Because We're Not Still Embryos!

Here's the original.... 

PLAY & dance along with THE ORIGINAL Zumba Choreograpy by KRS10!

Rewritten Lyrics to

I Am Woman
by Helen Reddy

 

We are women, hear us roar,

With power greater than before,

And the knowledge that is time to come to light.

We’re not waiting anymore,

We know there’s no need for a war–

When we heal in harmony we get it right!

 

[CHORUS]

Oh yes we are wise

It’s the wisdom of the sane

And it’s time to make the choice

To let go of all shame.

Now we have to, and must do everything

To be strong (strong)

To be invincible (invincible)

To be women

 

We can bend instead of break we

All have what it takes to make the

Changes we all need to make us truly whole

We will make a world that’s stronger

Because women are no longer

Without confidence in reaching every goal

 

[CHORUS]

 

We are woman watch us grow

We’re expanding as we flow

In a tide of inspiration

For the land

Because only women know

That to grow an embryo

Means a flourishing

All humans understand

 

Oh yes we are wise

It’s the wisdom of the sane

And it’s time to make the choice

To put an end to shame.

Now we have to, and must do everything

To be strong (strong)

To be invincible (invincible)

To be women

 

FADE

We are woman

We are invincible

We are strong

We are woman

I Am Woman, Hear Me...Cry?

In preparation for Hillary Clinton's landslide win on election day, I choreographed "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy for my Zumba class. In searching for this feminist anthem on iTunes, I flashed back to my first rock concert (with my divorced-and-discovering-her-power mom), and then stumbled on this generation's version.

When you compare the lyrics to Jordin Sparks' (yes, highly dance-able) "empowering female anthem" from 2011 to those from the song that hit #1 on the Billboard pop charts in 1972, it's easy to see how today's women could have voted for an unapologetic misogynist.

Her lyrics, It ain't easy walkin' in stilettos/But somebody gotta do it; It's so rigorous
Doing what I do / Always on point / Always on cue; Don't need to talk / I speak with actions / I've perfected the laws of attraction / I'm the whole package plus satisfaction, bespeak the traps of perfection that today's young women find themselves in, always under someone's gaze, someone's judgment, with no deep self-connection. Trump's women—wives, daughters, hangers-on—are to a one shaped like Barbie, with hair-commercial locks, dresses over smooth bellies and teetering high heels. You get the feeling they'd better look like that or they're fired.

Reddy's lyrics "from the olden days" spoke of connection ("standing toe-to-toe") with other women, of wisdom, pain, and strength, and the incredible, generous heart of mothers and lovers, ready to "spread my loving arms across the land." Also, it politely acknowledged the impossible struggle women have with politics and with men, "With a long, long way to go/Until I make my brother understand." It is women seeing women from the inside.

Today, many women are crying. Our hardworking but unfuckable heroine was smeared by lying Russian trolls and a candidate who made bullying cool (for some), tapping into the vast community of voters who are suspicious of women (and anyone different from themselves).

 There will be another cry, coming very soon. And it will not be one of sadness. It will be a roar. 

Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie | Mother's Day National Action

Mother's Day began with mothers coming together and calling for greater wisdom and diplomacy, their hearts sick from losing their sons to senseless wars.

The Peace Alliance understands that building peace takes as much effort and energy as preparing for war, and is our best national defense.

I love this campaign! And I plan to make a pie this year. Join me!

Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie | Mother's Day National Action

If I were on a desert island...

...I'd want to be stuck with Madame DeStael.

Madame de Stael by Maria Fairweather

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm rating this book (that Leah loaned me last year -- thank you!) so highly because of the subject matter: a politically influential genius of France's troubled revolutionary times, thought by all to be one of the time's most brilliant minds, but maligned by history as inconsequential. Every so often I encounter such historical women of genius and it angers me that I've never heard of them. Wikipedia quotes a 1911 encyclopedia that dismisses her ideas as unoriginal, but in reading her biography I understand this perception: when women are barred from politics, they must find other ways to influence history. This one was constantly surrounded by intellectuals and men of power; who is to say their ideas were not shaped by her? This woman was equal to Napoleon and his greatest social enemy. (A scene between them: she had prepared many arguments to counter his famous misogyny at a meeting—he short-circuits her by staring at her decolletage and asking if she'd nursed all her children.)



Girlfriends, I encourage you to find inspiration in Madame de Stael! I feel I have found a friend who shares my values and passions, and am eager to dig up her works and get to know her mind first hand.


View all my reviews.

It's All God's Fault

I just found this poem, written by Clare Boothe Luce (creator of "The Women") at age ten:

"Thou madest man perfect
Then Thine alone is the blame
If Thou leftest in womankind
The flaw that bought him shame.

I couldn't have said it better. Women can't HELP but try new foods sometimes! Insert "homokind" for "womankind" and you've got a whole new reading of it.