Grrrl Power

I Feel So Different

September 26, 2023August 29, 2024 by RasmeniaNo Comments

People crowd the street, most of them women with flecks of silver in their hair and lines on their face etching a map back to who they used to be: young women full of joy and anguish. Weird, creative girls trying to survive the constant pressure of what parents, friends, schools, and institutions said they couldn’t and shouldn’t do. Lonely girls who want to scream and dance and smash convention and patriarchy but feel powerless to do so.The music in the street gets louder and one woman in the crowd, a grandmother in leather and Doc Martens, pounds on her heart with her fist, eyes closed, oblivious to all those around her as she sings along with Sinéad:I'll remember it And Dublin in a rainstorm And sitting in the long grass in summer Keeping warm I'll remember it Every restless night We were so young then We thought that everything We could possibly do was right Then we moved Stolen...

Why I Still Want to Be Wonder Woman When I Grow Up

December 16, 2019June 7, 2024 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

Adults always ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up. When you're small, this question is exciting because it immediately propels you into imagining yourself in fantastic scenarios. I used to tell the grown ups I wanted to be a stewardess. (Don't start. It was the 70s, so we weren't saying "flight attendant.") I hadn't yet been on an airplane and imagined nothing could be more exciting than flying. Sure, traveling the world seemed okay, but the sky was the domain of super humans. People who could fly. Like Superman or Wonder Woman.And what I really wanted to be when I grew up was Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman had an invisible jet. Much cooler than handing out tiny pouches of nuts on an airplane. I only needed to twirl around like Lynda Carter, then look up at the sky. I could see myself up there, far above the Earth and all the nonsense below.Wonder Woman was...

Finding Hope in a Galaxy of Women’s Stories

December 14, 2017November 23, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

If you're reading this, that means we made it through 2017. What seemed like a hopeless quagmire of shit and doom in January is still an insane quagmire of shit and doom, but maybe it's a little less hopeless. A little less shitty and a bit less doomy. At least, in the way that I'm choosing to view it, the world is still broken, but nearly one year into the most powerful country in the world being run by a bile-spewing fleshy cesspool of fetid narcissism, I've seen plenty of clear reminders that he isn't the one with all the power. I'm still angry. I'm still worried and freak out a lot, so when I catch myself sinking and letting my imagination overwhelm me with worst-case scenarios, I look elsewhere. I follow the advice of Mr. Rogers, and I look for the helpers.Lately, though, I don't stop with the helpers. I look for the fighters. The resisters. After watching a...

The Joys of Not Being a Skinny Girl

June 27, 2012November 30, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

“I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls.” ― J.K. Rowling“By choosing healthy over skinny you are choosing self-love over self-judgment. You are beautiful!” ― Steve Maraboli“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” ― Kate Moss *** Let me start off by saying that Kate Moss is a fucking idiot. I've been there. I've worn her size 2. I've been skinny. I've also tasted many different things & I'm here to tell you that she's flat-out WRONG. Tasting things feels good. Tasting...

13 Women of World War II

June 18, 2009December 3, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

1. Astrid Løken - Norway - April 14, 1911 - January 19, 2008 Astrid looks like my friend's grandma and was a student at the University of Oslo back in the day, where she studied bumblebees. So what does that have to do with the war? Well, Astrid was also a spy for the Norwegian resistance and worked under the code name "Eva." Appearing as an ordinary student riding around on her little bicycle taking photographs, Astrid wasn't much of a concern to the Germans during their 2-month occupation of Norway. How were they to know that she was actually snapping shots of their installments, or that she had incendiary bombs, grenades and slept with a cyanide capsule under her pillow?2. Corrie ten Boom - Netherlands - April 15, 1892 - April 15, 1983 In addition to looking like someone who likely bakes delicious cookies, Corrie and her family harbored several refugees during the Holocaust. Eventually, she and her family were arrested...

13 Mothers of Invention

April 2, 2009November 23, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

1. Sybilla Masters - d.1720 Sybilla was an American colonist back in the day. Now and then, the native population would give the colonists the gift of corn - you know, as opposed to baking them pies. Sybilla invented a mill that would clean and grind the corn, which allowed the colonists to use it for various food and clothing products. Sybilla's husband Thomas was granted a patent for the mill in 1715 by the British courts. Thomas Masters actually held two patents on behalf of his wife, since women and minorities had no right to own a patent, because who in the fuck did they think they were, anyway? Sybilla was the first American woman inventor in documented history, but it's a pretty safe bet that women have been inventing and getting shafted on the credit since the beginning of time. 2. Mary Dixon Kies - 19th CenturyIn 1809, Mary was issued a patent for inventing a process for weaving straw...