Ladies Don’t Say Fuck. Working title for my memoir. Ever since a Florida campaign when a friendly labor leader cautioned me about my attitude and I wisecracked, Yeah, I know. Ladies don’t say fuck. It was hardly my first introduction to the land of Ladies Don’t. And I’m hardly the first woman to get shut down. Take Eve. She took the rap for that first bad apple and it’s been downhill ever since.
Then there’s Mary Magdalene. You know her as the hooker Jesus hung out with, right? But did you know there’s another version of Mary? Priestess. Powerful healer. Goddess. You don’t get that version in Sunday school. That got shot down by the Romans’ PR campaign to superimpose a male-dominated hierarchy on top of earth-oriented, hence female-oriented rituals and holy days. If you’re looking for Original Sin, I’d say look no further.
But going back even farther to ancient Egypt, we have Sekhmet, daughter of the Sun god Ra (you know, like Jesus is son of the Christian God?) with the body of a woman and the head of a lion. Often seated beside Ramses in statues and art, Sekhmet is obviously more than his plus-one. More like member of a triad, or holy trinity, with Ramses and Ptah. But when humanity violated Ra’s laws of justice and balance, Sekhmet became an instrument of his wrath. This mighty goddess of healing became the fire-breathing, blood-thirsty goddess of war, also known as “She Before Whom Evil Trembles.” After destroying an insurrection by a rebellious mob (sound familiar?) her rampage continued. She would have destroyed all of mankind if Ra hadn’t stopped her with a river of blood-red beer. Her rage was gone when she woke up three days later.
Through the ages, powerful women — healers — have been reduced to prostitutes, wives and witches. Burned at the stake, or simply diminished, being suppressed and oppressed through time immemorial is downright de-pressing. But instead of lashing out in a murderous rage (I can think of a mob that has it coming…) we tend to do our enemy’s work by diminishing ourselves. Face it: It’s hard to shine your light through a mountain of bullshit. But shine we must. Rise up against injustice, we must. Together, our voice is powerful AF. And all that rage must be concentrated in one place at one time: The Ballot Box. November 8. We have the power.
Check out Cynthia’s badass website: www.mywayisthehighway.com
