Author Archives

• After the First 100 Days—What Do We Do Now? by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on April 28, 2017 • ( 4 )

  

  I am sitting here again with my friend Deb—you can see our first conversation here,  where we were excited about the activism ensuing from the Women’s March. A photo essay of the Los Angeles Women’s March is here. However, like… Read More ›

• In Honor of Spring: A Novel about our Blue Planet by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on March 24, 2017 • ( 8 )

  

  I have written segments of a novel before for the FAR community several times—starting here. What follows are the beginning pages of a new novel (not the one I’ve published segments with FAR before—that one is on hold). I’m sharing… Read More ›

• After the WOMEN’S March…What Do We Do Now? by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on February 24, 2017 • ( 12 )

  

  I am sitting here with my friend Deb—and like so many conversations we are all having right now, we ask each other— “…after the March…what do we do now?” Of course, we are speaking of the world-wide Women’s March that… Read More ›

• Photo Report from the Woman’s March, Los Angeles by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on January 28, 2017 • ( 14 )

  

  All Photos by Marie Cartier

• Make Art. Tell the Truth. Fight Back. by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on December 23, 2016 • ( 8 )

  

  For my dear Feminism and Religion family: I’m sorry I have no words really this month. As many of you know I was very invested in Hillary Clinton’s campaign– and am devastated by her “loss”—or rather what I see as… Read More ›

• For Strong Women… by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on November 25, 2016 • ( 7 )

  

  This month I had planned to write a long column of finding joy in the midst of pain, or rather enjoying what you can still enjoy. I know you all will be reading this the day after Thanksgiving…I want to… Read More ›

• #NastyWomen Not Ready to Play Nice by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on October 28, 2016 • ( 6 )

  

  I have blogged on this site about Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and my support of her for president of the United States, in several FAR posts this past year: here, here and here. So—this is my last post regarding her campaign before… Read More ›

• Voting for Hillary & the Real Meaning of Sanctity of Life by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on September 24, 2016 • ( 24 )

  

  “I just don’t trust Hillary,” a friend said. “Give me one good reason why I should vote for her—other than that, you know, she’s a woman—since I know you teach Women’s Studies.“ OK. Here goes. I recently got a request… Read More ›

• Dandelion Warriors, Incest Survival and An Artist Statement on That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on August 25, 2016 • ( 9 )

  

  I have blogged excerpts from my novel That Christmas Morning Feeling in progress previously—the first excerpt here and additional ones here and here. This blog serves as an “artist statement” regarding the novel in progress. I want to discuss in… Read More ›

• Religion, Politics, and the RNC: Separation of Church and State Anyone? by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on July 22, 2016 • ( 16 )

  

  When you read this Feminism and Religion community, we will have just finished the televised portion of the Republican National Convention (RNC), which as I write this Wednesday, July 20 has announced that Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee for… Read More ›

• #OrlandoStrong: Yes, Baby, the Gay Bar is Still Our Church – Still Our Religion by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on June 24, 2016 • ( 29 )

  

  The worst gun massacre in United States history happened in a gay bar, PULSE, Sunday, June 12, 2016 in Orlando, CA. It happened during the United States Pride month of June which commemorates the Stonewall riots of June 1969. The Stonewall… Read More ›

• On Being Halfway To …Not Seeing You In August (or the Loss of Michfest) by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on May 27, 2016 • ( 55 )

  

  Normally—and I mean normally as in the past thirty-seven years of my life, this is the time of year when I start thinking about the upcoming Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and the fact that I will be seeing friends of… Read More ›

• Novel Excerpt III: That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on April 22, 2016 • ( 5 )

  

    I have posted selections from my novel in progress before here and here and here…I am again. My last post here at FAR was about women and silence. Silencing women—from the powerful (Hillary Clinton) to the obscure (this girl that in this… Read More ›

• #ImWithHer: Excuse Me, I’m Listening—to Her by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on March 25, 2016 • ( 18 )

  

  My wife and I attended a panel discussion last Sunday with Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of the Democratic nominee presidential hopeful, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Chelsea was accompanied by the famous and beloved Superstore and former Ugly Betty star, America… Read More ›

• On Turning 60, My Bucket List and Eschatology by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on February 26, 2016 • ( 15 )

  

  You will be reading this Feminism and Religion the day before I turn sixty.  For the past two decades I have had parties the night before I leave a decade—and “crossed over” at midnight, with the requisite amount of candles—forty,… Read More ›

• The Right to Choose is the Right to Our Lives by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on January 22, 2016 • ( 24 )

  

  Friday, January 22nd marks the 43rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 which provided all women nationwide, for the first time, the right to get a legal abortion for any reason–the right to choose. There are celebrations,… Read More ›

• There Is No Santa: The Antlered Flying Goddess– with Gifts by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on December 25, 2015 • ( 12 )

  

  One of my colleagues at Feminism and Religion recently wrote of Xmas and Feminine Wisdom. My blog, for Christmas Day continues this exploration. Elen of the Ways is a figure primarily studied by scholar, Carolyn Wise. She wrote two core articles available… Read More ›

• Creating Families and Traditions of Choice—and Saving Your Life by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on November 27, 2015 • ( 14 )

  

  Last week I went out to eat with a group of insightful scholars at the American Academy Religion 2015 Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. We had just participated on a remarkable panel which was an “Author Meets Critic” session with… Read More ›

• Another Excerpt from That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on October 23, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  Author’s Note:  This post continues to serialize excerpts from my novel, That Christmas Morning Feeling. Please see last month’s post for the initial entry. **************** Book Number Seventeen Look, I’m not the one. I don’t have an investment here. This is… Read More ›

• That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on September 25, 2015 • ( 13 )

  

  What follows is an excerpt from my current project—a novel I have been working on for over ten years. It is finished—sort of— in various journals and I am currently trying to pull them all together. These are the opening… Read More ›

• I Am A Woman’s Poet by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on August 28, 2015 • ( 14 )

  

  This is the first poem I ever wrote and had published. I wrote it in the early 80s at the height of the second wave of Women’s Liberation. Having just returned from the final Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, I publish… Read More ›

• Spouses for Life by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on July 24, 2015 • ( 6 )

  

  This essay is perhaps the last in an occasional series I have written since the New Year, which can be read here and here. Gay marriage as of June 26th is now legal in the United States. What has changed—and… Read More ›

• All Hail a New Priestess! by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on June 26, 2015 • ( 34 )

  

  “All hail- the new priestess!” they all shouted at the end.  I was recently ordained near Midsummer Eve (June 20, 2015) as a priestess with the Temple of Isis, Los Angeles and Fellowship of Isis. As befits feminism and religion… Read More ›

• Thoughts on Nuns and Sisters and Perpetual Indulgence by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on May 22, 2015 • ( 30 )

  

  The word “nun” can conjure images from traditional to irreverent in terms of gender. The gender of those who call themselves nuns can range from feminine to masculine, from a woman who looks like a woman dressed as a woman,… Read More ›

• Gay Marriage: “Tell me why I shouldn’t hate you…?” asks the straight Christian to the lesbian by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on April 23, 2015 • ( 18 )

  

  This is the third of a series exploring gay marriage as a game changer within religion and politics. I have explored the topic as political animus and earlier as almost fairy tale come to life. Today I am examining it… Read More ›

• Spouse for Life & the Fight for Gay Marriage by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on March 27, 2015 • ( 8 )

  

  Today, I am exploring the following question set: What is the shifting conception of religious liberty as religious groups carve out exemptions in complying with laws on LGBTQI rights, particularly as they relate to marriage? As gay marriage becomes “normative”… Read More ›

• On Not Being A Big Hollywood Film Director, and Other Life Choices by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on February 27, 2015 • ( 16 )

  

  As you read this, dear FAR community, it will be my 59th birthday. I was born February 27, 1956. I have one year to go before I turn 60. For this last year I desperately wanted to dye my hair… Read More ›

• Hail Mary: The Rosary and Why I Keep Praying by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on January 23, 2015 • ( 42 )

  

  My mother-in-law is currently in hospice and expected to cross over any time now. My wife is with her. Those two sentences alone—since I am a woman writing this blog—signify historic/herstoric change. I am a woman and I am writing… Read More ›

• Be Wild this Holiday and Find the Face of God(dess) by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on December 26, 2014 • ( 44 )

  

  I know that you all will be reading this the day after Christmas…so this is my Christmas and/or winter holiday gift to you. I so love the Feminism and Religion (FAR) community—its discourse, intelligence, and its community of like minds…. Read More ›

• The Lesbian Bar of “The Lord is With You All…” by Marie Cartier

  By Marie Cartier on November 28, 2014 • ( 20 )

  

  While attending the recent National Women’s Studies Conference this past month, I had a unique and –yes—a religious experience. I was staying with a friend who (luckily for me) owns a home in Puerto Rico. I saw more of Puerto… Read More ›