Amazons International # 69 ************************** Contents: TODAY'S QUOTE Jazz Fan: The Blessing of Being Stuck in Time Don Clerk: Humanism or feminism? Jazz Fan: Epistle to A Lesser God Date of publication: 24.10.1998 ********************************************************************* TODAY'S QUOTE The underlying message would seem to be of women's alienation in the real world, as none of these authors have been able to imagine fantasy worlds in which amazons are entirely comfortable with themselves & their environment. None have imagined worlds in which such competence in women is not the special case. A single grand exception is Raven of Samuel Delany's "Tales of Neveryon". Though typical of the genre in that she is travelling through patriarchal lands, Raven expresses a world-view radically opposed to the, for her, alien attitudes encountered in male-dominated countries. No author has reconstructed anything akin to, say, the island Tritonia envisioned by the ancient Greeks as the homeland of the Empire-forging North African "gorgons" or Hesperians, nor the later Amazonia of the Thermodontines (Scythian Amazons), although a well-researched historical novel, "The Sword is Forged" by Evangeline Walton, tackles the latter. The reduction of the amazon to anomaly is recent. In the majority of the medieval popular literature & epic poems dealing with heroism, the Amazon in context of her own society is a commonplace.<5> Thus it can be seen that the modern amazon novel shies away from the boldness of tradition in favor of an updated milquetoast approach, devoid, except in Delany's limited case, of Amazon theology & deep-rooted history. [...] The common delusion of fantasy writers is that they have freed themselves from the constraints of history. But history is filled with vastly more interesting amazons than can be found in these books.<6> Fantasy novels appear to reduce into simplistic patterns the richness & complexity of reality, rather than building beyond the limitations of an unmagical universe. Hence the Amazon, like everything else encountered in the typical heroic fantasy novel, is a reduction, rather than an expansion, of women's history of adventure & heroism. -- Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Amazon Heroic Fantasy http://www.violetbooks.com/amazon.html ********************************************************************* Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 10:24:56 -0400 From: Jazz Fan Subject: The Blessing of Being Stuck in Time I was born in 1954, which in some respects seems like a half-century ago. :) In one of those respects... the changes in the public perception of women, it could well be longer. When I was a small child, the primary occupation for women was "homemaker" (a term that really only came into vogue when "housewife" began to seem sexist). Women wore dresses, and girls wore skirts. Hair was "done" at a beauty parlor, and men wore the pants both literally and figuratively... women would occasionally wear "slacks" which raised some interesting if perverse questions about the role the man played in the house. If one interviewed a housewife of that era, and asked about her high school sports career, she'd have been likely to look quite puzzled. Inquire as to how she obtained those great hamstrings? She'd have called the police. Women hid their muscles from view, wore flat shoes if they were "too tall", and feigned weakness and stupidity in order to attract a man. Girls above the age of 12 loathed any suggestion linking them to strength, muscle, or athletic ability. Tall girls were admonished to never wear high heels, and girls with big leg muscles were pitied for their affliction and a few years later when clothing restrictions on women eased, criticized for not having the good manners to wear more suitable attire.<1> This image of woman -- primarily the American suburban variety to which I was exposed -- stuck with me like one of those psychological syndromes for which one would be likely to visit a psychiatrist, years later. :) But it wasn't all bad. I also grew up in the 1960's, and matured a bit more in the 70's (I stopped that nonsense soon thereafter). These were times when females began to do whatever they damned pleased, or more accurately, whatever they could get away with. So I not only witnessed the limits placed on women, but also was around to see them defy those limits. I saw the suppression and the rebellion and I believe it had a profound effect on me. I came to believe deeply in the power of women. If one wanted to see a group force a change from an unwilling grasp, keeping an eye on women was one of the two best ways to do that (the other, of course, was witnessing the black civil rights movement). Yet for me, the advancement of women was always played out before the backdrop of the earliest impressions I had gleaned. As though a part of me is stuck in time, everything a female does directly challenges those impressions. Women have left the home for the work place... wear whatever they choose... go where ever they desire... say what they will, yet to my eyes, when doing so, they always break the same stereotypes. In short, I have never gotten used to empowered women, they never seem ordinary. Such women whom we might term as "Amazonian" seem extraordinary, and that is the source of the depth of my admiration for them. When a woman rolls up her sleave and flexes her muscle, it doesn't seem to matter how many women have done that over the last ten years... because for me, that act flies in the face of a man with a hat, baggy cuffed pants, skinny tie, and a crewcut with pomade applied. When she flexes that muscle, I see June Cleaver shaking her head in bewildered disapproval, and Laura Petrie with the faintest of smiles... not willing to go there herself, but clearly enjoying how uncomfortable her husband Rob has suddenly become. Amazons are wonderful to me... more wonderful every day because of this short-circuit in me which allows them to be bold, irreverent, assertive, willful, and physically powerful EACH time they appear or do what they do. Each Amazon and each thing she does is outrageous against the backdrop of the constraints of an earlier era, I can't help but apply. I consider this a personal blessing. I never tire of seeing women with muscles. I'm never bored watching a woman pit herself against some difficult physical task and emerge unbroken... or even victorious. It still amazes me that a girl can get into a boxing or toughwoman ring, get hit in the face countless times, and not fall down and cry. It's like ice cream turned into a sundae with whipped cream and a cherry when instead, she roars, taunts, and beats back the attack! Hot fudge? She wins! She flexes her muscles and boasts afterwards... that's like getting the whole sundae for free! So sweet. Time has moved on. Women are stronger, freer and more self reliant than ever before. This is true to such an extent that saying so almost seems an insult. Yet, I am grateful for the malady that prevents me from fully accepting that<2> and that keeps me in a state of childlike wonder before the presence, appearance and deeds of Amazons. Notes: <1> By the time I was in seventh grade, girls were wearing mini skirts. There was a girl in my class who had incredibly powerful legs. Her calf muscles, on display at least twice per week, seemed to make everyone feel uncomfortable in one way or another... these were changing times. One evening, I was in the car with my family, and we happened to see her walking across the street. She was wearing high(ish) heels and a mini skirt. I tried to show no reaction, but unfortunately, my mother had no such inhibition and said "Look at that! My G-d! That girl ought to be ashamed of herself. She shouldn't be wearing that with those horrible legs of hers!". Blessed with brawn yet seen as "horrible". How bizarre. <2> My propensity that I've described would have been considerably more sinister if rather than being surprised and thrilled I was startled and angered. Being stuck in the "dark ages" can have its dark side too. The difference is that instead of beating serfs and grabbing wenches, I'm just consistently enchanted with the concept of central heating and the automobile. Jazz Fan Visit the land of AMAZONIA MINOR at... http://mail.dandy.net/~bunburry/amazonia.html ********************************************************************* Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 15:49:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Don Clerk Subject: Humanism or feminism? I have been subscribed to Amazons International for some time and find that it is an interesting and intelligent forum for the discussion of strong women -- with strong used in several senses of that word. I am a long time observer of much that has been going on with feminism and I have often been frankly enraged at some of the excessive things that some women have routinely said about men. In the last few years, it appears that the feminists have toned down the rhetoric a bit. Perhaps this happened because even some women were beginning to object that many feminists were saying things about men that were unfair and excessive. I personally believe that the debate between men and women is often done in a rather superficial way that reduces to shouting at each other from opposite sides of the issues -- whatever they may happen to be at the moment. For my part, I hope that we will see the world's first truly non-sexist philosophy, which feminism certainly is not. Such a philosophy, for want of a better name, would be called humanism. It would respect both men and women and try to draw the best of what both sexes have to offer based on each sex's unique perspective on the world. I also believe that women in general, are long overdue for a critical analysis by men, and that many many women in this world have their heads filled with many silly, stupid, and sexist notions about men. I also believe that women's traditional power source with men -- sex -- must be challenged, and ultimately removed as a source of unfair power of women over men. Having said all that, I do find tall, extremely muscular women very sexy looking. And I have known a number of strong women -- strong intellectually, spritually, and morally, not simply physically. In many cases, there is a lot to respect about these women. One of them is a grandmother on my father's side who ran a structural steel firm during the 2nd World War in Britain -- long before feminism was the rage. I am hopeful that the trend to build women up by tearing men down will cease and that men and women will come to know and enjoy each other again, instead of fighting all the time. I hope for a world where the strength of men will be appreciated, not belittled, and I am willing to build a world together with women, if they will do so in a way that respects me as a man, and men in general. I think women need to rediscover that there is a great deal that they could learn from men. Men like me are willing to build a world with women who will have proper respect for us. And we are willing to respect their strength and their views, if they will respect ours. Just wanted to say my but. Keep up your work with this mailing list. Sincerely Don Clerk ********************************************************************* Date: Tue, 09 Jun 1998 10:21:19 -0400 From: Jazz Fan Subject: Epistle to the Admirers I think that our fascination with Amazons can sometimes be problematic. Most of us must balance drives and emotions like admiration, lust, love, veneration, submission, and even resentment. In essence, we try to reconcile an idea (The Amazon) with the human beings (Amazonian women), often failing in the attempt. In so doing, we often engender mistrust and even contempt in the very ones with whom we wish to connect. I'd like to illustrate here, just one CURIOUS AND FANCIFUL approach to framing the Amazon-fascination and benignly attempting that connection -- EPISTLE TO THE ADMIRERS by A Prophet of a Lesser God, Amazonia Minor http://mail.dandy.net/~bunburry/amazonia.html To all who feel somehow drawn to something we call 'Amazon', and struggle to understand whom She might be, I offer that which has been revealed to me. I am the least of all prophets... for I serve a 'lesser god' who is in essence, no more than notion. Remember that and take this revelation accordingly, with a grain of salt. What is a 'lesser god'? The lesser gods are those deities forgotten and those never known. Their messages are meager and their voices too faint to hear, yet they abide just out of the corners of our eyes and dwell as a faint knot within the recesses of our hearts. The Amazon whom we seek, is a lesser god. Rather than of a cosmic nature, She is a goddess of a carnal one. She is a totality of the experience of being of the flesh. She is self-filled and brimming with Her own victories. She is the thrill of Her own power applied... Her own flowing, bouncing and rippling... Her own magnificence. She is unfettered by humanity and unhindered by the concerns of mortal women. She has no conscience and no obligation and some, like us, are drawn to her, even knowing her to be no more than this. She can be vaguely perceived in the image of women we call 'Amazons'. To us these women appear blessed. They echo The Amazon's towering presence, Her overweening strength, or Her impressive countenance. In these 'blessed women' we call 'Amazons', kissed by that lesser god whom they probably do not know, we see evidence of The Amazon's existence. God shows his presence in a myriad of ways, and if one saw one of his seraphim, one would certainly know of God's existence, yet if that angel stood before us, he would say "do not worship me, I'm but an angel... worship God.". And so it is with the women blessed by The Amazon. They often rightly say to us, "do not worship us... we are wholly people and not objects for veneration.". So we are bereft of a connection to that lesser god... The Amazon, whose call beckons us as souls unto the Light. The images of the Amazon held precariously upon the faces and forms of those 'blessed women', while proof of The Amazon's existence, are not that lesser god Herself. What then is left to us, we followers of The Amazon? The demands and rewards of a lesser god are small, yet for those of us who seek them, there is only one path: Communion. We are called to BE The Amazon. To be at once, the center and the revolving rim. We long to be both worshiper and god in one. We yearn to feel the unbridled pride in Her power sating our hunger which that very power had churned within us... To kiss our own swelling arms without a trace of inhibition... To smile broadly as we look at the strength and beauty of our face in an arrogant self confidence we completely understand... To writhe in bliss within the smirk that forms upon Her lips as She looks down upon the heads of others... To celebrate our triumph without losing the wonder of it... To gaze upon our own body... Her body, our own thick muscles... Her's, with a requited lust and admiration unsaddled with shame or condemnation... To know we are at once the embodiment of our prayers and their divine answers. Communion. Transfiguration. How might we do this? How can we commune with someone who is in fact, nothing more than an idea? I have found that the easiest but least satisfying path to communion is through fixation. We may take an aspect of the The Amazon, shown in an attribute of some Blessed Woman, frozen upon an image... and pine. We may stare as children with noses pressed against a candy store window. We will wallow in the shallows of a tide pool, while hearing the ocean roar in the distance. We can see but cannot fully experience the oneness we seek. It is something, but something unfulfilling at best. Sometimes... not often, we are blessed with an AVATAR of The Amazon. Perhaps She will be manifested in a work of literature. Perhaps She will appear as a comic book character or be made flesh by an actress in a movie. When this happens, we can look upon that manifestation, and in the simplicity of its portrayal, feel as though, through contemplation, we can understand what The Amazon must be like. More difficult for some than finding an avatar, is the option that we might extrapolate one. We might create one in our own minds, and then revel in Her. This is difficult for many of us to do, as it takes an extremely active imagination, and a willing suspension of disbelief. Not all of us are so inclined. Lastly, we can hope for a dream; the most rewarding and most elusive method of communion. In a dream we are transfigured into The Amazon, and know as only dreams can tell, the full extent of Her being. Over time, I have fixed my gaze upon countless images, and routinely contemplate the avatar.<1> I have put words to screen and pencil to paper to cull what I could from my imagination, and I have, now and again, dreamt. I have encountered The Amazon in my dreams, and though I sometimes stood apart from Her, I seemed to know Her for a fleeting moment. Those dreams have been epiphanies and remain my most cherished memories. I wish for each of you, communion with the Idea... with the lesser god... The Amazon. May She reveal Herself to you in wonderous ways! <1> Chyna: The Ultimate Amazon http://bunburry.simplenet.com/tmpl1a.htm Jazz Fan Visit the land of AMAZONIA MINOR at... http://mail.dandy.net/~bunburry/amazonia.html ***************************************************************** * Amazons International * * Thomas Gramstad, editor: thomas@math.uio.no * * Administravia/Listserver: amazons-request@ifi.uio.no * * Submissions: amazons@math.uio.no * * http://www.math.uio.no/~thomas/lists/amazons.html * * * * The Amazon Connection -- Links to Amazon web sites: * * http://www.math.uio.no/~thomas/lists/amazon-links.html * ***************************************************************** "A Hard Woman is Good to Find" -- The Valkyries