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This speech, by Sojourner Truth, was delivered at the Akron convention was not officially recorded; it survives because it was written down by Frances Gage –
“A’int I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head’; what’s this they call it? [Intellect, someone whispers.] That’s it honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negro’s rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and your holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half-measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ’cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from?? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them!”
Sojourner Truth saw how religion and patriarchy fit together, one reinforcing the other. Her reference to the ‘man in black’ demonstrates her keen intellect as she was aware of the part played by organized religion in maintaining the oppressive state of affairs – she addressed the problem of religious interpretation directly in this quote focusing on the power of the female role in the biblical story.
Funny how big an issue translating the bible into common languages has been throughout history, almost like those who did the interpreting had something to lose (or something to hide) in the process. But that is the cynic speaking, I’m sure that the religious authorities had nothing to gain by keeping the masses ignorant and dependent on their self-serving interpretation of the bible…
Casting a wide net on the internet is fraught with peril. I’m going to leave the links in long form because really,the embedded info is introduction enough for this post.
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How a husband can enjoy sex that is grudgingly given by his wife
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This would be ROPJ material (see the RPOJ on Christian Patriarchy), but someone has already beaten me to the punch. I was almost out of time and just saved the post to a wordpress draft. The author pretty much nails all the lowlights.
“Everything from their website seems like it’s The Onion (I saw another one called “How To Discipline Your Wife”) but I’m pretty sure it’s the real deal. Nauseating stuff.
Oh. it’s all the real deal. Never doubt religious shits to do their worst. Some choice quotes from the article:
“You also need to realize that whether your wife knows it or not she needs to have sex too,” he opined. “If you don’t have sex with your wife at regular intervals, even sometimes when she is not in the mood but consents anyway, you will open yourself to temptation.”
“Focus your eyes on her body, not her face. Focus on the visual pleasure you receive from looking at her body and physical pleasure you receive from being inside your wife,” Solomon recommended. “You want to connect with her physically AND emotionally during sex. But your wife is the one refusing to connect with you emotionally, so you have to concentrate 100% on the physical side.”
“I know you love your wife, most men love their wives. But sin is ugly,” the writer remarked. “Your beautiful bride’s face becomes ugly during this sinful time that she is grudgingly giving you sex as she grimaces wanting you to ‘just hurry up and get it over with’.”
“So like the men who could not look at Medusa’s face otherwise they would be killed, realize that if you look on your wife’s face when she is displaying a sinful attitude toward sex it will kill your sexual pleasure and may actually make it much more difficult for you to achieve the physical connection and release that you need,” he concluded. “Sometimes we have to work around the sinful behavior of our wives and this will be one of those times.”
In a column earlier this year, Solomon insisted that there was “no such thing as marital rape.” A wife, he said, could ask her husband to delay sex for a short period of time but the request “must be done humbly and respectfully, and always with the attitude in mind that her body does belong to her husband.”
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Rank, hideous victim-blaming, all of it.
If you find yourself giving men the benefit of the doubt, just remember this article! It’ll cure what ails ya!
It makes me so sad that people don’t realize the beauty and pleasure of consensual sex where you are attentive to your partner and listen to their needs… get to know each other’s bodies and really learn how to please each other. Sex can be a very unifying act and you don’t need all this disgusting kinky stuff to orgasm… it’s all so simple, really. And, as far as PIV sex goes, men are going to have a much better time if their partner is wet. @men Basically, what I am getting at, if you wanna enjoy sex, please your partner. Oddly enough this benefits you the most as well. Sex is wonderful and I hate that so many people corrupt it. Sex is in no way a feminist act, but you can certainly make it less feminist by applying biblical logic… by muddying it up with weird BDSM power “women are shit and deserve to be abused” shit. I’m rambling but this shit is so upsetting and counterintuitive.
This isn’t even christian, please don’t mistake it for that. this is men who are acting how they want to and using religion (falsely, might i add) to justify it.
The confluence of religion and patriarchy always ends in rotten deal for women. Consider this case #2389473 of proof positive of that.
When arguing with religious, one runs into many interesting aspects of the human character. Close to the top of the list is Confirmation Bias – or the idea that we tend to cultivate and seek out views and standpoints that we agree, often at the expense of the truth of the matter.
Qualia Soup illustrates the process with religious arguments he’s faced in the past.
The challenge we all face is being charitable and arguing with what people have said/are saying, not what we think they are saying. (Easy to say, hard to do, especially in the heat of the moment.)
One always hopes to find argument in the religious arsenal that is somehow more compelling than: “I believe in X, and that is enough”. The argument portrayed here might be considered ground zero for the silliness the religiously deluded foist upon others in order to win them over to their cause.
I didn’t think we’d have start at square zero…
Religion is a particularly nasty subset of the patriarchal fabric of our society. Most organized religions provide the justification for the continued male dominance in society. I mean, if the notion of a Grand Ooga-Booga isn’t preposterous enough on its own, the fact that most of His divine commands and intuitions are tethered to a male centric point of view should be the icing on the cold cake of realization that GOB (so close, I know) is a entirely a fictitious being made up by us.
So, GOB is really just scared dudes talking to themselves. This condition is not prone to produce much of anything useful (see the bible). The grim offerings that do rise from this murky swamp though, surprisingly, reinforce pretty much all that is shitty about humanity. Blind obedience, deference to authority, and of course the suspension of rationality when dealing with the world.
Bill Nye expounds on this notion in regards to Women and the deleterious bullshit they have to put up with when they are trying to make the right decision about their reproductive futures.
The take away from the video is this. Your magic book and your pious feelings are not substitutes for facts. Keep your magic in your head and stop fucking with women’s rights.
When historical fact slaps down the commonsense notions of biblical ‘accuracy’.
Tackling organized religion and all the inanity that goes along with it is a full time job. It is quite possible to sink days worth of thought and engagement into the struggle against religion and the toxicity it spreads through our societies. As a writer, one needs to know when to disengage and take a break from the front lines because there is always a shiny new low to be discovered when deconstructing, criticizing, and generally putting the boots to all that is holy.
I find it to be particularly hard during the Christmas season to filter out all the amazing crap that people do in the name of their Oooga-booga of choice. Looking at you purveyors of the mythic War On Christmas, O members of the Persecuted Majority, but I digress.
What I find heart warming and inspiring is that, almost everyday, I can check my wordpress feed and find a article or a story that is championing the side of reason and rationality. The serious posts, the funny ones, the gut-wrenching/stomach turning articles – all written with the intent of hoping to nudge the ledger of history a bit further toward reason and away from the false hope that is religion.
I take solace in knowing that there are like minded individuals who share my struggle and wrestle with some of the same issues and problems that can seem so insurmountable at times. The general high quality and thoughtfulness of argument and prose I see on a regular basis inspires me raise my own standards and continue onward with doing what I do here in blogland. I’m honoured to be part of such a intellectually fruitful and challenging community; thus I feel obligated to extend my thanks to those who take the time to comment here and bring the noise when necessary to hammer out a better arguments and generally just raise the level of discourse past whatever I could do on my own.
You nice bloggy-people are a damn invaluable resource. Thank you for spending the time and the effort in pursuing the over-arching goals we all work toward, in one way or another.
Keep up the good work everyone, solidarity and comradery yadda-yadda, and of course best wishes to you all in this fine holiday season.
Warmest regards,
Arb
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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