What follows is yet another story of how patriarchy is destroying our culture through the lens of personal narrative. This is a pattern we must uncover, reveal for what it is and refuse to participate. As bell hooks once said,… Read More ›
abuse
Be the Donkey: On Parshah Balak by Ivy Helman.
The Torah portion for July 16, 2022 is Balak (Numbers 22:2 -25:9). Some of what happens in Balak is familiar: idolatry, divinely-sanctioned death penalties, and a plague. But, did you know that this parshah has a talking female donkey who… Read More ›
When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture, Part 2 by Dr. Elana Sztokman
Moderator’s note: This is a book excerpt in 2 parts. Part 1 was posted yesterday. When Rabbis Abuse will be published on June 14th, information on ordering below. Grooming tactics: Targeting the victim Although there are many ways to target… Read More ›
When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture, Part 1 by By Dr. Elana Sztokman
Moderator’s note: This is a book excerpt in 2 parts. Part 2 tomorrow. When Rabbis Abuse will be published on June 14th, information on ordering below. When I started this research in 2015, I was not expecting rabbis to be… Read More ›
Walking With Aletheia by Jean Hargadon Wehner – Book Review by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
Trigger Alert: There is discussion of sexual violence. “I transformed from terrified victim to a courageous survivor . . .Different than an ‘out of body’ experience, this felt more like an ‘in-body’ experience. I stood my ground and did what… Read More ›
Peng Shuai and Tennis’ #Metoo Moment by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
I am a fervent tennis follower in all its forms. I both play and watch tennis. That is, perhaps, why this story caught my eye. As I’ve written before, I am also a survivor of sexual assault, so these #metoo… Read More ›
“Go Back to your Country!” OK. But … I’m From San Francisco! by Karen Leslie Hernandez
On December 15, 2018, at 10:22PM, I received a call and a voicemail from someone I didn’t know. The charming message left for me? “Hello, Karen. You fat, disgusting slob. Go back to your country. I hope your new year’s… Read More ›
Privilege and Hierarchy in Community Care by Christy Croft
This is part one of a multi-part series on privilege, dehumanization, and hierarchy in organizing, activist, and ministry circles. Early in my training at my current job, my boss explained our agency’s position on social justice and intersectionality to me:… Read More ›
Recognizing Abuse by Karen Tate
I’ve been thinking a lot about abuse. Of course, most of us know about the domination, exploitation and need for control meted out by patriarchy, but I wonder if we have actually normalized many abuses? Abuse in the home, in… Read More ›
Compassion to the Why by Karen Leslie Hernandez
This last month, I’ve found myself doing work on what I call, Compassion to the Why. That is understanding why. Asking why. Getting why. Having compassion, for, why. Why is this important, you ask? Because getting to the ‘why,’ is… Read More ›
What’s Your Choice? by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Choices. Many times choices are difficult. Some of the time choices are easy. I have had a rough year. Probably one of the most difficult yet in my adult life. I began this year with an offer of a job,… Read More ›
I Was Brainwashed to Believe I Wasn’t Human. Now I’m on a Mission Against that Cult – Part 2 by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
Trigger warning: rape, sexual assault, domestic abuse, graphic sexual content In Part 1 of this story, I introduced a discussion of Johan Galtung’s theory of cultural violence as it relates to my experience as a young woman in an abusive… Read More ›
Open Letter to the Pope and all the King’s Men by Natalie Weaver
Dear Sirs, It breaks me down. My anger, my revulsion, my powerlessness. I have been searching for the way since I was a child old enough to remember my mind. For a time, I thought Jesus was a white guy knocking on my… Read More ›
Time to Stop Talking by Esther Nelson
One of my Facebook friends—someone I’m quite fond of—posted the following remarks given by her pastor, Dr. Jim Somerville, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, to the congregation on July 15, 2018: It was Thanksgiving 2016, and my brothers and I… Read More ›
Gas-lighting on Al Franken(stein)’s Street by Lache S.
I will add my #metoo, but don’t feel like going into details. I will just say that in light of my past experience and Al Franken’s statement of apology, I’m realizing why some of us don’t tell at an even… Read More ›
Grief and Healing by Carol P. Christ
My father died on July 6, 2017, 98 years, 4 months, 12 days. The last time I saw him was in the spring of 2004. During that visit, he gave me “the silent treatment” (refused to look at me or… Read More ›
A Beginning: Atonement Theology and the Feminist Critique by Katie M. Deaver
Since many of the comments on my last post expressed interest in my dissertation topic I will use my next couple of posts to talk a little bit more about my work and research in that area. When we talk… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Katelyn Nicole Davis by Stephanie Arel
On December 30, 2016, Katelyn Nicole Davis, a 12-year-old girl from Cedartown, Georgia filmed her suicide by hanging from a tree in her front yard. Recorded live, the video has gone viral. Alarmingly, a young girl’s succumbing to death logged… Read More ›
Love “Makes” Us Human? by Lauren Hippert
I was in the passenger seat of my friend’s car and we were driving home from dinner. She was telling me about an experience she had a few summers ago, falling in love abroad. She told me that she felt… Read More ›
Novel Excerpt III: That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier
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 ›
Mazel Tov Tzidkaniyot of the Wall by Ivy Helman
I have never understood the logic behind sexism. Why is half (or so) of the human race better than the other half? Of course, patriarchy and patriarchal religious traditions offer various seemingly logical reasons, sometimes even divine explanations for the… Read More ›
Forgiveness is a *choice* by Vibha Shetiya
Someone I dearly love recently lent me a very sensible piece of advice: “You should forgive.” I know he resorted to these words out of love because he didn’t like seeing me in pain, a sentiment for which I was… Read More ›
On Staying and Leaving by Katey Zeh
The pastor couldn’t have been more than five minutes into his sermon when I starting getting antsy. I leaned over to my husband and whispered, “He needs to be careful with this.” We were visiting a new church, an experience that nearly always… Read More ›
Holding On Too Tightly by Sara Frykenberg
Raised in an evangelical, Protestant Christian tradition, I was repeatedly told that “God is love.” God is love. While much of my Christian experience was difficult and even abusive, I have always interpreted this teaching—while sometimes confusing to me, and… Read More ›
How Do You Honor Your Parents, When They Do Not Always Honor You? (Part 2) by Karen Hernandez
Read Part I here. This is the first time I have written openly about my childhood. It isn’t to get back at anyone, it is more to give a voice to the voiceless. I will admit right here, that, of… Read More ›
How Do You Honor Your Parents, When They Do Not Always Honor You? by Karen Hernandez
God commands it – Honor your mother and your father. I believe God passed down this commandment with the meaning that when you do honor your parents, you are honoring God, because, after all, God is our ultimate parent, considered… Read More ›
The Religiosity of Silence by John Erickson
In a repetitive culture of abuse and silence, is it really shocking to find out that an individual who preached such hate and discontent for others actually perpetuated other forms of heinous abuse against others?
Halfway… by Sara Frykenberg
The title of this post is meant to reflect where I am in the semester, temporally speaking: halfway. Actually, the idea that I am halfway is a bit of a shock to me, considering I feel like I just started!… Read More ›
The Day I Re-Learned How to Love My Femininity: This Butch’s Experiment in Healing by _Melody F.
I feel like I am a bit of a typical white, middle class, butch. Maybe not, but I feel like I’ve met me: I dress like a dude, take on what I consider masculine roles in relationships, and do ‘guy… Read More ›
An Ethics of Anger by Ivy Helman
Sometimes I feel angry. I would say that more often I’m upset, disappointed, annoyed or just plain frustrated. These are easier emotions for me to handle because I tend to shy away from confrontation and conflict. Of course, when they… Read More ›
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