Two huge reads on Feminism circa 2009! Open thoughts, Open source thread!

Whew.

Okay, I have a giant headache because up too late but, yesterday I read the two most incredible pieces and they made me start thinking and thinking about how feminism was lived in the 1980’s.

Periodically I go over and read Reclusive Leftist, I totally understand her on Feminism and she is HUGE!

But, these two pieces!

Show the splits in the 80’s along gender and class lines, as well as sexual orientation.

My “straight hetero” feminism will be looking different than say “lesbian feminism.”

My feminism was about girls being EQUALS with boys!

My gen got to have that in the workplace — it was hard for us though. We left college with those degrees and it was the 80’s. The patriarchy was the males of the 60’s –? That is who was running all the big companies we worked in? It was hard for us as women and we didn’t have a cohesive group going on at all. Not like the women of the 60’s did? Because in those days, WOMEN had NO RIGHTS and boy did they ever fight for them!

My generation had to go up against intrenched patriarchal structures in order to get ahead on the job.

My generation is all about helping girls advance. All girls?

My feminism is going to look like Hillary Clintons does?

Even though I lived out mine in the 80’s and 90’s corporate sphere.

I don’t understand the concept of “feminazi” what is that?

Where do women who are Lesbians fitting with FEMINISM now?

What do the words Radical feminism mean to you?

What happened as various minority women became feminists in the *80’s?

Why are we seeing Sarah Palin as strong, but not Hillary?

Why were only certain women able to identify with Hillary as “FEMINIST” –?

These are HUGE questions, but I want to go get some perfume. I’m really proud of the novel I am going to write because fiction is going to tell the tale of what happened to my friends and I as women?

I am going to leave no stone unturned on that.

Nothing.

In the meantime, boy, talk about writing!

Riverdaughter and Cinie.

Please read them, and if you are a guy let me know how you are thinking about this too?

What impact did feminism have on you as you came out of the eighties and college?

How do you identify with that word?

hugs and xxoo!

Here is Cinie!

Did Feminism Kill Macho?

Here is RD!

Black, white and Sarah

These pieces are so well written that it is going to take me days to come up with something that can even touch how smart these two writers are?

Days.

But the themes in these pieces are the sort that Camille Paglia and Erica Jong could weigh in on at the big places they get published?

Not snarky, but real?

Too much is at stake for little girls of all colors right now?

Ps: I’d love it if you wanted to weigh in on transgenderism from your own perspective on this as well!

Serious!

And thank you!

This is not about arguing points, this is more about how people identify themselves?

And what the word feminism means to you?

Sparklers… (a chapter from my novel about growing up and being a feminist)

Sparklers!

Daddy has them, he has them, he has them — whole bunches of them and you are going to be setting them off like crazy just as soon as it gets dark.  In the driveway.

Danny’s next door and his dad has them too, and Alison gets to come over and watch at your house.  She lives up the street with her grandparents in a green house.  Her mommy got a divorce.

This one time you got to spend the night at her mom’s place.  She lived by herself and you never really got to ask Alison how come she lived with her grandparents did you?

She was one of your best, best friends.  She has the longest blonde braids you have ever seen.  Her grandparents are pretty strict, just like yours are when you go up to Cambria.  Mommy sends you up to their house all the time.  On the train.  All by yourself.

Those porters make sure that nothing bad is ever going to happen to you.  Their faces are one huge chocolate smile aren’t they?  Sometimes they call you honey just like Daddy does.  Or sweetheart.  Grandpa always calls you honeybunch.  It’s like his secret name for you.

You sit on that train and dream out the window.  Curves.  Time curves along those tracks.

That guy that gave you the guitar?  That lived next door at Danny’s?  The one that was all battered from all the places he had played it?  He was a surfer too.

Daddy  is home from Hawaii and he and  mommy are cooking.  This one time you helped him clean the stove for mommy.  He said you were a big girl, and the two of you did the inside.  It was Angelica’s day off.

Mommy makes fried chicken.  She doesn’t really like to cook much but this is Daddy’s favorite thing.  He was from a pretty big family in Tennesse.  They had horses. Tennessee Walkers.

I think she made that chicken just for him.  It always came out so perfect.  The two of you are laughing in the kitchen shaking that bag of flour and clouds of it float up into the sky.  She’s listening to Sergio Mendes. It’s her favorite music and she dances around all over that kitchen.  Because Daddy was back.

Pop Tarts.

Tang.

That’s your little brother’s favorite breakfast if he isn’t having French Toast.  Mommy makes that and cinnamon toast and the two of you sit in the kitchen at the wooden table she has.  She always has placemats.  It’s not like up at Grandma’s house.

Up at Grandma’s everything is antique and gilded…

But here in the kitchen the flour flies and mommy’s chocolate chip cookies flow together into one huge shape in the pan.  Everybody is laughing.

It’s like over at Alison’s moms.

Her favorite song is called “I can’t get no satisfaction” and that is on the radio all the time.

When you and Alison are over there the three of you dance to that over and over and over every time it comes on.  Her mom makes better sandwiches than yours does.  Alison gets those little boxes of different cereals too.  She gets to pick.  Potato chips too.

Not like you.

Most of the time mommy is working.  Mommy is working too hard to have time for that.  She gives you money for the cafeteria lunches.  Thirty five cents.

That patch of sliced green pepper stares you in the eye like an evil green dragon.  They were trying to pass that off as fruit, but?

They couldn’t fool you.

None of them could, actually.

The whole problem with being a parentified child?  Is that you are already older than everybody.  Especially mommy.

It’s the Fourth of July and people are coming over to see what Daddy has set up.  He always has everything.  Everything, everything, everything.  He is made out of fun just like Grandpa and Uncle Bud and Denny who gave you that guitar.  Sometimes you sit in your little olive green shag-carpeted room and practice the chords he taught you.  When you aren’t playing that violin at school.  You are in the orchestra.  You are something called “second chair” but you can’t remember what that even means now.  It was something that got taken away…

You can’t wait till it gets dark.  You can’t wait, you can’t wait, you can’t wait.

Because Daddy has sparklers.

Daddy has sparklers like magic and he lights them and places one in your hand and the grown-ups are all sitting around having beer and laughing and the music gets turned up and up and everybody is so happy.

Danny yanks on one of Alison’s pigtails.

He’s always doing stuff like that.

Your brother is too little to hold a sparkler yet, but he’s standing right next to you and his little eyes are lit up like magic too.

“You kids be careful now,” Mommy says.  “You be careful with those.”

“We will,” you say.

“Daddy, do another one.”

“Hold your horses,” he says.  “Just hold your horses.”

But you can’t.

You can’t.

That’s how much you love him and you love this day and you love the sky as it turns purple into twilight and the evening star comes out and you make a wish like you always do.

Twinkle, twinkle little star, you hum.

Alison’s sparkler twinkles like that too.

Mommy got you a special pink headband just for  today.  And a dress, too.  It’s white and splased with roses.  Pinkly abstract.

Grandpa is the one who taught you about wishes.

Wishes on a star.

He’s the one who taught you how to draw things.  He’s the one who held the wishbone.

He’s the one that gave you the bright copper penny that you learned to toss in fountains every time you see one.

Magic.

That’s what he was…

That’s who they all were.

* * *

“Sparklers” — copyright 2009 — Valentine Bonnaire — all rights reserved.

*Authors note:  I want to say thank you to the readers who came here in the comments yesterday.  All of you, for what you said.  I talked about some music in this piece.  Since the piece is posted free in the web, I think that is okay to do.  Also because it captures the mood of the times?  I’m trying to really give the era with true references and so that is why I am using them.  But, if this piece ever gets published in a book?  I’d need to get the rights I think.  At any rate, being part of a great Writer’s Conference like the one I go to — they will know.  I know the best writers in the world, and they are the most ethical people, too.  A few years ago Ray Bradbury was giving a talk about writing, and right in this minute that talk he gave is making me cry.

He was sitting there in this wheelchair and he said:  “I did it out of love.”

“I always did it out of love.”

This novel is coming from a place like that.  Have a very wonderful day today however you spend it!

xxoo!

Ecopsychology — Depth Psychology — and the client in pain — Somatization in the body…

I’m going to put my Depth Psychology hat back on for a minute — because I want to talk a little about pain, the pain client and an article I just read over at ABC news.

Riverdaughter, my blogging friend over at the Confluence is a scientist and she can speak to this issue from her own field.  Since she has been researching a cure for cancer for some time now, and I was trained to look at holistic means of soul cure as a Depth therapist — our two fields overlap and intermesh as “Madame Curies” in a way.

Here was RD yesterday:

“…One more thing: About the acetomenophen thingy, it has been well know for *YEARS* that as few as 4 extra strength tylenol can cause permanent liver damage.  Acetomenophen and aspirin are responsible for a lot more serious side effects every year than Vioxx or Phen-fen ever were.  It’s just our perception of them as safe, over the counter drugs and widespread use that keeps them from being yanked off of every shelf in America.  They were approved by the FDA back in the day when the clinical trials were a lot less stringent.  One of these days, I’m going to get around to writing a series of posts about how we got to the point where we can buy dangerous drugs without a prescription but prevent people with serious diseases like rheumatoid arthritis from buying prescription drugs with a much cleaner safety profile.  Eventually…”

Riverdaughter is going to have the latest news on the Swine flu as well over at her place…

But  I want to get back to my end because of a news article I read this morning.  I had written some pieces some time ago on the generation of “emo” kids and Robert Sardello’s research.   Also I had looked into work that Senator Grassley was doing in terms of fighting unethical things in the medical field.

What I want to talk about today is “pain” and the pain client.  I’m going to be talking about what is called Somatization as relates to “pain” and a little about this from the psychotherapeutic perspective.

We do seem to be at a healthcare crossroads in more ways than one, and not just in terms of insurance?

I was really concerned about how much pain the emo tribe seemed to be in?  Physical pain can sometimes be linked to psychic pain?

So, I want to take a look deeper into this news story to get at the root of something?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=7981483&page=1

From the story we learn that the client is 22 years old, and that he has been in chronic pain for ten years.  He is suffering from fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis?  Now, I am not a medical doctor but, isn’t arthritis a disease of the elderly?  It used to be?  The fibromyalgia appears to date from the time he was 12 in this case?

Aaron Kipnis is a scholar I know who has done research on the medicating of boys?  I have written about him before in my blog.  After reading this story, I would question what sort of chemical cocktail might produce the agony of arthritis in a young man of 22?

Could it be that some potent cocktail of anti-anxiety/anti-depressants plus over the counter drugs could cause the body to react like this in one so young?

Here is a page that will give you the criteria on Somatization.

You can pretty much read through that and see what it is all about, but let me talk a little about pain and the body and doctors.  Since we don’t know in the case above what caused the young man to need the pills he was prescribed in childhood?

After I read Riverdaughter yesterday, I got to thinking about the way that pharmacies used to be?  Basically there was a pharmacist behind the counter who dispensed doctor’s prescriptions and on the shelves you just saw a few brands of aspirin or very simple creams and ointments.  And bandaids?

I was thinking ecologically about the larger ramifications of drugs and their waste products getting into the food chain and the water?  Also in the ocean?  Because we are seeing species have to adapt to the changing acidity of the sea and so forth.

This is from the page linked above:

“…Description

Individuals with somatization disorder suffer from a number of vague physical symptoms, involving at least four different physical functions or parts of the body. The physical symptoms that characterize somatization disorder cannot be attributed to medical conditions or to the use of drugs, and individuals with somatization disorder often undergo numerous medical tests (with negative results) before the psychological cause of their distress is identified. They often use impressionistic and colorful language to describe their symptoms, describing burning sensations, pains that move from place to place, strange tastes on the tongue, tingling, or tremors. While many symptoms resemble those associated with genuine diseases, some of the symptoms reported by people with somatization disorder are not. The individual usually visits many different physicians, but the information they provide about the patient’s symptoms can be inconsistent. It is important to note that while the physical symptoms of somatization disorder frequently lack medical explanations, they are not intentionally fabricated. The typical person with somatization disorder has suffered from physical pain, discomfort, and dysfunction for an extended period of time and consulted several doctors; they are hopeful that they one can be found who can identify the cause of their illness and provide relief.

Somatization disorder can be dangerous, since patients may end up taking several different medications, thereby risking harmful drug interactions…”

I treated some pain clients.

Oftentimes it is an Object Relations issue on a depth level?

Pain clients will often seek treatment from doctors and nurses because they are “cared for” by people who are filling in for self-objects who were non-existent in the pre-verbal stage to about age 9?

So, operations and pills are a form of getting attention and love from a caregiver.

This sort of wound can be treated with Family Therapy?

Talk therapy from a depth perspective over time is the key here.  You have to go back to the “roots” of the pain?

What somatization means is this:

“…Causes and symptoms

Many patients described by Sigmund Freud would be diagnosed today with somatization disorder. His patients were usually young women who complained of numerous physical symptoms. In the process of speaking with Freud, they would often recall a number of distressing memories; discussing these memories frequently led to the relief of physical symptoms. These cases formed the foundation of Freud’s psychoanalytic treatment. Although this theory offers a plausible explanation for somatization disorder, research indicates that people with multiple physical symptoms are actually more likely to report psychiatric symptoms than those with few physical problems. These findings appear to support a connection between psychological and physical distress, but are inconsistent with the idea that physical symptoms offer a defense against overt psychiatric symptoms…”

DEFENSE AGAINST PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS. One of the oldest theories about the cause of somatization disorder suggests that it is a way of avoiding psychological distress. Rather than experiencing depression or anxiety, some individuals will develop physical symptoms. According to this model, somatization disorder is a defense against psychological pain that allows some people to avoid the stigma of a psychiatric diagnosis. While getting the care and nurturing they need from doctors and others who are responsive to their apparent medical illnesses, many patients are encouraged to continue their manipulative behavior…”

I have no doubt that the young man in the news story is in agony?

And I wonder how many others in the emo tribe might be suffering as well.

What concerns me for them was that they have extreme suicidal ideation and are using cutting and so forth.

One wonders what the chemical cocktails have caused?

Is this the agony their bodies are in that is causing the “cutting?”

It is something for Senator Grassley to pursue.  I think he is doing a great job as a Senator!

Here is some additional research on this, just ignore the political part at the top!

Ecopsychology, ecosphere, EMO children a deeper look… (part 6)