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Author: jeanne56
FLORA MACDONALD: HIGHLAND HEROINE
“Sing me a song of a lass that is gone. Say, can that lass be I?” The Skye Boat Song (from the Outlander theme)
The first time I heard of Flora Macdonald was when I visited Scotland with my husband. We were on a two-week long bus trip of Scotland and one of the sites we stopped at was the Battle of Culloden (1746), a British-led combat campaign against the Jacobite’s, Prince Charles Stuart supporters and most things Scottish. To many who visited the war site, it was just a historic note of a devastating conflict but to me, a woman with Jacobite ancestry, it was personal. I imagined that my Scottish ancestors were dying right in front of my eyes. The conflict between the two groups was jarring- a huge British infantry armed to the teeth and clothed for battle fought against a ragtag group of Scottish Highlanders armed with only rakes, clubs and knives and wearing only kilts. It hardly seemed a fair fight but to the Highlanders, it didn’t matter. They were prepared to fight to the death for their country and their freedom.
The Culloden Battle led to the removal of Scottish culture (the British wanted all reminders of a free country with a unique language, customs and tales wiped from the planet). The Culloden Museum (amazingly well done) offered the war from two perspectives (as if historic sites about genocide can be made impartial). Yet it is here within the display cases, films, holograms, graves and audio tapes that I learned of Ms. Macdonald’s existence. She’s remembered for her part in getting Prince Charles Stuart to safety after Culloden. Right under the nose of the British armada, this 24-year-old Scottish woman from the Hebrides Islands, managed to hide Prince Charles until he was able to escape to The Isle of Skye. How could this be true? Certainly there was more to the story.
“Outlander,” one of my favorite online streaming series, found Ms. Macdonald’s tale as intriguing as I did; they even went as far as including her role in the escape of the prince on one of their episodes (See Season 6, Episode 6). Other arts avenues found her enchanting as well. A dance was choreographed about the jig she did on her small boat to distract the British soldiers while they questioned her and searched for stowaways (See Flora Macdonald Fancy Dance). Music offered another interpretation of the escape with the hauntingly gorgeous “The Sky Boat Song” (now the “Outlander” theme song): Merry a soul she sailed on a day, over the sea to Skye.
But it wasn’t until I read an article in the NY Times Book Review; “The Highland Heroine and the Prince” that discussed the publication of the book “Flora Macdonald: Pretty Young Rebel: Her Life and Story by Flora Fraser that I realized this gutsy young women needed to be memorialized in stone. Flora knew the dangers she faced when she absconded with a known enemy of the state, but she did so nonetheless. While she did suffer a small indignity upon her return to shore, however her reputation rebounded and she became a bit of celebrity. So much so, that she was indeed memorialized in stone. She, a young woman, who’d been overlooked as just a simple silly girl, successfully pulled off a covert mission that most men could not have managed. Could you do what Flora did? When faced with a hard choice that effected the lives of others, could you call upon your strength to negotiate with the patriarchy to outrun the autocracy? Could you right an unjust wrong?
The Flora Macdonald monument can be found on Castle Hill in Inverness, Scotland. An inscription reads: The preservation of Prince Charles Edward Stuart will be mentioned in history, in courage, fidelity, and with honors.” I do pause here for a moment to notice that one could interpret this inscription to mean Flora was honored more for her service to the prince than her bravery. But since I wasn’t there, I’m going to give the inscriber and the sculptor the benefit of the doubt.
I consider Flora as a hero as well as my Highland sister. Now is the time for you to find your family heroines. Unleash them from their dark sleep. We need to tap into their strength, ingenuity, intelligence and quiet dignity. Individually we have one voice. Collectively we are loud and powerful and cannot be ignored. Our ancestors knew this. Lest not we forget the power of the matriarchy.
Sorry- photo unavailable although you can see Marisol Escobar’s sculptor of Georgia O’Keefe in San Francisco, CA at Sydney G. Walton Square
GEORGIA O’KEEFE: A WOMAN ON PAPER
“Her strange art affects people, especially its resourcefulness in dealing with what has been deemed inexpressible.” The Christian Science Monitor
If you google Georgia O’Keefe, you’ll undoubtedly find that she’s considered to be one of the most significant artists of the 20th century; the Mother of American Modernism; and the first female to make a comfortable living from her art work. I first discovered Ms. O’Keefe’s paintings in an exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) when I was a teenager living on the outskirts of New York City.
Art exhibits can either bore you to tears if the artist is not to your liking; leave an empty feeling in your gut if you don’t grasp the concept or emotional depth of the work, or spin a spell-bound web of divineness as the art envelopes you in rapture. Of course at fifteen, I didn’t have the language to describe how I felt about her portraits of flowers, leaves, landscapes, nudes and bones. Even her abstracts had an other-worldly effect on me. While I wasn’t an art virgin, nothing prepared me for her paintings of “Light Iris” or “Grey Line with Black, Blue and Yellow.” So intense was the erotic intimacy, I might as well have been looking at a photo of myself, from the inside. Some of her other paintings also touched my psyche. I’d been to upstate New York for decades and while I loved the mountains, I never saw anything as spectacular as her Birch Trees on Lake George nor did I ever gaze at anything as majestic as Red Hills, Lake George on my trips upstate.
Georgia saw beauty where I saw the emptiness of the mundane. She made me realize that I needed to find a way into the soul and heart of the everyday. For me, that point of entry was writing. Susan W. Albert, author of “Someone Always Nearby” says it best when quoting Maria Chabot, Ms. O’Keefe’s hired man: “I wanted to write in the way O’Keefe painted with discipline, persistence and a perceptive eye.”
For over 50 year I considered myself to be a big fan of Georgia O’Keefe. Then came the crash. Georgia fell off the pedestal and my admiration of her was smashed to smithereens. Things revealed in the book about Georgia’s character were too abhorrent for me to overlook. Perhaps allowing a fictional account of a secondary source to taint my opinion seemed rash but after doing some research, the information stated in the book checked out. I could write it off as just a “sign of the times” but it posed a conundrum for me. I have, in the past, refused to highlight certain men because of their character flaws and abhorrent beliefs. Should I give a woman a pass simply because I loved the art work?
This is the first time I’ve questioned whether or not a woman deserved to be memorialized in stone, commemorated in marble or etched in bronze. I figured if someone else has already vetted the women, hired a sculptor to create a statue, found the funding and partnership with a reputable organization to house it, then the woman was as good as gold. Yet I wrestled for a while with this problem. Here’s my conclusion: while Ms. O’Keefe used an offensive trigger word for most of her adult life and was possibly guilty of treating many people in her employ poorly, she did have the capacity to turn any landscape into a beautiful canvas. The men with questionable judgment never raised women’s status in the art world nor did they inspire generations of people to look at something as more than face value. They certainly didn’t reveal to us that light can live in darkness and resplendence can be found in decay.
When I look at a painting of Ms. O’Keefe’s I don’t see the offensive word she used. Instead I see the way she mixed her pallet till she found a softer hue. I see beauty in shifting perspective. I see the forgiveness of Mother Earth. I see Nature blossoming under a gentle touch.
When I look at Georgia’s massive volume of art, I don’t see a painter who disrespected her employees. I see a painter who was lost in the world of words but with the brush of a few strokes, she could immerse herself in a universe that basked in color, danced among light and shadows and turned the ordinary into the extraordinary. Imperfect though she may have been, each and every canvas she created was perfection; and that is the main reason she will rock this blog.
Women Rock! Their statues and stories empower us, even the flawed ones.
PARIS OLYMPICS: MONUMENTAL TRIBUTE TO WOMEN OF FRANCE
“Never put an age limit on your dreams.” Dara Torres
In August, Paris hosted the 2024 Olympics amidst a world bridled with fury. Yet despite the turmoil, Paris took the highroad and welcomed its many guests with open arms. From the moment the Olympics began, Paris dazzled us with its glamor, sophistication and beauty. The city of lights continued to wow us with its dedication to sportsmanship.
Then there was the way the Parisians showcased equality; between nations, gender, race and disability. The opening session, unlike any I’ve ever seen before, wasn’t contained to one space but highlighted the entire city; all of its splendor in full display for the word to see: the Seine, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph and Sacre Coeur, my favorite. But when the ten golden statues of French women suddenly emerged from the Seine as if they were sent from the God of the Water, my jaw dropped. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the show stopping; I’d been enthralled by Paris before. When I was 17 I declared that France was the man for me. Yes, as a teen I was still brain-washed by the patriarchy to believe that my Happily Ever After involved a man. Now as an adult woman who is part of the matriarchy, I know I’m the one responsible for my own happiness. So when I watched the statues rise up from the river, I was spellbound by the brilliance of these golden women. Who were they and what had they done to deserve such a grand entrance?
“It’s about damn time.” Lizzo
I’ve been saying for a while now that statues of men outnumber statues of women by 8:1, and now France, in one swoop, has decreased the margin, if only by a small percentage. But it’s a start. I hope other countries are awakened by this display of feminism and take their lead and erect more monuments of the matriarchy. The Paris Olympics was also the first to have reached gender equality. There was a 50:50 ratio between male and female participants. I can only imagine what our landscape would look like if the ratio between statues of men and statues of women had the same numeric equivalency.
Let’s meet these ten remarkable women and learn about their bravery, integrity and brilliance.
- Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986). Simone was a philosopher and writer who authored “The Second Sex;” still considered to be “the best in feminist literature.” It should be mandatory reading material for all women.
- Simone Veil (1927-2017). Holocaust survivor, politician and human rights advocate, Simone was instrumental in legalizing abortion in France, known as the Veil Law.
- Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793). Feminist and women rights advocate before it was fashionable, Olympe designed the “Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female.”
- Alice Millet (1884-1957). Alice was a sports enthusiast who paved the way for women in sports, advocated for equality by creating the Women’s World Games.
- Gisele Halim (1927-2020). Modern day lawyer who fought for gender equality and reproductive freedom.
- Jeanne Barret (1740-1807). Leader in aviation, she was often called the French Amelia Erhardt. Jeanne was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe
- Christine de Piza (1364-1430). Pioneering advocate for intellectual equality between men and women; poet, author, she was part of the heritage of French strong women
- Alice Guy (1873-1968). Feminist pioneer in the movie industry; she trailblazed the cinema for women’s equality
- Louise Michel (1830-1905). Considered to be part of the Paris Commune, she was seen as an anarchist, revolutionary and radical activist (was it because she spoke her mind about injustice, inequality and civil rights?)
- Paulette Nardal (1896-1985). Civil rights advocate and writer who helped the Negritude movement to promote racial equality and the black identity.
The ten statues that rose from the Seine will remain in Paris so everyone who visits can honor these amazing women and their incredible accomplishments.
The ten women (see above) were born between 1364-1927 and died between 1430-2020. Seven hundred years of hard work; century after century, and we’re just memorializing them now. What’s that about? We need to do better. Let’s stop burying greatness and erasing women from the history books. Just as Paris has done, we must place monuments of the matriarchy front and center.
Women Rock! It’s about damn time the word realizes the contribution women have made to humanity, civil rights, intellectual equality, racial equality, and gender rights. How brave these women have been as they slayed the injustice of an unequal world.
Let’s make damn sure we keep their heads above water. Monuments of the matriarch belong on terrra firma for all the world to celebrate.
REAL WOMEN OF FLORIDA (a statue of Mary McLeod is pictured on the left; Marjory Stoneman is to the right).
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Michelangelo
I don’t ask for much when I travel; a comfortable bed to sleep in, friends or family to visit or share my journeys with, good food to eat, soulful experiences and landscapes to “ooh and ah” over. But since I’ve been working on this blog, I’ve added finding a statue of a woman to the list. Half the time I’m able to locate a female statue, but when I find her, she’s either rooted in religion, myth, legend, or folklore. And most of them are un-named. I snap their photo anyway, happy to have a scrap to add to the collection. But lately, I’ve added a caveat; the statue should be named after a real woman (Sorry Little Mermaid and Rita the Troll, I mean you no disrespect.).
Folks, it’s time to heighten the parameters. I’d have thought the world had made greater gains over the past few years and we while have dotted the landscapes with more statues of women, we haven’t covered as much real estate as I’d hoped. Ladies, we still have miles to walk and hundreds of pieces of stone, bronze, or marble to sculpt. Let’s get chiseling!
Here’s an example of my findings. On my most recent trip to Melbourne, Florida to visit a friend, I came up short. No surprise there. But I did find a few statues of women in the sunny southern state and some plans for future development. Meager rations, but I’ll take any kind of progress, even if it’s divvied out in small doses.
Miami: JULIE TUTTLE (1849-1898). Ms. Tuttle is considered to be the “Mother of Miami.” She was a businesswoman who owned land on which Miami was founded. She’s considered to be the only woman to have founded a major American city. A significant accomplishment.
Mount Dora: MABEL NORRIS REESE (1914-1995). Ms. Reeves was a journalist who covered the Groveland Four case; an arrest that charged and convicted four black men of raping a white woman in the 1950’s. Turns out, the men had been falsely accused. Ms. Reese believed the men when nobody else would and she persevered until the truth was finally revealed. However, her efforts got her exiled from her hometown in Lake County. A bust of her, now on display in Mount Dora, welcomes her back by honoring her journalistic integrity.
Key Biscayne: MARJORY STONEMAN DOULGLAS (1890-1998). Ms. Stoneman was an author and environmentalist and is often called “The First Lady of the Everglades.” She’s also the namesake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland where a mass shooting claimed the lives of too many vital young people. A bronze statue of Ms. Douglas can be found at the Key Biscayne Nature Center. Other sites are pending.
Washington, DC. MARY McLEOD BETHUNE (1875-1955). Ms. Bethune was an educator, civil rights leader and suffragette. She was known as “the first black lady of the struggle.” A statue of her can be found in Statuary Hall where she’s the first black woman to have been given this special honor.
Future site; Kennedy Space Center or Orlando: SALLY RIDE (1951-2012). Ms. Ride was a physicist and an astronaut. She’s the first American woman to go into space. Her first voyage was on the Challenger in 1983. Efforts are underway to create a sculptor that memorializes this trailblazer.
Special note: A statue that represented women of the confederacy was recently dismantled.
In case you haven’t been keeping score, I’ll total it for you. I located three statues of named women in Florida, none of them in the Melbourne area. There’s one woman monument with Florida ties located in DC and another female statue is pending near the space center. Seems to me there must’ve been more than five women over the course of history that’s made a significant contribution to society (I apology if I’ve missed anyone). Either the women were overlooked, written out of the history books or pushed aside in lieu of men. I’m told there are many factors that go into creating a new statue. First off, the nominated person must demonstrate American exceptionalism; there must be a funding source or they must have the full support of a large organization or corporation. Then a location that allows for maximum exposure and viewing must be secured. An artist must be commissioned. The nominated person must be above reproach and should grace the resting space with dignity. They need to be considered “a cut above the rest” and should project a level of humanity everyone should strive to attain. A tall order for sure. But women of Florida are up to the challenge.
For starters, you can find a list of women who’ve made Florida proud at the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. A list of names is etched on a wall and can be found at the state capital.
Be brave. Start a campaign to fund a new statue. Use one on the list or nominate one of your choosing. Feminism starts at home. Get chiseling! The matriarch is counting on you.
PORCH OF THE MAIDENS: KAPYATIE
“There is no beast, no rush of fire, like a woman so untamed. She calmly goes her way where even panthers would be shamed.”
― Aristophanes, Lysistrata
As someone who gushes over statues of women the way others lick their lips in anticipation of a good meal, the prospect of uncovering numerous statues on my upcoming Mediterranean cruise caused me joy. But to my dismay, what I found was the equivalent of, “I traveled from Barcelona to Athens via the Rock of Gibraltar and Istanbul and all I got was a t-shirt.” Yes, I found statues of women, but most of them were that of either the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene or goddesses such as Athena or unnamed, barely-clothed young maidens. Where were all the modern women who changed society by their incredible accomplishments? Where were all the ancient women who relied on their humanity, intelligence and strength to live harmoniously among the patriarchy? Were they all erased by history or merely ignored?
I asked every tour guide on my trip if they could point out statues of women as we strolled along the cobblestoned streets, historic sites, eateries and museums (case in point: most of the guides were women so I figured that’d have a vested interest in my request-wrong!). Very few complied, except our guide in Athens who after a delicious authentic Greek meal, handed me (and my two travel mates) souvenirs of a white statue etched with the name “”Kapyatie.” He said we’d find the six sisters at the Erechtheion atop the Acropolis. We never made it. Turns out we didn’t have the correct paperwork needed to use the elevator. With an angry hand, I shoved the statue into my sac and forgot about her. When I was going through security (again) in Chicago, a scan revealed that the statue’s head had broken off in my carry-on. No worries, I thought, she’s mostly worthless. But when I got home, and held her in my hand, a connection to this small, fragile replica arose. Who was Kapyatie and why was she memorialized for all to remember?
Kapyatie, which means “carved in stone” is a caryatid pillar that serves as an architectural support or column. Said to represent the pressure humans feel under the weight of destiny, philosophers believe these female figures symbolize courage. Despite the heaviness of the task, the maidens never abandon their post. Caryatids date back to 421-406 BC and while the Porch of the Maidens, originally clothed in bright colors was constructed in honor of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, the maidens as a unit represent women doomed to hard labor.
If you closely at the statues, you’ll notice they’re young, probably virgins, and elaborately dressed. It’s speculated they were sculpted to delight spectators with their beauty. Whether they were modeled after female deities or mortal women is unknown but it’s clear they were created to give the Greek community a supportive place to worship. To me, however, they provide a different message: Life is hard but for those that remain upright, sturdy and dignified, you’ll be rewarded with eternity glory.
Rock on, fair maidens! While you may appear complacent, it’s your understated elegance and hard exterior that survived the test of time. If anyone rebukes the importance of these six maidens, I ask this question: Centuries from now, who will be bowing at your feet?
THE 1898 WILMINGTON MEMORIAL
“Remember that hope is a powerful weapon when all else is lost.” Nelson Mandela
I’m not sure why I always search far and wide for statues of women instead of looking close to home first, but with a few exceptions – Lady Justice, Waving Girl, Rachel Carson and the two historic makers in Raleigh and New Bern – that’s been my MO. But the other day as I was diverted into downtown Wilmington due to bridge work, I drove right past a local historic memorial and while it wasn’t a statue of women (or men either) I knew intuitively it was time to add this sculpture to the blog.
TRIGGER WARNING: The story behind the sculpture is not pretty, although the statue itself is stunning. The problem is that the memorial makes us remember the 1898 riots which were steeped in racism and rooted in violence. It does not paint Wilmington, NC in a good light.
DISCLAIMER: While I’m not originally from the south (born and raised in NY) I’ve been calling Wilmington home since 1994 and if I, as a resident, don’t take responsibility for past generations’ horrific acts, then history is doomed to repeat itself (I shudder at the thought). Especially now. Current national overtones and underpinnings are ripe for disaster. So listen, lean in and buckle up.
BACKSTORY: While others have told this story better than I have (check out the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Wilmington Lie and the riveting middle grade novel, Crow). But I’ll do my best to convey the truth and not sugar coat the facts.
After the end of the Civil war, many former slaves went to Wilmington to seek work, raise families and make something of themselves. At the time, Wilmington was 56% black as well as the largest port for miles. Many former slaves succeeded and became productive members of polite society, becoming educated as doctors, lawyers and teachers. They held public office as elected officials. Their success angered many white males. The Civil War might’ve been over but the mindsets of many former slave owners hadn’t changed. Tension arose. On Nov. 10, 1898, “an armed mob of whites removed from office duly elected biracial government in what is considered to be the only successfully coup d’etat in the history of the United States” (from the inscription engraved on the wall of the memorial). Not Wilmington’s finest hour, to be sure.
Black men were either killed or put on a train and told never to return. Women fled into the woods with their children and elderly family members. History is lax about the death count but fatalities were estimated to be between 10 and 300. One thing we do know for certain is that the violence was not accidental. It launched a statewide campaign which spread to other states in the south to regain control of the state government and disenfranchised blacks; and most importantly to create a system of legal segregation. The 1898 riots are said to have sparked the Jim Crow laws, some of which are still on the books. As I said, not a pretty story.
The memorial has unleashed a renewed interest in this untold scandal. To date, no one has ever been punished for this racial uprising. It’s been reported that President McKinley, a supporter of racial equality, knew about the coup but didn’t intervene for speculated bureaucratic/political reasons. Since then though, many statues of white men who most likely participated in the coup, have been either toppled or dismantled.
THE 1898 MEMORIAL: The abstract sculpture, erected in Nov. 2008, consists of six elongated bronze paddles which honors water and symbolizes purification, renewal, rebirth, forgiveness, cleansing and wholeness. The Cape Fear River stands alongside the statue as a testament to a community, that 100 years later, finally has the courage to acknowledge the injustices of the past. The sculpture offers a future full of hope and reconciliation. The paddles remind us that through water, we can safely paddle from one world to the next. We journey along the path in hopes that we “move forward together towards a society of greater justice and inclusion for all its citizens.”
While this story isn’t directly about women or feminism, it’s a knock on the white patriarchy and a reminder that we cannot let his kind of racism return.
Hope in any form deserves to be written in stone, engraved in our souls for all eternity.
FOREVER MARILYN and VENUS De MILO: TWO BEAUTIES, CENTURIES APART
“Beauty is a power; a smile is its sword.” John Ray
I’ve chosen to post two statues this month rather than the usual solo monument (yes, I know I did it before with Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan but that’s because they’re been molded together, forever in tandem). You could say the reason I’ve chosen to highlight Marilyn Monroe and Venus de Milo simultaneously has more to do with a happy coincidence than any kind of feminist agenda. Like most writers I’m rarely working on one thing at a time; there’s so much I want to say its hard to find a stopping point. This month while I was searching through my pile of possibilities; a stack of statues that silently await their turn to be heard, I made an unexpected connection between two beautiful icons. The thing that joined these two monuments in perpetuity is their beauty- that rare quality that “the beautiful” wear as if it were a crown upon their head or a medal pinned upon their breasts. Something us mere mortals know nothing about.
I found Forever Marilyn first. She jumped right off the pile and into my line of sight. How could she not? At 26 feet tall, the statue of Marilyn Monroe is the embodiment of beauty and desire; a blond bombshell on a pedestal. Every inch of her is glorious. Simultaneously I was knee-deep in preparing for a Mediterranean cruise which terminates in Athens. I can’t turn a page about Greece culture or history without being bombarded with images of Venus de Milo/Aphrodite. Of course she’s the center of attention. Considered to be the most famous sculpture in the world, she’s also the standard of which all of classic Greek antiquities are measured. Besides, she’s the goddess of love, beauty and desire.
Hmm. Two beautiful goddesses, on full display, both of them perfectly sculptured works of art.
“Beauty awakens the soul to act.” Dante Alighieri
Beauty, that combination of attractive qualities that pleases the aesthetic senses of anyone who experiences it, seems to be the common denominator between these two iconic statues. But can beauty be chiseled, carved or erected?
Let’s start with Marilyn. Forever Marilyn designed by Seward Johnson currently stands in a plaza in Palm Springs, California. The statue is based on a famous photo taken by Bernard of Hollywood in 1955 during the filming of Billy Wilder’s “The Seven Year Itch” in which Marilyn is posed over a subway grate, her white dress lifted and billowing from the blowing steaming below, revealing her legs, underwear and possibly other feminine attributes, depending on your view or imagination. She’s without a doubt provocative, alluring and eye-catching. I see beauty when I look at her. But not everyone agrees with my assessment. Naysayer’s comments range from “in poor taste,” to “misogyny in the face of nostalgia,” to “pornography.” Lawsuits are pending. Readers, I ask this question: Is it the marble statue itself the haters object to or is it Marilyn Monroe’s innate and overt sexuality?
Now let’s talk about Venus de Milo, a classical Greek statue, said to have been chiseled in the likeness of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and desire. Venus was created during the Hellenistic Period during the second century but she wasn’t excavated until 1820 on the Island of Milo (hence the name). What a stir she created! Venus or Aphrodite, depending on whether you’re following Greek or Roman mythology, is rumored to have enticed both gods and powerful men into illicit affairs with her beauty, just by whispering sweet nothings’ in the ears. (We could say the same thing about Marilyn Monroe. Remember her sultry “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” rendition?) When found, the statue of Venus was topless, a shroud covering her thighs and feminine parts. She’s now on display in the Louvre in Paris, France where nobody seems to object to her semi-clad state. Is it because Venus is an antiquity, a priceless work of art, and is off limits to public scrutiny and outcry?
If we look back at the two questions posed earlier, I’d have to infer that Venus, unlike Marilyn, doesn’t seem to conflict with modern feminism (it seems antiquities are held to a different standard). Then there’s the whole goddess part with its own rules of behavior and measures of beauty. Society gives Venus de Milo a pass. Yes, it could be her slender size that humanize her or her missing arms that evoke vulnerability and instead of feeling threatened by her beauty and perfect proportions, we feel awe and grace in her presence. Forever Marilyn, on the other hand, is considered to be too sexy, too seductive, not to mention larger than an over-sized building. In many ways, we feel dwarfed by her beauty.
Statues are a unique species of women. Once we put them on a pedestal, it automatically places them on a higher plateau. We genuflect, and depending on your perspective of what constitutes sinner or saint, we can either honor and admire or vilify and deface.
Where do you stand in the face of these two beauties?
RITA THE ROCK PLANTER
“If you love the forest, the trolls will protect you.” Commissioned by Morton Arboretum for Troll Hunt, dismantled in 2022
Most of the monuments and statues in this blog are created in the likeness of a woman who’s contributed to the feminist movement in a substantial way (see Joan of Arc, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Flannery O’Connor). On occasion I’ve depicted statues based on legends, folklore or mythology (see Umi, the Curvy Mermaid, Fierce Girl). This is the first time I’m venturing into the whimsical world of trolls; those non-human creatures who live in rocky areas, caves and forests who strive to live in balance with nature and all of earths’ beings. During these divisive times, we could all use a heroine who chooses to root out debris and clear the world from mankind’s mishandling of nature. This time, it’s not just the patriarchy that’s at fault. It’s all of us on the planet and with Earth Day approaching I wanted to remind us that wastefulness, greed and selfishness cannot be tolerated.
Rita the Rock Planter, who resides in Victor, Colorado, is an environmentalist extraordinaire. She’s created by Danish sculptor Thoman Dambo, and is part of his ambitious goal of erecting 16 trolls in 17 continent, with an ultimate total of 1,000 trolls. Rita is made of 100% recycled word products and is a symbolic manifestation of greed. The legend that surrounds Rita tells about a mining town in the 1800’s where Rita lived and roamed in the forest. Frustrated by the miners depletion of the region’s natural resources and angry at herself by her limited efforts to stop them, she went into a cave to take a short nap to regain her strength. Exhausted, she didn’t wake up until hundred year later. What she saw made her weep. Not only was her beautiful land devastated but nobody had reigned in the miners. They took, took and took until there was nothing left to take. Tarnished, ransacked and depleted, the town and its pristine mountain landscape and gently rolling hills was covered with large holes, mostly filled with enormous rocks, debris and trash. Worrying that someone might fall into the crevices and get hurt she franticly removed the rocks and garbage as she filled the holes with dirt. A soft landing for a fellow friend. She toiled long and hard to recapture a once beautiful landscape.
Perhaps you’d like to help her continue the job. There’s much to do. Raise awareness. Honor nature. Become environmental responsible. Repurpose materials. Conserve resources. Fight devastation and depletion of all of the earth’s natural gifts. Plant a garden. Find new innovative ways to live harmoniously. Share. Conserve. Repurpose. Cooperate. Innovate. Think globally.
Rita might not be the coolest troll (Shrek and Fiona come to find). You might not even think she’s the prettiest (Norwegians bestow that award to Huldra, a beauty with the tail of a cow). She’s not even the scariest (ever since I was a kid I trembled in the presence of the troll who lived under the bride in the 3 Billy Goats Gruff). But to me, she’s the Queen of Environmentalism, the altruistic step-sister of Mother Earth. There’s no rest for her as she tirelessly clears our path for a cleaner, friendlier and safer planet.
Brava Rita! Rock on! We’ll enjoy you efforts for as long as long as you continue to toil. Readers, next time you see a piece of trash, pick it up. Whenever you see someone needlessly harvesting resources, call them out on it. Think of Rita as you refill your recycle bin. Stop trolling the internet and get outside. Now!
LADY JUSTICE
“Justice is always there, waiting for good people to find their voice.” Preet Bharara
I didn’t have to search too far to find this month’s monument of the matriarchy. She was almost in my backyard (my son’s backyard actually, or rather in his neighborhood). It started with a trip to Barnes & Noble (Children’s section). A lovely drawing of Lady Justice, smiling brightly on the cover of Preet Bharas’s beautiful picture book, “Justice Is: A Guide for Young Truth Seekers,” caught my eye. Then after a brief internet search, I learned out that a few black lawyers in Durham had commissioned a sculptor to create a bronzed statue of Lady Justice. I knew I had to hop in the car and snap her photo.
North Carolina, like many other southern states, has a complicated history with statues (Silent Sam, Robert E Lee and other Confederate heroes). Over 95% of the statutes erected over the past few centuries were that of white men. If you’ve been following the news, you’ll know that many of these statues have been toppled by protestors or removed by public opinion (PTL). To make amends, many southern states have been replacing these male statues with monuments of women and people of color. North Carolina, especially Durham, has been hard at work trying to right a centuries-long wrong.
The result is Lady Justice, a 14-foot bronzed statue. Lady Justice perches proudly on her pedestal in front of black lawyer’s office. She’s blind-folded because “we’re all the same in the dark.” Lady Justice is a symbol of unity and equity. According to Wikipedia, “Lady Justice is an allegorical personation of the moral face of the judicial system.” Besides the blindfold, you can see scales, which represent the balance and weight of the evidence. Take a closer look and you’ll also notice a sword, which is said to show that justice aims to punish the unjust. Often a snake appears at the feet of Lady Justice which symbolizes that justice will prevail even in the face of negative forces. Lady Justice is rooted in mythology. Based on the Roman goddess, Themis, and the Greek goddess, Justica, she’s served the world for centuries. Truth, bravery and fairness are the cornerstones of humanity.
Justice is multidimensional and moves in many directions: Social, restorative, environmental, educational, political and even criminal. In light of the divisiveness that’s happening today in our very divided world, the notion of justice is a bright light. My hope for the future. Right now, nobody seems to have a handle of what justice looks like, who deserves it and who should provide it. In this time of upheaval and confusion, let’s just follow Lady Justice’s lead. Justice For All.
For more on justice, please read an excerpt from my young adult novel, A WOLF AT THE DOOR.
Summary: Gary and Amy are two high school sweethearts when their world is knocked upside down by the Vietnam War and an unwanted pregnancy. Separately, they encounter two wolves, Blind Faith and Zen, who offer to help them navigate through the underbelly of trauma. Howling ensues.
“Faith, I want you to cut out the warrior part in me,” Gary says. “I hate him. Erase him from my memory.”
“Gray, that’s never going to happen. The Samurai learn to live with the darkness. You can’t change your experiences any more than you can alter your blood type. You need to find a way to live with all parts of yourself, even the ones you don’t like.”
“Please, I can’t face anymore darkness. Tell me a story with a happy ending.”
“All stories have happy endings, even when they don’t seem so at first. But let’s move on. Today we have the next principle, Justice, to discuss.” She nuzzles Gary’s neck with her nose. “Tell me, Gray, have you ever heard of the Justice League?”
“You mean the comic book heroes that save the universe by using the cardinal virtues of humanity?”
“That’s the one. You see, the Justice League administers law and order and determines what’s right and reasonable. The Samurai are also a Just group who watch out for injustice. A warrior won’t raise his sword until provoked by the Unjust.”
“I’m afraid I’m one of the Unjust.”
“Nonsense. You were abducted by Viet Cong extremists and then forced to do things against the grain of your soul. A gun to a head makes men compliant and obedient.”
“How can you know that the things I did aren’t just part of who I am?”
“Because I wouldn’t be here otherwise. Only those pure of heart and full of light can summon the wolf spirit.”
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Helen Keller
“We twirl across the deck like two untouchable stars, twinkling as sunlight glints off the sea around us.”
Anne Sullivan
If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll know that I consider myself to be a speech-language pathologist who writes. As an slp, I have heroes and people in the industry I admire: one such person in Anne Sullivan. Although Anne wasn’t a licensed speech-language pathologist, she certainly was instrumental in facilitating communicative competence in Helen. Not everyone paid attention to Anne though, or dare I say “the woman behind the communication curtain,” although Mark Twain noticed. In fact, it was Mark who coined the term “miracle worker” in praise of Anne’s decades long and remarkable work with Helen.
I’m also deviating a bit with the photo. Instead of posting a picture of a statue (there are two if you want to explore; one with Helen in the “water pump” scene from The Miracle Worker, found at the capital build in Alabama and another one of Anne and Helen at the Tewksbury Alhouse in Alabama) this month I chose a postage stamp. Don’t get me wrong, I love statues but when I picked up a dozen stamps from the local post office, I felt empowered as I affixed stamps of Annie and Helen onto all my postage. It made me smile just thinking about all the recipients rediscovering this amazing duo.
Now, let’s talk about Anne. Born in 1866, her childhood rivaled that of Frank McCourt, writer of Angel’s Ashes (use poverty-stricken rural white southerners instead of Irish families and you get my drift.) When Anne was five she contracted an illness which left her partially blind. At age eight after both her parents died, she and her younger brother were sent to the home for the destitute (where her brother soon died). Amid rumors of extreme squalor and foul play investigators were sent to the home. Anne cornered one of them and shouted, “I want to go to school.” Her bravery worked and she was sent to The Perkins School for the Blind where she learned finger-spelling and braille. Anne thrived. At age 20, she graduated and got a job teaching a deaf-blind child to communicate, become socially adept, and gain literary skills. A tall task which she more than surpassed.
Helen’s turn now. Helen, author, disabilities advocate, political activist, humanitarian and renown lecturer, lost most of her sight and hearing at 19 months after suffering from a brain fever. Born in 1880 to affluent parents, doctors recommended institutionalization. Instead, her parents hired a young and inexperienced teacher. It worked. Together, they made history.
Anne became the “eyes and ears of the world,” although she herself was partially blind. Helen became the symbol of disability awareness. Their message was this; with hard work, education, training and discipline you could overcome a disability. Yes and no. It also required great teamwork and foresight. While it was Anne who helped Helen break the communication code (sounds form words and those words have meaning). Powerful stuff for a deaf- blind child to process. Anne continued to be a part of Helen’s life for decades (Helen even lived with Anne and her husband John Macy). She assisted Helen with her speaking engagements, travel plans, and writing (mainly done through either finger spelling or braille). She also interpreted her monologues (see YouTube- Helen Keller Speaks out). Even though Helen’s voice was mostly unintelligible from the viewpoint of an slp, Anne was able to sift through her prosody, inflection and vocal nuances to uncover her cryptic messages.
The Miracle Worker always makes me cry, especially the water pump scene- but, no, it wasn’t the inspiration for my career path (a story for another day). Here is where I usually encourage you to dot the landscapes with statues of remarkable women who’ve made great achievements to the matriarchy. But for Anne and Helen, I suggest you dot your postage with this remarkable partnership. Let’s honor and memorialize these two strong women, joined in the sisterhood of disabilities awareness. Oh, how high they soared!
Rock on, Ladies.
HISTORICAL MARKERS: Women etched, not chiseled
“God cannot alter the past, though historians can.” Samuel Butler
Looking for statues is like going on a treasure hunt. Sometimes I’m lucky and she’s easy to find, almost as if she wants me to seek her out (see Umi, Oct 2023). Other times I need to follow the clues because she’s either adjacent to where I’m traveling (see Luna Girls, June 2020) or hiding off the beaten path (see Reproductive Freedom Monument, March 2023). But more often than not, I come up short and wind up improvising (see Sedona, Nov. 2023). Recently, though I added historical markers to my search, hoping I might be more successful. And guess what? Women suffer the same fate in this category- less women’s names or accomplishments have been etched on markers as their male counterparts. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did.
What exactly are historic markers and why are the names on them mostly members of the patriarchy? Same old story, I’m afraid. Either men were uninterested in what women were doing or were jealous of them and thus sabotaged or silenced their accomplishments; burying their names to keep future generations from getting any (intellectual, economic or entrepreneurial) ideas. Or men wanted women written out of history.
Historically, markers began in the United States in the last 1920’s as a way to mark, name, or identify a plot of land as having historical merit or significance. They became a symbolic inscription; territorial place holders that said: Something happened here. Their purpose was to educate, inform and raise awareness. Take note. Remember this place, person or event. Not all memories are pleasant, some, downright horrific. But we must be the historians who don’t alter the past. Inscribe it as it was. Include everyone. Don’t leave anything out.
Most markers are state/locally funded and maintained. The good news- there’s a national movement funded and organized by the National Collaboration of Women’s Historic Sites that will install 250 markers of women suffragettes who raced on the road to the 19th Amendment. Sometimes markers are used instead of statues because they’re less expensive to install, take fewer hours to develop and don’t take up as much space. The downside is that most markers are made of aluminum which has a much shorter shelf life than stone. But it’s a good start.
Here are a few markers of note I uncovered on recent trips: Meredith College in Raleigh, NC installed a marker to recognize outstanding females in the field of mathematics ; Bayard Wootten, an artist, installed in Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC, was a pleasant surprise. In New Hampshire, I not only discovered a marker but I found controversy. No sooner was the marker for Elizabeth Gurly Flynn known as “The Rebel Girl” installed, naysayers petitioned to have it removed because of her unorthodox belief system (there is currently another legal battle to have it re-installed). Ms. Flynn’s statue is one of 275 that are being installed statewide to recognize influential people from the Revolutionary War to contemporary era (so far, her marker is the only one that’s been uninstalled). Makes me wonder if it was her gender and not her politics that fuel the opposition.
Ho hum. Progress is being made, but slowly. We can do better. Be proactive. Start in your home town. Find women who’ve had made significant contributions to society and petition to have a statue erected (think big) or a historical marker. Collaborate with businesses with deep pockets, access to grants or those with political clout. Keep in mind, the past was not kind to women, people of color and those with different sexual orientation. We need to right the wrongs. One marker, one statue at a time. If historians can alter the past, as Mr. Butler surmises, then they can also alter the present landscape. Clusters the markers if you can; turn it into a trail or pathway.
The more women’s names and accomplishments we can chisel or etch into stone or medal is a win. Our daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters will be grateful. Men will thanks us too, if they already haven’t.
“If we follow the ancestral line of our umbilical chord from our mother to her mother’s mother, and so on down the line, we’ll reach our primal mother – the one we all share.” Ilchi Lee
For the most part, whenever I post a statue it’s the kind that’s meant to last -if not for all eternity- but certainly for centuries. That’s why many of the statues or monuments I usually seek out are carved from stone, like granite or marble or etched out of heavy metals such as bronze or silver. Enduring, long-lasting, sustainable are words to describe them. Yes, I’ve dabbled a bit with performance art, puppetry and busts that are more fragile and have a shorter shelf-life, but the premise is always the same; we erect a statue of a woman so we can memorialize her and continue to remember and honor her, long after the 21st., 22nd or even the 23rd centuries have ended. I’m oddly comforted by the seemingly immortality of monuments. I know that eternity is not mankind’s gift to bestow but I’d hoped the monuments could dot the landscape and thus change its direction, far into the future. A sort of men vs. women competition with scorecards and prizes. Then I met Umi.
Let me tell you about her. Umi was created by Daniel Popper, a well-renown multidisciplinary artist from South Africa whose work can be seen across the globe in such places as Florida, California, Chicago and Mexico. Mr. Popper specializes in larger than life human-like sculptures made of natural fibers like wood and fiberglass, then cast in resin. Umi means many things in a variety of language; in Swahili, Umi means life; in Arabic Umi means mother; and in Japan the word means ocean. According to Mr. Popper’s website, he based Umi’s origin on Gaia, from Greek mythology. Gaia can be seen as the personification of the earth, the ancestral mother, the mother of creation and the parthenogenic creator of all life, often known as the virgin creation (considered unnatural in humans).
Wow! The more I learned about Umi the greater my fascination grew. It’s said that the goddess Gaia oozed from Chaos, the primordial god of nothing, and then, by herself, Umi birthed all of mankind, including the earth or Terra Mater, and all its descendants and natural wonders. When I first found Umi, a 21-foot art installation, standing alone in a ravine in Aurora, Colorado in a new art park amid a huge housing development that was only 2% completed, I gasped. First because of her beauty and secondly because I worried that since she was made of wood and other perishable fibers, she’d one day wither away or burn like the rest of us. Yet Umi stood her ground. The longer I looked at her, the word endangered flew out of my mind. Tall, and fierce she depicted the convergence of woman and tree. Mother Earth and Mother Nature run amok, but in a good way Embraced by branches, which gave the impression of hair, the roots formed a dome-shaped empty space that could be viewed as her womb, which she appeared to be holding, like the way a pregnant woman often rests her hands on her abdomen, as in a protective mode. The statue, considered to be interactive, invites visitors to enter the void and feel the nurturing essence of motherhood and the symbolic relationship between the earth and humanity. Not once in all of this, does Umi, or her predecessor Gaia, separate the men from the women. She refers to the earth and all its inhabitants as humanity. We could all learn a lesson from our ancestral mother.
I remain in awe of her magnificence. She’s bigger than life, yet fragile, empty while being full, and with kind eyes and a warm embrace, she projects peace as well as strength. Honor, cherish and experience her. Word to the wise: Umi is, at least for the moment, hard to find. The best way to locate her is to call the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and ask them to give you the address. Persist. Umi is glorious, everything a goddess should be; and she meets all my criteria for what constitutes a monument of the matriarchy. Even though she isn’t chiseled in stone, she still rocks.
Rock on, Umi!
WOMEN’S PLAZA OF HONOR @ The University of Arizona/Tucson
Celebrating Women’s Lives- Past, Present and Future
Wherever I travel I’m on the lookout for monuments of the matriarchy; and my recent trip to Tucson and Sedona turned out to be quite productive (see September’s entry). I was pleased to find that smack in the middle of downtown Tucson, on the campus of UA, near the Gender Studies Program, sits the Women’s Plaza of Honor dedicated to the Women of Arizona whose contributions to society have made a difference, not just to the southwest, but to the world at large. I felt like I’d hit the statue lottery.
The plaza consists of six wings or arches that highlight a variety of accomplished women: Inspirational Women; Women of the 1540 Cibola Journey, African American Women, Southern Arizona women, Women Activists, and Women Lawyers. Who are these women and what have they done to get their name chiseled in granite to be memorialized in perpetuity? For the most part, they’re ordinary women who when faced with the complexities and injustices of life used creative outlets to become extraordinary. While hundreds of women, are represented by having their name engraved on the monument, I’ll briefly highlight five: Margaret Sanger, Sandra Day O’Connor, Women of the 1540 Cibola Journey (as well as other indigenous women of color), African women from the Chapter of the Links and my niece, an art therapist with creativity and empathy to spare.
Margaret Sanger, born in 1879, a time when women were second class citizens, was instrumental in taking women’s rights into the next century. After working as a nurse, she became a birth control activist and sex educator writer. Tirelessly advocating for women, she later formed Planned Parenthood, an organization that to this day, delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Unfortunately, Ms. Sanger passed away a year before birth control— for all women – was legalized. She proclaimed, “No woman can herself be free who does not control her own body.”
Sandra Day O’Connor, born in 1930, died at the age of 93. Intelligent and perseverant, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Politically conservative, she still worked against discrimination of women, something she most certainly encountered in her lifetime.
African American women of Arizona such as Dr. Doris Ford, Etta Mae Dawson and Tommie Thompson were instrumental in securing scholarships for women of African American ancestry through the Tucson Chapter of the Links. Each woman, a champion in her own right, not only faced adversity but persevered. Strong, fierce and tenacious are their adverbs. Check out their names as well as many others chiseled on the arch.
The Women of the Cibola Journey, who accompanied the Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado on the search for the mythic empire of riches known as the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, found themselves in an epic fight for their lives. As the story goes, the myth supposedly created by the Zuni Pueblo tribes living near the border between Mexico and Arizona, was a lie, created to throw off the “savage explorers” who rampaged, raped and pillaged their way through the southwest, wreaking havoc wherever they went. This ill-fated group of Spanish explorers, however, are credited with the first sightings of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. Throughout their two-year trek, numerous indigenous people, most of them women, were taken against their will to serve as free labor and entertainment. Despite all efforts, the golden cites were never located. I’ve not heard about this wild journey before but it brought tears to my eyes. I’m glad Arizona honors these women by making their story known. Women are not property, to be dragged along, kicking and screaming.
The Inspirational Women of Arizona arch was my favorite. It’s a place where any woman with ties to Arizona, past, present or future, can be memorialized for their accomplishments. Like my niece (she’s not engraved on the arch, but I’m optimistic). Perhaps you can nominate yourself. New names are added yearly. All you have to do is achieve, succeed and make noise. As the saying goes, “well-behaved women rarely make history.”
The Women’s Plaza of Honor is a special place to relax, contemplate, meditate or just bask in the sun. We need more of these group memorials where everyone can honor, remember and revere these brave women who not only shattered the glass ceiling but created a spot where ceilings will never hold anyone back again.
Women rock! Today, tomorrow and yesterday. Next time you travel, do what I do. Find statues of extraordinary women and bask in the glow of their brilliance. They will inspire you, as they do me.
SEDONA: RED ROCK MONUMENTS
“Carve out a place for yourself. Aspire to new plateaus.” llan Shamir
If you’ve been reading this site for a while you’ll know I’ve stayed close to my original premise, which has been to honor statues of women and raise awareness to the paucity of monuments delegated to the matriarchy. But this month’s entry, I deviate and include other-worldly monuments found in nature, particularly those red rock spires or buttes found in Sedona, Arizona.
On a recent trip with my husband to visit our niece in Arizona I became bewitched by the beautiful red rock formations that adorned Sedona. I’m not naïve to nature’s wonders, I’ve already experienced the beauty of the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, but they still didn’t prepare me for the intensity of enchantment I felt for Sedona and the stronghold it clamped upon my psyche. Simply put, I became entranced by the vortex, or spiraling energy that wheels and turns throughout the region, often eliciting a meditative aura and metaphysical state of euphoria. Before you roll your eyes, hear me out. Listen while I convince you why the red rock monuments at Sedona, or at least Cathedral Rock, should be included in my litany of monuments dedicated to the wonderfulness of women.
Sedona, with its red rock vistas and vortex of spiritual energy, is often called “a museum without walls.” It’s easy to see why. The views are not only spectacular, the vivid colors are so striking they shine with luminosity, as if the gods had kept the best hues for themselves. Sedona, formed by the fracturing of the western edge of the Colorado plateau, is said to contain 4 distinct vortexes that channel an inflow and outflow of masculine and feminine energy. The first vortex we visited was the Sedona Airport, high atop a hill, where the electrical charge is said to strengthen masculine energy. The views were so amazing I wanted to proclaim myself King of the Hill, but none of us tingled or buzzed with newfound energy. Bell Rock, the second vortex we stopped at, proposes to enhance aspects of femininity and masculinity while prompting these opposing parts of the self into a more harmonious and balanced state. It’s a gorgeous formation carved to look like a bell and while we were bedazzled by the monument, none of us felt the earth move, pivot or rotate. Yet. After we left, I couldn’t help but marvel at the deep carvings, supposedly formed during an inhospitable time on earth. To be honest, Sedona’s entire vista looked as if the red rock formations were strategically placed or created by a higher power. PHEW! A few hours in Sedona and I’m envisioning a scenario that only one versed in New Age teachings, tarot cards or palm readings could fathom. Much to my surprise, Bell Rock had found a way to calm my inner turmoil with its sereneness and innate optimism.
On a crunch for time, we skipped Boynton Canyon. Instead, we headed to Cathedral Rock, where we found the best view in the whole region. Once atop a steep rocky mountain outcrop where dozens of other red rock formations came into the forefront, we were treated to a 360-degree panoramic landscape. My husband, who suffers from vertigo, felt dizzy at the summit. My experience differed, possibly because Cathedral Rock is said to aid feminine aspects of the divine. Where my husband experienced nausea, I felt the whirl of the vortex spinning through me like a hypnotic tsunami. It was similar to the sensation you get when jumping on a trampoline, right before you plummet, when you’re still suspended in midair: light, buoyant and boundless. Helen Ready’s powerful lyrics, “I am Woman. Hear me Roar” soared through me. I reigned supreme.
Did I experience an epiphany atop Cathedral Rock? Did the vortex infiltrate my inner sanctum?
While my time at Sedona didn’t yield any long-lasting psychic healings, chakra alignments, karmic cleanings and I didn’t find my divine purpose, I still got caught up in an emotional blizzard of cosmic energy. There’s no denying that Sedona fills you with an undeniable magical essence. It’s as if the rock formations were created for the sole purpose of bringing beauty, spiritualty and enchantment to our world.
I think the reason I felt the spark at Cathedral Rock was because I believe in the power of monuments, whether manmade or natural. All statues, carved or chiseled, are tributes to the Spectacular. They’re an homage to the Ones who are a cut above the rest, whether they sit on a pedestal or a rock; they dot the landscape with physical reminders that the world is luminous and the people in it are equally monumental.
Rock on, my friends and readers!
MARY FLANNERY O’CONNOR (1925-1964)
Celebrated Southern Gothic writer of short stories, letters, essays and novels
“The truth doesn’t change based on our ability to stomach it.” FO
Recently I visited Savannah, Georgia for an anniversary retreat and while I was there I checked on the first statue I ever wrote about: Waving Girl. Turns out, Florence Martus is thriving and now has her own memorabilia which will come in handy when my novel, Waving Girl’s Last Stand, drops. Just kidding- I’m still waiting for the elusive agent to reveal themself.
But while I was on a ghost tour enjoying the most haunted city in America, I stumbled upon Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home. Since someone once compared her stinging language with my own dark and wry writing style –it was only the one time but the comment gave my writing buoyancy – I jumped at a chance to learn more about her. When I went home and goggled her, thinking someone had already memorialized her with a monument, I found nothing. I was shocked because during the tour of her home I learned that a group of English professors had garnered funding to restore her home and turn it into a museum. Certainly there was more. All I found, bedsides a dollish puppet-like replica of her found in the home, was a bust of her sculpted by Italian artist, Valentine Mazzei, in Sept. 2011. She was part of a series of portrait busts (such as Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein and Carson Mc Culler) about women who had made significant contributions to the field of writing and had impacted the artist deeply with their emotional truths. The bust is now part of the Chicago Loyola’s University Center for Catholic Intellectual Collection.
There’s so much to say about Flannery (she dropped her given name Mary after publishing her first work, The Geranium in 1946). She was a woman with a prolific writing career during her short life-span of 39 years. Even after her diagnosis of lupus (a disease where the immune system attacks the organs in the body), which is the same illness that contributed to her father’s untimely death, she went on to publish 2 novels, 31 short stories, and numerous essays and letters. In 1972 (eight years after her death) she was awarded the National Book Award for Fiction for her collected works, The Complete Stories, still considered to be one of the best short-story collections. If you haven’t read her genius-level writing, often referred to as having an offbeat humor while depicting the unsavory acts of humanity, I suggest you start with her tour-de-force short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, which is arguably the best title of any work ever published. The story highlights her brilliant use of grotesque characters in violent situations often engaging in battles of good vs. evil where the villain isn’t always easy to find. Definitely my kind of writer.
Now for the dark side, and with an author who thinks revulsion and soul-eating revelations are for catechism classes, there’s going to be a group of naysayers who want to make sure any thoughts of a bronze statue ever leave the artist’s sketch pad. As a southern girl, born Irish Catholic and reared in an environment where bigotry ran rampant (and not just toward people of color as evidenced by this SC sign “Help wanted: No Irish Need Apply) some non-fans have claimed that her writing is inherently embedded with racism. I’m going to lean into Angela O’Donnell’s 2020 non-fiction book, Radical Ambivalence; Race in Flannery O’Connor, where she believes Flannery was limited by her time and place and the culture of bigotry that birthed her. Flanner followed a southern code of manners yet many of her white characters are despicable human beings who meet violent ends. Some scholars will give her writing a color pass (she was a rare brave writer who told the truth, warts and all, damn the consequences) while others point to her personal letters where she spoke her mind. But mining her private life until you find a morsel of evidence is like finding her clothesline full of laundry where everything has blown away except her lacy black bra and then using her undergarments to imply she was immoral. I guess fact-checking hadn’t been invented yet.
As for the woman who’s been deemed “the mother of the modern short story,” Flannery’s writing is rooted in outlandish content and then flavored in satire and then marinated in mystery until it evokes a visceral response. A potent recipe that doesn’t go down well with everyone.
However, we need women like her to be remembered and memorialized. She’s the kind of women we should still be talking about centuries from now. Yes, we have her writings, now translated into to 20 languages, her portrait bust and a small museum in SC. These are all good starts. But we need more of her. Bigger, brighter, shinier, louder; just like her.
Readers, we can make this happen. Let’s not rest until the landscape of our world is dotted with monuments of the matriarchy. Bronze. Marble. Granite. Stone. Silver. Glass.
Women lag way beyond men in the statue race. Let’s even the score.
Get chiseling!
THE CURVY MERMAID
The little mermaid isn’t so little anymore.
In Monopoli, Italy a group of students at the Luigi Rosso Art School were commissioned to sculpt a sea creature to honor Rita Levi-Montalcini, a former Italian senator and neurobiologist who’d been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology Medicine (with Stanley Cohen) for the discovery of nerve growth factor. A local council approved the sketches of a plus-sized mermaid. But when the sculpture was unveiled to be a curvy statue with a large booty and cleavage, it made more than a big slash. It sent social media into a tsunami of controversy. But can a statue be too sexy or even obscene? Should we censor anatomically-correct sculptures because they make us feel uncomfortable? How big is too big?
Seriously folks. Don’t we have bigger fish to fry?
I normally shy away from highlighting statues that don’t showcase real women of substance who’ve made historic contributions to society (but I’d say Rita Levi-Montalcini meets that stringent criteria). If you follow my blog you’ll find I’ve already made exceptions for sculptures and performance art pieces that showcase feminism, humanity and equality (see Fearless Girl, The Embrace, Amal, Gullah Woman).
Besides, there’s already another mermaid statue in Denmark. She was carved in the likeness of merfolk and water nymphs in Hans Christian Anderson’s folk tale of a young mermaid who’s willing to give up her sea life for an immortal soul. But it’s a dark story where she trades her voice for legs and although there’s a prince, a happy ending is debatable. Then there are the two Disney tales; the animated version from 1989 and the live-action movie from 2023. All three of these tales have something in common- all of the mermaids are young, thin, and beautiful. And while these statues haven’t escaped controversy (the statue in Denmark was smeared with the words “racist fish”) nobody ever complained about their size. But suddenly the new sculpture, which doesn’t show any more skin that the previous ones do, is too big, too fleshy, too voluptuous and yes, too curvy.
But according to Whoop Goldberg, host of The View, “she’s not real.” Nothing to see here. And then there’s Vashti Harrison, author of the picture book BIG whose anti-fat theme lets girls know it’s okay to have big hearts and a big dreams, and yes, a big body. Love yourself. Every lovely inch.
The take-away message for me is simple: Stop fat shaming women. We come in all sizes, shapes and colors. We are beautiful. Every one of us.
Let’s also celebrate these brave students who went out on a limb not only to shatter an outdated oppressive image of beauty and sexuality but to memorialize expansiveness in all its largess.
As always, Women Rock! Big and tall, small and petite. In ever color of the rainbow. From all walks of life. Monuments of the matriarchy have a new member to celebrate.
AMELIA EARHARDT (1897-1937)
Aviatrix, Author & Absolutely Amazing Woman
“Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.” AE
A statue of Amelia Earhart was recently unveiled in the US Capital’s Sanctuary Hall where Amelia joins one hundred other statues (yet only 5% are women). Her seven-foot bronze statue, ten feet if you include the pedestal, sculptured by George and Mark Lundeen, will represent the state of Kansas. Her likeness, which depicts a beautiful and determined woman wearing a leather helmet, her signature bomber jacket and carrying goggles, was placed in the hall on the 85th anniversary of her disappearance.
Amelia has an impressive resume, with many “firsts.” She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, the first woman to fly ‘solo’ across the Atlantic, the first woman to fly ‘solo’ from LA to Mexico City, the first woman to fly nonstop coast to coast, and the first woman to fly across the Red Sea to India. When she embarked on her “round the world” flight she would’ve been the first woman to do so. Sadly her plane disappeared. She was only thirty-nine. How did she accomplish all this in such a short period of time? Some credit her with spunk, fortitude and a love of adventure while others claimed it was luck, good looks and publicity that took her from a small-time pilot to an aviation pop star, one with enough start power to capture the heart of America.
When she was ten she believed that a little red plane spoke to her as it swooshed by. Was it Fly with me or You can do it too? But soon after, she was taking flying lessons and making short runs in the air. Unheard of for a woman, nothing short of miraculous for a girl. Then she captured the attention of George Putnam, a publicist who asked her if she’d like to be the first woman to fly ‘solo’ across the Atlantic. Without hesitation, she agreed. When he inquired if she’d like to be the first woman to fly ‘solo’ around the world, she was all in. She also said yes to Mr. Putnam when he asked her to marry him.
In 1937, gassed up and ready to soar into history she took off into the great blue wander in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. The concept of a “solo” flight can be misleading; Amelia wasn’t alone on the trip, she had her navigator Fred Noonan, with her. Midway across the pacific they were scheduled to make a short stop in the Howland Islands but somewhere over the open ocean the ground crew lost radio contact with her plane. Lots of speculation arose about her disappearance. Was it planned? Did she want to escape from the hectic life she’d created? Was her plane sabotaged? A few years later, some bones were discovered on nearby Nikumaroro Island that may have offered answers. But very soon the bones were dismissed as being her remains. It wasn’t until recently when new scientific methodology revealed that the fragments found were likely that of Amelia Earhart and her navigator. Case solved? (for more information see www.ameliaearhart.com)
I comfort myself in knowing that she died/disappeared doing what she loved. Her legacy won’t be forgotten. She used her celebrity to start The Ninety-nines, a women’s aviation society. As an equal right’s advocate, Amelia believed that her “complex aviation skills proved that women could hold jobs that were mostly reserved for men; especially in careers that required intelligence, coordination, speed, coolness, and will power.” Amelia was much more than a pretty pilot with a publicist husband, she was also a social worker, a nurse, an author, entrepreneur, role model and women’s rights advocate. According to Nancy Pelosi, when you look at her statue, you “hear the sound of wings.”
To me, that sound is an audible representation of bravery and freedom. It’s the sound of a woman smashing the class celling of oppressive misogyny, patriarchy and gender stereotyping. It’s the most beautiful sound in the whole world.
While I applaud Amelia and her groundbreaking accomplishments, we have miles to go before we catch up. I love the fact that her statue replaced one that belonged to a man, simply because he met the criteria of the day: male and pale. But we can do better. Women like Amelia need to dot the landscape with the bronze matriarchy. Statues of women need to be chiseled, placed on a pedestal and memorialized. Everywhere.
Women rock. So do their statues and stories. Let’s get chiseling.
GERTRUDE STEIN (1874-1946)
“If you can’t say anything nice about someone- come sit next to me.”
The first time I heard of Gertrude was after watching the 1960’s screwball comedy, “I love you, Alice B. Toklas.” I remember thinking that Gertrude Stein, with her avant-garde Buddha-like presence and quirky Alice had a story to tell; one that far beyond Peter Seller’s comedy and my own boring middle class suburban life.
The statue installed in 1992 in Bryant park, NY, located next to the NY Public Library, is 225 lbs. of polished bronze and sits on a pedestal, displaying Ms. Stein in a seated position with the gravitas, given only to The Buddha himself. Apparently the Parisian sculpturer Jo Davidson had the same vision of Gertrude as I did- not only was she a trailblazing author, arts patron, literary salon facilitator but her gender-blending lifestyle allowed others to become comfortable in their own skin; a necessity artists must possess if they want to create true, unadulterated self-expression.
A trust fund baby, Gertrude moved to Paris when she was 30. There she met Alice, her mustached unconventional life partner. As a fan of cubism and eclectic art, Gertrude purchased paintings of little-known artists and displayed their works on the walls of her Parisian apartment (Picasso, Matisse, Cezanne, Gaugin, Renoir Toulouse-Lautrec). Soon the “almost famous” writers arrived (Sherwood Anderson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, T.S Eliot) and the Literary Salon was born. Gertrude’s apartment became a mecca where a community of writers networked, critiqued and inspired each other to greatness. Gertrude’s novel, “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,” is, and was, considered a literary superstar (she created what is now known as the unreliable narrator and gave the literary world a new way to tell their own story by redefining the scope of autobiographies.)
Then there’s the relationship between Gertrude and Alice that single-handedly reconstructed gender by questioning what it meant to be male/female; feminine /masculine; even husband and wife. We’re still questioning these terms decade later but it was her bravery that sparked the conversation. Yes, she affirmed, we can say that out loud.
Gertrude lived her life as a work of art. She was a collection of diversity; a patron of the arts, author, philanthropist, cultivator of culture and defender of human rights. She was larger than life. Her memory, chiseled in bronze and set upon a pedestal, sits for all to see. When you visit her statute, sit next to her for a while. Think. Then ask yourself, what can I do to make the world a better place? If you think you can accomplish one iota of what Gertrude did, then you’re sitting pretty. Otherwise, you have work to do, my statue-loving friend. Lots of work.
THE REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM MONUMENT
“Honoring courageous women who died from illegal, unsafe abortions Because they had no choice.” Inscription on a monument in Washington, DC
In November 1989 feminist activists, including Eleanor Smeal and Kathy Spillar of The Feminist Majority, in conjunction with Ms. Magazine, erected a memorial of women who died from illegal and unsafe abortions. To my knowledge, this memorial has no official name and thus I’ve dubbed it “The Reproductive Freedom Monument.” Feel free to write your own title into the comment section.
I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to notice this important memorial. The plight of ensuring that women have access to safe abortions and the constitutional sanctity of Roe V. Wade has been like another appendage: One that I added the day I took a part-time job as a women’s health care counselor/abortion advocate at the Parents’ Aid Society/ Bill Baird Institute (seriously people, google Mr. Baird). For the scope of this blog, I’ve shied away from overt political pieces but this memorial gave me the shivers and a haunting so vibrant it spurred me into action. Again. But it’s not just the memorial that captured my advocacy eye. There’s the Vivian Campbell Fund of Women’s Health services; the July 9, 2018 Ms. Magazine article, “Daring to remember: The Stories of Women Who Died from Illegal and Unsafe Abortions and then the People’s World online story; “In Remembrance: Women Who Died from Illegal and Unsafe Abortions.” Please check out these amazing resources so you can step into the word of these brave women who made an agonizing decision and then paid for that decision with their life.
Then there’s the photo of the memorial, tagged (Carolmooredc / Wikimedia). It’s a riveting reminder of back-alley days where women died, simply because they lacked the reproductive freedom or choice to continue a pregnancy. Keep in mind that pictures are short-term fixes whereas monuments are written in stone; chiseled into the foreseeable future; a tactile and visual warning that many more great women will perish if we don’t stop the current destructive movement of unpacking Roe V. Wade. Any more dismantling of the abortion bill will chain women into subserviency, maybe forever; voiceless, pregnant; stripped of their right to choose. It could be you-or someone you love. Women get pregnant. It’s a fact of life. Sometimes it’s wanted; sometimes it’s not. It should be up to the women to decide how she handles her body. Pure and simple.
Sculp it in bronze. Chisel it in stone. Etch it in silver. Carve it in wood. Reproductive freedom for all!
You can help. Start a campaign to erect this timeless memorial in your city or another one of you choosing. Gather influencers, entrepreneurs, Hollywood movers and shakers, fundraisers and agencies that heed the call of reproductive choice. Dot the landscape with the Reproductive Freedom Monument. Erect it in places where it’ll be seen by men, women, politicians. Do it now. Before it’s too late.
What’s unseen is often unheard!