Gaia: The Integral Pod - Water Cooler - The Good Body - Eve Ensler

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:54:39 GMT

Breast Ironing in Cameroon Africa (Warning: Graphic images)

current.com — The UN says that 3.8 million West and Central African girls are at risk of a painful form of body mutilation know as 'breast ironing'. In Cameroon where the practice is most widespread, 50% of adolescent girls in cities and a quarter of all girls nationwide have their breasts 'ironed,' often by their mothers. It's painful even to watch.

link: http://current.com/items/88852332_breast_ironing

~~~

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:01:54 GMT

Oh hey. On the 'plex I got an answer from Corey about the MIA Eve Ensler dialog a while back, but forgot to mention it:

Damn it, you weren't supposed to notice that bio page. I took her off of our "featured guest" list over a year ago. She was actually one of the first faces we had on Integral Naked, way back in 2003 when this forum was still called "Intercourse" (anyone remember that??)

I am not saying she will not be on the site in the future, but i am also not saying that she will. I guess i am saying that i have no idea what is going on with the possibility of an Eve/Ken talk. But i will ask him next time i see him.

In the meantime, Arthur, stop looking at webpages that you aren't supposed to see.... ^_^
__________________________

Corey W. deVos (dj rekluse)
Brand Manager, Integral Naked
Audio Manager, Integral Institute
Managing Editor, KenWilber.com
__________________________

Meanwhile, in another part of the kosmos...

“Not A Pretty Girl”

I am not a pretty girl
that is not what I do
I ain't no damsel in distess
and I don't need to be rescued
so put me down punk
maybe you'd prefer a maiden fair
isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

I am not an angry girl
but it seems like I've got everyone fooled
every time I say something they find hard to hear
they chalk it up to my anger
and never to their own fear
and imagine you're a girl
just trying to finally come clean
knowing full well they'd prefer you
were dirty and smiling

and I am sorry
I am not a maiden fair
and I am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

and generally my generation
wouldn't be caught dead working for the man
and generally I agree with them
trouble is you gotta have youself an alternate plan
and I have earned my disillusionment
I have been working all of my life
and I am a patriot
I have been fighting the good fight
and what if there are no damsels in distress
what if I knew that and I called your bluff?
don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down
whether or not you ever show up

I am not a pretty girl
I don't want to be a pretty girl
no I want to be more than a pretty girl

- Ani Difranco “Not a Pretty Girl”

mo spiral out,
Arthur

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:34:18 GMT

Over on the 'plex I started a thread - Whither Eve Ensler? - asking about the dialog with her that's been promised for, oh, about two years now. If any members of Integral Institute pod who have 'plex memberships would like to see such a dialog, feel free to contribute to the thread there.

It would be a thing of goodness. And bodyness. Not to mention Kosmic Eveitude.

spiral out,
Arthur

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:04:37 GMT

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:02:58 GMT

Still waiting for that Eve Ensler dialog on IN...meanwhile...

from http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/18/7130/

Published on Monday, February 18, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

Jane Fonda, the ‘Today’ Show and the ‘C-Word’

by Marianne Schnall

Perhaps you’ve heard the recent controversy over Jane Fonda using the “c- word” on the “Today” show. But the real story is the one behind the scenes. Knowing I would be interviewing both Jane Fonda and playwright Eve Ensler at an event later that evening, I was watching the “Today” show in real time when Meredith Vieira was interviewing Ensler and Fonda on Valentine’s Day about the 10 year anniversary of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Ensler’s award-winning play “The Vagina Monologues”. When talking about all the “A-list celebrities” that have been attracted to helping V-Day, Vierra posed a somewhat quizzical question to Fonda: “You at first were not a big fan of the play. So what turned you around?” Jane was a little taken back, and went on to correct her with the factual story. “Well, it wasn’t that I wasn’t a big fan - I hadn’t seen the play - I live in Georgia, OK?” she explained. “I was asked to do a monologue called “C–t”. And I said, I don’t think so, I have enough problems.” She went on to talk about finally going to New York and seeing the play, which she credited with changing her life, and the impact of her many years traveling all around the world with Eve on behalf of V-Day, performing the play and meeting with and helping violence survivors.

The interview had actually seemed to proceed without any further ado, until about 10 minutes later after the segment, when they suddenly cut from a local news segment back to Vieira, who said somewhat sheepishly, “We were talking about ‘The Vagina Monologues’ and Jane Fonda inadvertently said a word from the play that you don’t say on television. It was a slip and obviously she apologizes, and so do we. We would do nothing to offend the audience. So please accept that apology.” However, that certainly didn’t settle it - the clip and story spread like wildfire over the Internet, in the news and entertainment headlines, on the blogs, on shows like “Access Hollywood”, “Extra” and “The O’Reilly Factor”, even becoming the focus of David Letterman’s Top Ten List about her using the “c-word” (”Jane Fonda Excuses”). At a star-studded event to celebrate V-Day’s ten year anniversary a few hours later, Fonda responded to the entertainment show “Extra” about the incident (which they called her “live ‘c-word’ fiasco”): “I didn’t mean to offend anybody - I just didn’t even think about it. What’s the big deal?” On “Access Hollywood”, asked again about the incident, she had to keep apologizing. “I’m sorry it’s been a controversy.” She also had fellow V-Day supporters coming to her defense. Said Brooke Shields, “Again - bleep me out. I just don’t think c–t is a controversial word. I find it frightening and sad that there was an outrage - gasp - that Jane Fonda said it….it is just a word.” Added Glenn Close, “I can say ‘vagina’ now - out loud! Let’s test TV - I can also say “c–t”,’ she laughed, knowing it would later be bleeped when the segment aired, which it was.

It was in fact Glenn Close who brought down the house when she personally performed that specific monologue, “Reclaiming C–t” at the star-studded benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues at Madison Square Garden in 2001. It was a short piece in which Close repeatedly said the word again and again, getting louder and louder. “I call it c–t. I’ve reclaimed it. I really like it. C–t. Just listen to it: c–t!” Close dropped to her knees, raising her arm and shouting in triumph. That monologue is just one of many, varied and empowering monologues, serious and joyful, humorous and sad, based on Eve’s interviews with 200 women about their vaginas (at the same Madison Square Garden event, Jane Fonda performed “I Was There in the Room”, a moving monologue Ensler wrote to describe the experience of witnessing the birth of her grandchild.)

It feels strangely ironic and weirdly coincidental that the 10 year anniversary of V-Day would be marked with an outcry over a word used for ‘vagina’ (which unfortunately just so happened to be one of 7 words that the FCC has listed as offensive). When Eve first started performing the play Off Broadway in 1996, the word “vagina” was rarely used except in a medical context and very much taboo, so its use in the title and play itself was scandalous. Today, much thanks to The Vagina Monologues, the word “vagina” is now used quite commonly and openly, in headlines, on talk shows, on entertainment programs, even inspiring other cute nicknames like “va-jay-jay.” Yet while the play freed women to use the word and talk openly about their bodies, it also sparked something else, even more far-reaching. When women would come up to Ensler after the play night after night and reveal their own personal stories of surviving varied forms of violence, Ensler decided she had to do something about it, launching V-Day, staging thousands of benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues around the world, including a run on Broadway, featuring numerous guest celebrities. V-Day has since raised over 50 million dollars for local anti-violence groups in over 120 countries.

It may have been the “c-word” that got all the attention, but on that same “Today” show, Ensler debuted a new “f-word”, which went largely unnoticed. “After ten years, I can fundamentally say that there is a global pattern which I am now calling “femicide” that is systemically undermining, undoing and desecrating women”. Vieira revealed that her colleague Ann Curry was “finding that out in Africa, the worst cases of rape in the world right now.” Ensler agreed. “I was in the Congo in November and it is an incredible example - 200,000 women raped over the past ten years…. And yet it is still accepted because it is so intricate and so a part of our everyday life.” Fonda then spoke proudly about V-Day’s programs to help address the problem there, including “building a whole village so that 100 women can stay and heal. And then become leaders.”

Eight hours after Jane Fonda’s infamous “c-word” incident, I interviewed her at the V-Day gala anniversary event at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Fonda was emotional as she spoke to me about the 10 year anniversary of V-Day. “We are all so proud of everything that V-Day’s done - it’s just totally amazing that a little work of art that she created Off-Broadway has become this global movement that has made such a difference.”

I then asked her about how knowing Eve and V-Day had personally affected her. “Before I saw Eve perform The Vagina Monologues, I could describe myself as a theoretical feminist - I mean, I was doing the right things and making the right movies, but behind the closed doors, in my life I wasn’t living it. And after I saw The Vagina Monologues - I think while I was laughing - it slipped from my head into my body, and I became an embodied feminist. And just spending so much time with Eve and traveling in many parts of the world with her - it’s made me braver, it’s certainly made me understand violence against women a lot more. You know, I have it in my family [Fonda’s mother, who killed herself when she was twelve, had been sexually abused], I have it among my friends - but seeing it in so many different parts of the world has really brought it home to me, how epidemic it is.”

She added, “But then next to that is watching - particularly I think in Jerusalem, when Eve and I visited a home for abused girls, and she asked to meet with six or seven of them, and they were all together for the first time telling their stories. And there were two things - it was the way Eve listened to them. I learned what therapeutic listening is. The way she listened and asked questions, you could tell that it was transforming these girls and then the fact that they were for the first time hearing each other stories showed me the value of breaking the wall of silence, and becoming sisters. It was very powerful. It changed my life.”

She also spoke about the importance of changing the “mindset and mentality” that produces violence. “I think that’s partly the value of the play. I remember when I first saw it there were a number of men in the audience as well. And I think it does change men as well as women - and the movement changes men as well as women. And that’s why I am so excited that men are going to be involved in New Orleans.” Fonda was here referring to V-Day’s must-go-to, two day historic mega anniversary celebration, V to the Tenth, taking place in New Orleans at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome, in which Fonda will appear along with an esteemed list of noted speakers, global activists and stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Salma Hayek, Sally Field, Glenn Close, Jessica Alba, and Jennifer Hudson (and many others) to raise money and awareness for V-Day and for the women of New Orleans, as well as to reflect on the intersection of many issues that contribute to violence, and to tragedies such as what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Says Fonda of V to the Tenth, “It’s going to be fun, on a lot of levels. And as always in the V-Day events, we’re going to laugh and we’re going to cry and we’re going to create sisterhood and brotherhood and we’re going to help the women of New Orleans. ”

Aside from helping women in the literal gender sense, Fonda sees the valuing of feminine values and attributes as “very connected to the planet. There was a reason that for ancient peoples, God was Sophia. I think the rising of the feminine, within the masculine, the feminization of masculinity, is going to be critical to our survival as a species and as a planet.”

I should probably reveal that I was on the founding committee of V-Day with Eve, so I can truly appreciate the incredible accomplishments of V-Day - and the depth of Jane Fonda’s commitment to V-Day and this issue. I still remember sitting in Eve Ensler’s living room, when V-Day was struggling over financing for the Madison Square Garden event, when Eve announced with such excitement and relief that Jane Fonda had just pledged 1 million dollars. So I felt rightfully defensive about this “c-word” attack on Jane, and also befuddled that this was the “story” that the media chose given the opportunity to cover V-Day’s 10 year anniversary. As Eve Ensler reminded the audience at the event later that evening, “According to the U.N., one of every three women will be beaten, raped or abused in some fashion in their lifetime.” This, in my opinion, should have been what made the news that night, and every night, until as V-Day so boldly aims for, the violence stops. Given it was a Presidential election season, I asked Ensler what we should be demanding of our leaders. She answered, “We should be saying of every candidate that you need to make violence against women a front and center issue. And none of them are doing that.” How can we expect them to, when the media - and the public - would rather obsess about a meaningless and inadvertent use of a slang word?

For more on V-Day and V to the Tenth visit www.vday.org

This article originally appeared at The Huffington Post.

Marianne Schnall is a writer and interviewer, founder of Feminist.com, and co-founder of EcoMall.com.

~~~

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:07:21 GMT

96 days of inactivity...OK, I'm getting a warm washcloth and making Eve Ensler's Good Body (or at least this thread) un-sticky. Looks like the conversation has died down a little anyway, although I think it's an important topic - so feel free to keep it going if you're so inclined.

I'll leave y'all with a link to the Eve Ensler Wikipedia page.

spiral out,
arthur

p.s. I'm still waiting for the "coming soon" Eve Ensler dialog on Integral Naked. Sheesh.

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:18:06 GMT

slightly off-topic, or maybe not. -adastra

Published on Thursday, March 8, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

The V-Word

by Brigitte Schöen

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. -- A Westchester, N.Y., public high school has suspended three 16-year-old girls for saying the word "vagina" during a reading from "The Vagina Monologues." John Jay High School Principal Richard Leprine said the girls were punished because they disobeyed orders not to say the word "vagina".

No, don't worry, I don't intend to become some kind of expert re the treatment of reproductive organs in American literature or in American schools. I have actually been contemplating an article about the beauties of being an ex-super power for a while. But a couple of weeks ago "scrotum", now "vagina". What's next?

When a friend sent me this piece last night, I winced - as probably all of you do. Makes you wonder. Particularly on International Women's Day!!

We learn that for Mr Leprine, uttering the word "vagina" in public has to be avoided at all costs and punished - although I'd be curious to learn what exactly the play "The Vagina Monologues" was called instead at the John Jay High School in Westchester if "vagina" was not to be mentioned. "Elastic Muscular Tube Monologues"?

Mr Leprine's own explanation for his move can be found on John Jay High School's homepage.

His letter on the homepage is full of my pet phrases - whenever any scandal relating to any part of the body which might be used during sexual intercourse occurs in America, everybody's favorites are expressions like "the sensitivities of the community", "young children may be in attendance", "younger siblings, often elementary age, attend these types of events", "not to present specified material" - I guess he means vagina - "because of the composition of the audience". Here we go again. Protecting the innocence of America's children.

Being inquisitive by nature, I've been trying to probe deeper into the true reasons for this extraordinary action and figure out why Mr Leprine and his "sensitive community" - see above - seem to harbor an aversion to the word "vagina", sorry, "specified material", as he calls it in his letter.

These are my hypotheses so far:

Mr Leprine himself has no "specified material", as far as we know, so this is pure vagina envy. As a consequence, he can't bear to be reminded of the fact.
Mr Leprine and members of his sensitive community once attended a therapeutic session where under hypnosis they relived their own birth experience. This was very painful and traumatic; Baby Leprine and baby members of his sensitive community were probably stuck in the vaginal part of the birth canal for a while. For the rest, see 1).
Mr Leprine's birth and the births of members of his sensitive community were the result of a Caesarean. Vaginal delivery envy was the result. Again, see 1).
Mr Leprine and members of his sensitive community are unhappy with their lives, and since their mothers' "specified material" played an important role in their creation on at least one, but probably on two occasions, they all hold the female vagina personally responsible for their plight.
Mr Leprine and members of his sensitive community think that any mention of "vagina" would make innocent children curious about what a vagina is, where it is located and what you can do with it. They might even try to find it and investigate its possible usages. In that case, Westchester must be one of these rare islands which have to TV, no internet, no movie theaters, no libraries and no newspapers. Amazing that they ever heard about Eve Ensler's play.
John Jay High School students and even their younger siblings have heard about vaginas after all but are unaware of the side-effects of exploring it. Mentioning the word in a play might thus trigger rampant sex, Mr Leprine and members of his sensitive community fear. One wonders about the quality of Biology teaching at this august institution.
Mr Leprine and members of his sensitive community consider female reproductive organs to be "dirty". Any reproductive organs are "dirty", come to think of it. And mentioning them is "dirty". Young children might be arrested in their mental development if they heard the word and they would surely suffer severe traumas which might accompany them for the rest of their lives. As adults, they might sue Mr Leprine for millions of dollars because the word "vagina" destroyed their chances to live happy and balanced lives.

If you have any further suggestions, I'd be curious to her about them.

Generally, I will never be able to understand why anybody of any age must not hear words like "vagina". Why kindergarten children learn all other parts of a human body but not about the existence of the female vagina. After all, that was part of their journey into the world! What is supposed to happen if they heard it??

To avoid further embarrassments and scandals, all like-minded "sensitive communities" in America would be well-advised to propagate in-vitro-fertilization plus Caesarean deliveries. At least for the time being. Until science can create humans without the any interference of all kinds of "specified material". Check visions of reproduction without unsuitable and dirty body contact in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" - absolutely suitable to hear about for all ages.

I hope Eve Ensler is having a ball.

Brigitte Schöen is an Austrian conference interpreter and occasional writer. She lives in Vienna, Austria. email:b.schoen@chello.at

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 04:28:43 GMT

Published on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

She Died for Your Sins

by Joyce Marcel

On February 8, 2007, at the age of 39, Anna Nicole Smith died for your sins, America.

Maybe you think that's a little strong?

But she did. She died for all of you who watch "American Idol" week after week - that's 33.5 million of you, by the way - making that cruel show the most popular program in America. For six years running.

And for you who cast more votes for the last Idol winner than for the last president of the United States.

And for you deluded men and women who think surgery is the way to a happier life, who never understand that beauty is only skin deep, who go on television shows to get nose jobs and who risk your lives to get your stomachs stapled.

And for you nitwit comedians who make jokes about women's "racks" and the rest of you men who place so much emphasis on bust measurements that women without large breasts feel inferior. And that goes for you, too, Hugh Heffner. You have a lot to answer for. And Howard Stern, you too.

And for you gold-diggers out there looking to marry money, and for all of you who already have - and that includes all of you who married Donald Trump.

And for you women desperate to be "famous," for whatever reason, who do anything to get attention, to be photographed, to be on television even if it means showing your breasts to a passing camera, or sleeping with casting directors, or making porn.

She certainly died for all of you.

One commentator said that while Diana was "The People's Princess," Anna Nicole Smith was "The People's Whore."

There's your mascot, America.

And there you are, Anna Nicole or Vickie Lynn, lying in a refrigerated drawer while people fight over your body. I guess reality just crept up on you.

We watched while you were stunningly beautiful. And we watched when you were overweight and juiced to the gills. We watched you crawling all over men and women, looking for a fleeting sexual rush. We watched you crawl all over your son, too. Your son, who was dead at 20 from an overdose, your son who loved his mother and was used to watching her have sex.

Now we watch as seven - or is it eight? - men climb out of the woodwork, claiming to be the father of your poor baby girl. That's seven or eight men who say they slept with you in one short period. And it doesn't count the women.

How many surgeries were there, Anna Nicole? Including the one where you reportedly used liposuction, even though you credited TrimSpa and became their spokeswoman, baby.

I'm not faulting you for being a slut. I actually enjoyed that part of your life. Women have always used sex for survival in a man's world. You were honest about it. You flaunted it in America's face. Your marriage to an 89 year-old millionaire was reality-show "reality" come true. Every now and then, I read, you would come into the room, dance naked for him, relieve him, and then go spend some more of his money and sleep with his staff. It may have been the only honest thing you've ever done.

And who's going to fault you - besides his furious family? He found you in a strip club. I think we can assume he knew what he was getting himself into.

We still know the names of the mistresses of the French kings, for God's sake. How is what you did any different?

Your life was almost a symbol of what America's become. Rapacious, willful, undisciplined, ignorant, venal, anything for pleasure, anything for conquest. Tell me that's not America incarnate.

You were a growth industry, Anna Nicole, and what's more American than that? Your own reality series. Endless photos in the magazines. Within a week of your son's death, you had sold the last pictures of him alive for $650,000.

People Magazine has a circulation of 3.7 million. U.S. Weekly has a circulation of 1.7 million. Star has a circulation of 1.4 million. While the circulation of most magazines is dropping like an elevator with its cables cut, entertainment magazines have seen "staggering growth" in recent years. They should thank you, Anna Nicole.

According to USA Today, "a new Pew poll finds that most Americans say the media overdo celebrity news - but they watch it anyway: 61% said the media have overplayed Smith's death, but 11% followed it as closely as the 2008 presidential campaign (13%) or Super Bowl (11%)... Cable news networks, entertainment programs and mainstream media Web sites all spiked after Smith's death... CNN, for example, devoted 90 minutes of uninterrupted coverage to Smith's death when her body was discovered, longer than it gave President Bush's State of the Union address."

You can't shoulder all the blame, Anna Nicole. There were strumpets before you, strumpets alongside you (Paris Hilton, anyone?) and there will be strumpets coming after you. When Britney Spears shaved her head last week, it made all the papers And now, I understand, quite a few Web sites are selling (fake) strands of her hair.

How low can you go, America?

Anna Nicole's mother, Virgie Arthur, said she once asked her daughter why she said and did all those outrageous things. And Anna Nicole replied, "I'll do whatever it takes. If my name's out there, I make money."

That's the American dream, baby.

Now tell me, America, she didn't die for your sins.

Joyce Marcel is a journalist who lives and works in southern Vermont. A collection of her columns, "A Thousand Words or Less," is available through joycemarcel.com. And write her at joycemarcel@yahoo.com.

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://transcend-include.gaia.com — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 19:49:28 GMT

Wow, Gina, well said. No, you're not alone at all. This seems almost universal to me, this conditioning that's so deep, it's almost impossible to to bring it into the light of day and look at it. Our perspectives are so deeply ingrained, there seems to be no witnessing it at all.

It's nearly impossible for me to even write about it, there's so little I can really grasp.

Liz

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://FireAngel.gaia.com — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:16:29 GMT

My rant continues:

Why does it have to be a battle? Why can't it be a dance? Am I the willow dancing with the breeze or the oak standing firm ( or not so firm as the case may be).

My battle at the moment is with perception. Do I succum to the pressure of the yoga booty ballet? Or do I sit quietly and honor my tree? Who's views are influencing my actions? Do I eat well for me and not well when I feel too much or not enough? Do I care for my self with the attention and quality I deserve? What if the answer is YES I DO..... and yet I still do not hold the same value as the perception of external influence. Is my need for approval, acceptance, community, greater than my commitment to myself? I think what I mean by that is where is my influcence coming from? The external influence of a woman's projections and perceptions are so clouded and distorted...... or is this just me?

This shit is deep inside my cultural and sociological being. I may live beyond some of this in my day to day expression but there is rarely a day go by I don't go on auto pilot with some random thought form about myself that has Nothing to do with who I really am and everything to do with being a Barbie girl in a Barbie world.

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:03:05 GMT

Getting back to the topic of The Good Body, I bought Liz a copy but she hasn't read it yet. I read it on the way here - it' s a very quick read - and found it quite fascinating, and very sad - all the ways women struggle with body images, and how that plays out for different people. There was some really cool, inspiring stuff in there as well. I especially loved the chapter with the African woman Leah.

Eve
   Leah, do you like your body?

Leah
   Do I like my body? Do I like my body? I love my body. God made this body. God gave me this body. My fingers, look at my fingers. I love my fingernails, little crescent moons. They lead right up to my arms - so strong - they carry things along. And my legs, my legs are long. Masai people, we are tall, I get there fast, my legs can wrap around a man and hold him there. My breasts...My breasts, well look at them, they're mine, my breasts so long and -

Eve
   (Interrupting) Leah, wait, I dont' know how to do this. I don't know how to be in my body, I can't get past my stomach.

Leah
   What's wrong with it?

Eve
   It's round. It used to be flat.

Leah
   It's your stomach. It's meant to be obvious. It's meant to be seen.

   Eve, look at that tree? Do you see that tree?

   Now look at that tree. (Points to another tree) Do you like that tree? Do you hate that tree 'cause it doesn't look like that tree?

   Do you say that tree isn't pretty 'cause it doesn't look like that tree? You're a tree. I'm a tree. You've got to love your body Eve. You've got to love your tree. Love your tree.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:54:25 GMT

sounds like you all had a lot of fun : ) :)

that's great!

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:54:22 GMT

"how was your retreat, liz and arthur? I'm so intrigued!"

See the post(s) in the Daily Yak. :)

r.thor@so_damn_tired.zzz

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:55:26 GMT

how was your retreat, liz and arthur? I'm so intrigued!

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://transcend-include.gaia.com — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:48:39 GMT

Thanks so much for posting, Gina. I am running off to a weekend retreat with Arthur, and will come back and write some more on this. Didn't want your post to go unacknowledged.

See everyone Monday!

Liz

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://FireAngel.gaia.com — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 04:41:12 GMT

Thank you! for the original post and the dialog.

I too struggle with so many aspects of what I call a lack of awareness of our power as divine beings. Are we so conditioned by the planet's consciousness that we cannot see our power? Everyday my teenage daughter struggles between her desire to see her true beauty and the weight of the cultural acceptance of beauty. Most days I can model (ha) a healthy self image but I too have the days when my stomach is the ugly monster and my mind is the fire it breathes.

What can we do? Is it enough to honor ourselves and our friends? Do we honor the Victoria Secret models? The more I hate them and the message the more the message will fight against me. I say rejoice in their airbrushed, photoshopped bodies! See them as the goddess yet see beyond it. Ha who the fuck am I kidding, I despise Paris Hilton too. How can I transcend and include shallow, stupid and narcissistic?

Being one of those "middle aged' women here I would like to not compete, I don't even know if compete is the right word, maybe its be a part of.... the include if not yet the transcend with all of the young yoginis but alas gravity has not been kind to me and I sag and dimple. How can I stand with them, with Me and see their beauty and not compare? To whom do I compare and where is that stupid measuring stick so I can snap that sucker in half!

My heart is moving toward seeing the power of the young in their capacity to hold their sexuality/femininity with a much strong sense. If that means they are more willing to flaunt their tushies then that's what it means. And as for men... maybe this is the way we gain more power back, if men cannot see past the power play of cleavage maybe the deserve to lose the power they have abused.

ok, I guess I am done for now..... thanks for letting me rant!

Gina

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://livingintegral.gaia.com — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:19:48 GMT

Liz,

You raise some good issues.   I'd like to continue the discussion on some points.

Is it the men who need to grow up and stop with the leering?

Zaadz is a social networking site for spiritually minded individuals. It is not an Integral networking site. There will be those who are operating at different levels of development as well as less developed lines of development. So I expect there will be those who write things that I do not agree with.   However, I think it would be dangerous to try to hold everyone to the expectation that they would always behave at 2nd tier.   That's not what most members signed up for.

But how would it play out in a true second-tier fashion, without the creepiness?

I don't think we can exclude the creepiness. It's in the mix.  Those of us who attempt to employ the AQAL model must include all the levels that are present.

However.....

That doesn't mean we can't hold others accountable at all. We can attempt to cultivate awareness in others and educate them on more positive and respectful manners of expression.   I made a comment on one of those women's picture challenging the men to find better ways of communication that weren't so creepy feeling and provided a link to David Deida's site  for some alternatives.

I felt I needed to say something there because they were being disrespectful and respect and dignity cut across levels. This isn't My Space, and I felt people should step up here at Zaadz and not make comments which don't respect and support the other members. Because if they were truly individuals who were interested in love, service, spirit, and empowerment of others, they wouldn't be making comments like that. That's something the other members can enforce because it's in line with the Zaadz mission statement.

As for the provocative photos, desire for attention, and leering... People will play that game until they get tired of playing that game. Using Deida's 3 stages (psycho-sexual line of development), macho men will attempt to dominate submissive women, balanced men and women will create safe relationships, or the masculine divine will lovingly ravish the feminine divine.   Who we resonate to play with depends on what level we are at . It's up to us to decide whether we want to play other  people's games or our own.

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://Ramsses.gaia.com — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 22:45:27 GMT

Not fatalistic despair. Insane ecstacy. Check it out.

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 18:39:15 GMT

"Funny you should pose these questions. I've been thinking about them. It seems to me that the world is inherently imbalanced and nothing is ever going to change that. That said, it's tragic that older women find it necessary to doll themselves up and younger women can never look beautiful enough. The crones are no more awake to the goddess within than young things. What shall we say about men? Jerks."

You've really captured the spirit of fatalistic despair in this post :) but it appears to me that things do keep changing and evolving - and in many ways we're better off than we were before, even in these areas. Our dissatisfaction with the way things are spurs us on to make things better; hence, for example, Liz's attempts to give better messages to her daughter.

arthur

Re: The Good Body - Eve Ensler

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 18:09:50 GMT

"Great picture, by the way. What is it called and who is the artist?"

BALDUNG GRIEN, Hans