Some new terms in our language have been after people. Both the terms sadism and masochism were so named according to etymologyonline.
Here is what the site says about sadism: “love of cruelty,” especially as evidence of a subconscious lust that the cruelty satisfies, 1888, from French sadisme, from the name of Count Donatien A.F.de Sade (1740-1815). Not a marquis, though usually now called one, he was notorious for the cruel sexual practices described in his novels.”
And here is what the site says about masochism: “The word masochism originates from the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, an Austrian novelist best known for his 1869 novel Venus in Furs, which explored themes of submissive sexuality and domination.”
I have a new term to add that I would like to add to our vocabulary: Robertism to be named after John Roberts. Here is my definition: love of cruelty, not just cruelty by itself but by spreading cruel acts as widely and far as possible while giving them the authority of legality. Robertism encourages the most base and ugly parts of human behavior, brings them to the surface to be expressed in actions that are given permission through legal cover.
Part 2 was posted yesterday. You can read it here, or the original in the link below.
Patriarchy is a system of male dominance, rooted in the ethos of war which legitimates violence, sanctified by religious symbols, in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality, with the intent of passing property to male heirs, and in which men who are heroes of war are told to kill men, and are permitted to rape women, to seize land and treasures, to exploit resources, and to own or otherwise dominate conquered people.
As the discussion of patriarchy* I began last week and the week before shows, patriarchy is not simply the domination of women by men. Patriarchy is an integral system in which men’s control of women’s sexuality, private property, and war (including violence, conquest, rape, and slavery) each play a part. These different elements are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate one as the cause of the others. Patriarchy is an integral system of interlocking oppressions, enforced through violence, and legitimated by religions.
The model of patriarchy I have proposed argues that the control of female sexuality is fundamental to the patriarchal system. This explains why there is so much controversy about the “simple matter” of access to birth control and abortion in the US today. It also explains why so much vicious anger is directed at single mothers by politicians and commentators. Any woman who dares to control her own sexuality is questioning the foundations of the patriarchal system.
Statement Calling for Immediate Action to Halt the Death Sentence of 25-Year-Old Political Prisoner Arghavan Fallahi
We express our profound concern over the death sentence imposed on Arghavan Fallahi, a 25-year-old political prisoner in Iran.
Ms. Fallahi was arrested on 25 January 2025 and detained in Ward 241 of Evin Prison. She spent five months in solitary confinement, during which she was subjected to interrogation as well as severe physical and psychological torture.
The death sentence was issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, and was communicated to her on 1 July 2026.
Ms. Fallahi, a supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), was previously arrested in November 2022 along with her father, Nasrollah Fallahi, who was a political prisoner in the 1980s, and was held in prison for a short period. Her father remains in Evin Prison.
We further call upon the United Nations, Member States, and international human rights organizations to take immediate action to overturn the death sentence of Arghavan Fallahi and other political prisoners sentenced to death.
The international community must pressure the Iranian regime to grant the Special Rapporteur and the International Fact-Finding Mission access to Iranian prisons and allow them to meet with political prisoners.
The case of Arghavan Fallahi once again highlights the urgent need for coordinated and effective action by the international community to prevent an irreparable catastrophe. The 1988 massacre of political prisoners must not be allowed to happen again.
The international community witnessed the extraordinary courage of Iranian women during the recent protests, when they stood at the forefront of a movement demanding dignity, freedom, and fundamental rights. This courage was not spontaneous or isolated; it was rooted in a long history of resistance by Iranian women against repression and authoritarian rule. Thousands of PMOI/MEK women members and women activists have been executed by the mullahs’ regime over the past 45 years. The struggle of women such as Arghavan Fallahi reflects this broader legacy of resilience and determination.
Today, as a young Iranian woman faces the possibility of execution following a deeply concerning judicial process, the world must once again stand in solidarity with the women and people of Iran who continue to defend their fundamental rights.
Part 1 was posted yesterday. You can read it here. Or the original in the link below.
Patriarchy is a system of male dominance, rooted in the ethos of war which legitimates violence, sanctified by religious symbols, in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality, with the intent of passing property to male heirs, and in which men who are heroes of war are told to kill men, and are permitted to rape women, to seize land and treasures, to exploit resources, and to own or otherwise dominate conquered people.*
My argument is that the origin of “private” property, defined as property owned by a single (male) individual, and as that which defines the “essence” of that individual, is the “spoils” of war, which are divided up by victorious warriors. The “spoils” of war are the tangible treasures “looted” or taken by the victors from the conquered, such as jewelry and sacred objects. The “spoils” of war include land “taken” as the result of warfare, along with the right to exploit resources, directly or through taxes and levies. The “spoils” of war also includes the right to “take” the women of the defeated enemy and to confirm ownership of them (and humiliate their fathers or husbands) by raping them. The “spoils” of war also include the right to “take” these raped women and their young children home to serve as slaves and concubines.
Moderator’s Note: This three part series was originally posted in 2013 near the start-up of FAR. Because of its seminal nature, wee have re-posted it several times since then. This piece not only set FAR off on its ground-breaking direction but Carol also educated many of us about the roots, the patterns and experiences of patriarchy. This knowledge and understanding is so important to understanding where our culture is and what is happening now that we have decided to post it each year starting on the anniversary of Carol’s death, July 14th, 2021 and continuing for the 3 days.
Recently feminist scholar Vicki Noble commented that this is the best definition of patriarchy she has read–but she hadn’t read it earlier. I am reposting it now in the hopes that all of you will share it with your social media so that it will be more widely known.
Patriarchy is often defined as a system of male dominance. This definition does not illuminate, but rather obscures, the complex set of factors that function together in the patriarchal system. We need more complex definition if we are to understand and challenge the the patriarchal system in all of its aspects.
Patriarchy is a system of male dominance, rooted in the ethos of war which legitimates violence, sanctified by religious symbols, in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality, with the intent of passing property to male heirs, and in which men who are heroes of war are told to kill men, and are permitted to rape women, to seize land and treasures, to exploit resources, and to own or otherwise dominate conquered people.*
Marx and Engels said that the patriarchal family, private property, and the state arose together. Though their understanding of the societies that preceded “patriarchy” was flawed, their intuition that patriarchy is connected to private property and to domination in the name of the state was correct. It has long seemed to me that patriarchy cannot be separated from war and the kings who take power in the wake of war. Many years ago I was stunned by Merlin Stone’s allegation that in matrilineal societies there are no illegitimate children, because all children have mothers. Lately, I have been trying to figure out why the Roman Catholic and other churches and the American Republican party are so strongly opposed to women’s right to control our own bodies and are trying to prevent access to birth control and abortion. In the above definition of patriarchy, I bring all of these lines of thought together in a definition which describes the origins of patriarchy and the interconnections between patriarchy, the control of female sexuality, private property, violence, war, conquest, rape in war, and slavery.
Carol Christ, in her 1978 clarion call “Why Women Need the Goddess,” summarized four powerful, foundational ways that the Sacred Feminine urgently matters for women crawling out from under patriarchy. Each way helps to heal the psychic damage of our upbringings and surmount the profound losses of our violated herstory. Christ shows how Goddess belief and worship affirms the legitimacy of our power, the sacredness of our bodies, the honoring of our will—and the centrality of our connections with our foremothers and each other.
All this is still so true. All so important.
AND . . . Christ’s framing of Goddessness as a precious path of women’s transformation is not enough anymore.
Times have changed in the forty years since Christ published her essay. Today’s world has been fast plummeting into an even more blatantly hellish (no, I don’t want to insult the source of that word, Goddess Hel, guardian of life and death—so I will change the adjective!) into an even more blatantly patriarchal state of affairs.
This post was originally published on 22 June 2022. Sh’lach was the Torah portion for yesterday, 13 July 2026. I have made only two edits: updated the pictures and clarified the chapter number and verses for the reference about tzitzit. I highly recommend one read the verses for a better understanding of my comments as I was rather brief.I have included a link to make doing so easier.
The Torah portion for the upcoming Shabbat is Beha’alotecha, which I have already discussed here. Thus, in this blog post, I will discuss the Torah portion for June 25th, Sh’lach (Numbers 13:1 – 15:41). Sh’lach contains the sending of scouts into the Land, the spreading of a bad report, more Israelite disobedience, conditional divine forgiveness accompanied by divine punishments, a description of types of offerings in the Land, the stoning to death of a Shabbat-breaker, and the commandment for tzitizit. From a feminist perspective there are two main areas I want to focus on in this post: the many ways in which the death penalty is prevalent in this parshah and the commandment for tzitizit.
Sh’lach has essentially two examples of death penalties, both, if the reader can believe it, divinely-inspired/required. First, let us look at the case of the man gathering wood. In verse 15:32, a few Israelites catch a man gathering wood on Shabbat. They take him to Moses, Aaron, and the entire congregation (15:33), all of whom were not sure what to do with him. Moses consults with the deity, who pronounces a death penalty by stoning outside of the camp (15:35). The people do as divinely instructed (15:36).
Besides the fact that I genuinely oppose the death penalty, the sentence here does not fit the transgression. How does breaking Shabbat warrant death? It does not.
There is something deeper than hope that is calling us writes Terry Tempest Williams internationally acclaimed naturalist, environmentalist, and author in The Glorians. When we focus our attention on what she calls the ‘holy ordinary’ we are transported into a new way of being.
A Glorian can be a life changing dream like the one Terry had that inspired the title of this book. “Your vow is to create the Epic Documentation of the Glorians,” she was told as she reached the top of a tower by way of a spiral staircase. “What the hell is a Glorian” her father asked. A Glorian can be a moment, memory, an animal, plant, root, eclipse, an encounter with self or with others, an ordinary or non -ordinary experience that pulls us into the Now when the cloak of linear time falls away, and presence is all there is.
Terry shares her experiences with Glorians throughout the book but refuses to define who or what they might be believing that each person’s perceptions are different.
This article appeared on the website of Iran Human Rights Monitor on July 3, 2026. It is reprinted with permission. You can see the original and learn more about Iran HRM here.
The death sentence issued for Arghavan Fallahi stands as an immediate and critical warning regarding the imminent danger of execution facing a female political prisoner in Iran. Arghavan Fallahi, 25 years old, was reportedly sentenced to death on July 1, 2026 (10 Tir 1405) by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati (notoriously known as the “Execution Judge”), with the verdict formally communicated to her through her legal counsel. The acute urgency of this case stems from the fact that the primary accusations against her were framed within security cases linked to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). This death sentence follows months of arbitrary detention, prolonged solitary confinement, enforced disappearance, relentless interrogations, and explicit reports of torture and coercive pressure aimed at manufacturing a state security case.
How do we bring our children along? How do we share with them all that is best about being human? All too often, I hear of events in children’s lives that no one should ever experience. Children are being subjected to trauma that will reverberate through all our lives. We are all one people, and all children are our own. These poems are just a few simple meditations on how to bring children along with the best we have to give. My own son passed on in 2004, and I honor all that we taught each other.
The Poet Walks the Woods
“That’s what I’m here for!” says the poet to the young family, gazing downward beside the trail. “The Trillium- they’re called ephemerals because they don’t last long! They bloom in spring just before the leaves are on the trees. Three petals, three leaves, three everything. So, Trillium.” The littlest girl stows away a note in some memory pocket. “…When I’m an old woman, I’ll walk the woods looking for Trillium…”
Feminism and Religion 