"I am deliberate and afraid of nothing."

-Audre Lorde

Today, I take a pause, to celebrate the women I know, have known, and will know, who have suffered, risen, and moved forward, once more. I salute your greatness and enshrine your legacies.

The pause, after "The Color Purple"

Few movies have touched me the way this one has. And after having seen it again, now that what I consider the most difficult parts of my life have come and gone, the story has taken on a new path. It has--apart from showing me the beauty in its cinematography, its actors' ability to keep everything within the bounds of understatement, its director's sure hand, and its well-written music--triggered different emotions and jump-started new insight. It's probably my age, and the keener sense to redirect perspectives that I have acquired with it, that are the roots of these feelings.

The book is miles more poignant than the film, and when I first read it, I was young, and angry, and in the middle of the quietest desperation I would ever know, against which I struggled without struggling. The analysis I wrote of it in a Contemporary American Literature class in college was a virtual treatise on the oppression of women and the importance of making one's voice heard. I had found an ally in Celie, and with that piece, I had so valiantly meant to champion her and all the women who had ever suffered in the hands of a man; and all the while, the paradox of my inability to champion myself hovered, like a shadow. The one thing I could do, back then, was to scribble passages from the book that had driven wherever home was for me, during those times.

Needless to say, I attacked the book with a vengeance, and cried my eyes sore when I first watched the movie. This morning, despite familiarity with the ins and outs of the narrative, and knowing exactly how it was going to end, I still cried, but for reasons entirely different from the ones that had so made me sniffle, the first time I saw it.

After all, it was Celie's constant reminder to herself to "just keep breathing," that had helped me through some of my darkest hours, and her heartfelt exclamation of gratitude, "I'm here, I'm here!" that reminds me of the many things I should be, and am, thankful for.

After the cake

There might you see one sigh, another rage,

And some, their violent passions to assuage,

Compile sharp satires; but, alas, too late,

For faithful love will never turn to hate.

- Christopher Marlowe, "Hero and Leander"

Leander, on my mind. And Apollo, at the heels, but as always. Where is the man who will love like they did, where, the modern-day wooer who will defy distance and speed, and laugh at scorn, who will cross a sea every night for his beloved, who will brave danger and death, or let reason go unheeded?

Modern woman, you are unfortunate to be living at a time like this.

head shake (translate: natauhan)

Well, not really.

Now, back to regular programming. 

Or, put those heels on and step on their ego-coated toes.

India Arie - Beautiful Flower

‎This is a song for every girl who's 

Ever been through something she thought she couldn't make it through
I sing these words because
I was that girl too
Wanting something better than this
But who do I turn to

Now we're moving from the darkness into the light
This is the defining moment of our lives

'Cause you're beautiful like a flower
More valuable than a diamond
You are powerful like a fire
You can heal the world with your mind

There is nothing in the world that you cannot do
When you believe in you, who are beautiful
Yeah, you, who are brilliant
Yeah, you, who are powerful
Yeah, you, who are resilient

This is a song for every girl who
Feels like she is not special
'Cause she don't look like a supermodel Coke bottle
The next time the radio tells you to shake your moneymaker
Shake your head and tell them, tell them you're a leader

Now we're moving from the darkness into the light
This is the defining moment of our lives

It's Women's Month, once more

So let me share with you a list of the women I stalk online, just because they remind me that a woman with a mind of her own is a wonderful woman to be:

Daphne Osena-Paez
Katrina Stuart Santiago
Jessica Zafra
Conchitina Cruz
Anne Boyer
Mary Anne Moll
The Cat with the Fiddle
Lea Salonga
Chella Courington

Go and get yourself a haircut, a hot-oil treatment, a pedicure, a Starbucks, a new pair of shoes, a hug from your kids, a look of tenderness from your man, a high-five from your boss, smiles from your fans, er, friends! You deserve to be adored!
=)

As always, my dears, let's all fly high, for we are women!

The RH Bill debate: Yes, this woman will rant

This entire hullabaloo over the RH Bill is so frustrating. What the antis need to realize is that women have as much right to their bodies, their reproductive and overall health and their LIVES as the next man does. This is one of those times that I regret the backwardness of the Catholic Church, choosing to turn a blind eye on reality and insisting on ideologies, as if they were, indeed, experts on both the former and the latter. That this certain throng would rather have women going through teenage pregnancies and the requisite failed marriages and broken lives which are to follow, would rather have women die in abortion clinics, would rather have an entire population of children going hungry,  would rather deny its youth of the education they rightfully deserve, would rather that sex be seen as a topic to be reserved for semi-conversations in whispers, that the very word "sex" itself be seen as taboo and, in the process, stripping it of its very dignity--is an appalling state of affairs. That we are a predominantly Catholic country would mean that a bill such as this would offend a lot of sensibilities; but for us to be deprived of the kind of education necessary for the elucidation of this certain topic means letting us even further down, shoving us into an even darker dark than what we are already finding ourselves in.

The whole thing spells further poverty for this country, the continuation of the on-going oppression of its women and more suffering for its children, spells the certainty of the elusiveness of progress.

The non-committals belong to an entirely different plane. Educate your people. If they weren't so in the dark, perhaps they'd find the backbone to speak.

On Women and Drugstores

So, Kathryn Bigelow has edged out ex-hubby James Cameron for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Saturday's Directors' Guild Awards. Woman has once more triumphed over man. (Evil laugh).

I don't know if you'd understand, but realizing that I'd already seen all five nominees gave me a fuzzy, giddy feeling.

I know, I know. I'm bragging. Sorry.

Anyway.

I went to the drugstore today--Watson's, to be exact, where I bought half a basket of goodies (toothpaste, conditioner, etc.) and took my sweet time scouring the make-up section for the perfect shade of brown eye-liner.

I love drugstores. I really do.

What is it with women and drugstores? Like, what is it with women and groceries? Although the two aren't as similar as one might think, in that the latter has something to do with that more quotidian, obligatory quest for the utilitarian whereas the former is more of like a leisurely stroll--shears in gloved hand, ready to nip the blooms of one's choice--along some sunlit garden where all sorts of flowers grow in abundance.


But what is it with women and bombs? That would take a separate entry to discuss, I think. In the mean time, I suggest you watch Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." An answer should be there, somewhere.

Yup. It should be there.

Lit Geek Update #17: What I'm Reading Now

I defined a woman's duty, "To look the world in the face with a go-to-hell look in the eyes; to have an idea; to speak and act in defiance of convention."
-Margaret Sanger, 1914

from YENTL

I am reminded of a thought that occurred to me after watching "Yentl": that if men were a little more like women, then more women would be happier and more men-women relationships would be worth staying in.

The ubiquitous kikay bag

This is my trusty silver-colored kikay kit. I feel that it deserves a place in my blog, what with all the times it has stood faithfully by me.

This little bag contains my:

a) Neutrogena SPF 15 moisturizer
b) Maybelline concealer
c) Chipipay eyeliner
d) Burt's Bees lip balm
e) 3 favorite shades of lipstick (red and pink-Maybelline and wine-ALmay)
f) Maybelline cream blush
g) Bloom lipgloss (in melon)
h) Pond's face powder (it's the best)
i) Paris Hilton spray
j) Freshies wet tissues
k) sanity

The last item might seem like an exaggeration to some, but, in all honesty, the few times I discovered having left this little bag at home, I totally freaked out! Women can be awfully vain, some might say.

So sue us. Come on and try.

Sign of the times

Image from cartoonstock.com.

Got the lines below from Em's blog:

"Here's an update for you.

Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why?
Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage."

PORN FOR WOMEN

A good friend, Jo-An, sent me an e-mail with the title above. It's fabulous and I thought of posting some of the pictures here.
Guess which one's my favorite?