women’s Library! Can you sense a theme here? The titles sums up the key point of this book – capitalism is a negative expression of ‘masculinity’.
What Lynn learned:
· That the women in Bond movies are mere ‘objects’, without messy and interesting personalities of their own.
· It is suggested that to be employable means to be exploitable. I understand this view, as disgruntled folks are never popular with management. Yet, how does this stand when we are seeing the growth of psychological safety and inclusion in workplaces? Is this changing somewhat?
Fave quotes:
· ‘liberating the potentialities that your ego has blocked, opening up new pathways of becoming for yourself and others. Whatever we do individually is, to stress the point, also by extension social’ – (p. 54)
· ‘it’s easy to be a good guy when you are relatively affluent, successful by any standard measure, when you’ve survived the playing fields without knocks’ (p. 68)
· ‘Drive is a kind of madness, a fiend that endlessly ticks. It makes us tick. It puts life out of joint’ (p. 103)
Why relevant right now:
There has been an influx in wellness trends, books on burnout and widespread re-evaluation on how we are spending our time. This book offers a vision of a future freed from inequality and sinister materialism.
Interest factor: 3.5/5
Coffee table cred: 3/5
Ignorance of external world while reading: 3.5/5
Book cover design: 2/5
Help the existential crisis: 4/5
