 I recently began to re-read a book that truly changed my life view of how our world has gotten to where we are today. That book is The Chalice and the Blade, by Riane Eisler. I first read this book back in the 80's when it first came out. Yes, I was one of those women who was just beginning to discover the Goddess during that time. This book had taken work done buy Maria Gimbutas one of the first women archeologists of her day to actually prove that there was a Goddess culture in many societies before they were taken over by what Riane calls, the nomadic hordes or the Kurgans. Partnership Societies I am telling you about this book because I feel that it is important for us to know why we got here. At least to understand the roots of why our world was turned upside down. For thousands of years, there were cultures that existed that Riane calls partnership societies. Women and men lived in harmony together, and art, science, medicine, music, as well as agriculture, shipping and technology thrived. These cultures like Minoa, (2300 BC) or Crete, lived a sort of idyllic life one that is often akin to what we might call a garden of Eden. That is not to say that they did not have their problems like any other society but for the most part they were peaceful, artistically advanced and often women and men shared equal status and responsibility for the governing of their cities.. At any rate, as I began to re-read the passages of the book that told about Crete and how because it was protected by the sea, the hordes of nomadic peoples, or the Kurgans, that were ravishing most of Old Europe for a period of hundreds of years, did not reach Minoa or Crete until much later. So this advanced culture survived for almost 1500 years until earthquakes and other natural disasters weakened the terrain and the walls that protected their city. The Kurgans What actually took place was that the dominator cultures of these nomadic tribes used their knowledge of bronze to develop weapons of destruction and war rather than for science, technology, or art. Their gods were Yahweh, and other gods of war. The goddess did not really hold a high place as these tribes lived often in the desert and not in the fertile planes of Old Europe. They were nomadic and women were the servers of men. What happened because of these invasions by these people called the Kurgans literally changed the course of our history from one of being dedicated to fostering feminine values into one that fostered extreme masculine values of domination, war, and power over others. These nomadic hoards literally turned civilization as it was known upside down. I remember when I first read this I felt devastated and cried for hours in despair as to what caused our world to become a dominator culture. Today, most of us on some level have acknowledged that any society that lives based on only one set of values will become imbalanced and sick. We know that our Western culture and even much of our Eastern and Asian cultures are based on masculine dominator values. We have often experienced first hand the harsh realities of living in a dominator culture but we have also seen the rise of feminine values and women today have finally begun to be heard.  What You Can Do
So why is this important for us to understand? Well, I believe that when we know the reasons for any change in a culture or society and we can see where we came from first, then we can also know that we can create a new way for all to live. We know that right now our old dominator structures are crumbling before our eyes. Yes, sometimes it doesn't feel that way, but in truth, I am here to tell you that it is. Before any new society can be created the old must die, it must crumble and it may take years or decades for it to do so. The old dinosaurs will eventually not last the new ideas of a people who truly wish to change the world they are living in.
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 What is the meaning of courage? I have pondered this question for many years. Given our current world situation and the challenges that we are all facing, the question of courage and what it means to be called to courage is an important one to answer.
The dictionary defines courage as a state of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear, bravery. Courage can also mean allowing your heart to connect with your power center since the root of courage is Coeur the French for the heart. But it wasn’t until I listened to Breene Brown speak about courage that I began to really understand it. She quoted a speech by Teddy Roosevelt that was very powerful, and which summed up what it means to live bravely. (I corrected the gender pronouns to reflect his and her only since this was written in 1910) "It is not the critic who counts; not the person who points out how the strong woman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends herself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if she fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." After listening to her I felt that the time had come for me to be brave and courageous in my own life and to “dare greatly”. That playing small and keeping myself safe was no longer an option. What I have to say and offer to the world is needed now more than ever even if I don’t always know what that is. What you have to say and offer now is needed more than ever. You may not even know what those things are, and they may be something entirely different from what you have already been doing. When you stand with heartfelt vulnerability for your convictions then you are choosing to be brave and to dare greatly. You are willing to live fully in the arena, taking chances, facing failure and choosing to be brave. Choosing to be brave is not something that you just do once and forget about it. It is something that you choose to do daily. I love the statement Brenee Brown uses which is, “Today I will choose courage over comfort.” Being vulnerable is also another way of measuring how courageous you are in any given moment. Are you willing to show up authentically and to speak from your heart to your family, friends, partners or colleagues? The call to courage is something I feel each of us are going to be called to face even more during the coming years. As the old world continues to fall apart and we begin to step more fully into our power we will need all the courage we can muster. Individually, you may be asked to say no to mandates and other forms of authority that you disagree with. Will you have the courage to do so? Will you be brave enough to put yourself out there and stand up for what you know is right for you? I truly hope that you will answer this call to live your life more daringly and to answer the call to courage when you hear it with a resounding YES.  We are at the dawning of a new age that literally was initiated on the Solstice Dec. 21st, 2020. We are also beginning a new year that holds our hopes for what this new world can be even as the old world continues to fall apart. Many call this time the Shift of Ages, which some have said started with the onset of the information age of the internet, but for me, it somehow feels as if we have truly just begun it. This Shift of Ages occurs every 2,160 years. This is a time of great change for our world and with change, there may also be a disruption of the old ways of living and being. Our year began with the COVID virus which was the first disruption to our way of life. Regardless of how or why this virus came to our world its greater purpose I believe was to cause all of humanity to stop and look at the world we had created. To take time out and just reflect on our own lives, our relationships, and what our world had become. The disruption of businesses, schools, recreation, and just about everything you and I held as our norm in life came to a crashing halt all at once, all over the world. This was the first opportunity any of us really had on a large-scale level to feel our normal everyday activities come to an end. I know at first after the shock of it began to wear off I began to adjust to this change. I didn’t particularly like it nor did I feel it was warranted but nevertheless I accepted these changes for the moment. Again, change especially on a world level can often be chaotic, unsettling, and traumatic and cause hardships for many, but it doesn’t always have to. Change can be positive even when it feels disruptive because it can also bring about new ways of thinking, being, and a reevaluation of what is most important to each individual. It can bring about deep personal change and cause us to reflect more on our own shadow aspects that need to be seen. This of course is often also reflected out in the world as we saw during this past year. The transition from one age to another is where we are today. As 2020 ends and 2021 begins we have many choices that we will have to make. We are faced with a chance to really take a good look at what we hold most dear. What is most important to each of us as we move forward? The bigger question here is are we going to allow those who have dictated how we should live, think, and behave to continue to take away our basic civil and human rights from underneath our noses all in the name of safety and protection that we don't really need? We are all being asked to be courageous and to take our power back from the elite few who have taken control with fear and divide and conquer tactics. It is time to stand-up with conviction for what you know is wrong and say NO MORE, this is our world and each of us gets to decide what we will or will not do not just an elite few. Thinking for Ourselves During these next 2 months it is especially important that we begin to act and set the tone for this new year. Will you continue to say nothing and follow orders as they are given, or will you question everything you see and hear deciding for yourself what makes sense to you? It is crucial that you begin to think about what is being told you and to ask questions if you don't know the answers. It is important that you begin to wake up to the fact that it is up to all of us to take back our world and to begin to create the new one we wish to live in. " It is time to take responsibility for the world we wish to live in." This shift is bringing out the best and the worst in humankind. Some people are preparing for this shift by opening their hearts and minds and embracing this uncertainty and changes, and some people are intimidated by the changes, they fear the unknown and may wish to go back in time and back to "normal". The past is gone the future is yet to unfold and all we have is right here in this moment. What you say and do now is what counts. You can focus on the chaos and fear or you can focus on knowing that in order to create a new world the falling apart of the old world is necessary. Once you have accepted that this is a good thing, even though it may be challenging you, new values will come forth so that we can all begin to create a new society that works for all. Each one of us will need to learn how to find stability and guidance within ourselves to trust this guidance and the Laws of Nature, the Unified Field, Quantum Field, God/Goddess or whatever name you call Consciousness. That place where all life begins, all possibilities exist, and which is the substratum of the universe we live in. You are being asked to find your way back home to your essential self if you are to make it through these times. “Transformation is never a painless process. When you fast or cleanse to purify your body, at first you feel worse, because toxins get stirred up in order to be eliminated. Once these poisons have been cleared, you feel lighter and more energized. Now imagine that every person on planet Earth is going through this shift. We are heading into a time of radical change. It is a time of great potential growth and expansion, but it is also a time of great potential pain and suffering. The more that you understand what is happening, the more that you can go through all of the changes without losing your balance and stability.” Santokh Singh Khalsa The more you understand what is happening and what is being called for, the easier it becomes to meet the challenges and to face what needs to be faced with strength, courage, and conviction. Here Are a Few Suggestions to Help You to Find Your Center and to Connect to Your Own Source Energy. Have a daily spiritual practice. Every spiritual tradition has one thing in common: a daily practice. This can be many different things: yoga, meditation, chanting, prayer, contemplation, journaling, etc. The point is that a daily practice can give you something that you can do that brings you back to your center.
 Where does the power of a woman reside? Where does your power reside? Innate within every woman is the power that her body and her sex hold. This power was pure once upon a time. The power of a woman’s body was sacred and honored. The power of her sex was celebrated as a divine expression of the Goddess. The power of a woman’s beauty, her wit, intelligence and creativity were equally as important as any other aspect of her form. But over time this power was corrupted because it was too powerful and something to be feared. To gain power over the populace of the time, the Hebrew patriarchs and later the Christian Patriarchs set-up laws and religious dogma to diminish the power of the Goddess and of women. The power of women especially her sexual power needed to be controlled and the only way to effectively do this was to teach the people that women’s curiosity, intelligence, and sexuality was dangerous. So over time women began to lose their freedoms one by one. Bit by bit women lost all of their human rights and freedoms and were reduced to being the property of men. As men took charge of women’s sexuality, they called it profane and named it as their domain, property. Women began to believe the lies that they were fed by the religious patriarchs who wrote it into the laws and into the myths of the culture that women’s sexuality needed to be controlled. Women eventually began to forget the power of their sexual nature and that they were sovereign and free. They began to see their body and their sex as dirty, as entertainment for men, as a commodity to be bought and sold, and they began to apologize for being a woman. Women, we forgot that we were an expression of the divine feminine and that our bodies were sacred. We forgot that our sexuality was our own to do with as we pleased and that it was also something to be used as a gift or to heal or to give pleasure to ourselves and others. Is Your Sexuality Sacred or Profane? Do you see your body as a temple or as a commodity to display and/or sell? Is your identity based on cultural standards of beauty used to only attract or are you strong in yourself? Is your beauty, sexuality rooted in a clear identity with your authentic feminine nature and sense of wholeness and purity? These are important questions to ask yourself. We are living in a world where sexual abuse, and violence toward women is normal. We still live in a rape culture and a misogynistic world. The only way we can change these harsh facts is to change how we feel and see ourselves. You have the opportunity to look at the ideas and beliefs that you have internalized from your culture about being a woman. How you feel about your body, your sexuality, and your effectiveness in a man’s world. A woman’s true power is in her ability to know herself as an independent being expressing her feminine nature. She respects herself and her body, she knows her own worth. Her power lies in her ability to be at ease and comfortable in her own body and with her sexual power. When a woman can contain her feminine power, her sexuality from within she is then fully in her true power as a woman.  What You Can Do to Connect with Your Authentic Sexual Power
If you would like to contact me to discuss a private session please email me at: soulmentorcoach@gmail.com . Please go to my FB page and like us: The New Feminine Mystique @Newfemininemystique Instagram: luminessa.enjara  The Rise of the Priestess archetype is now one of the most prevalent aspects of the feminine that is having a resurgence. Today, more than ever we need women to step into their power and to be seen. The priestess path is one of the ways that you can tap into your feminine power with authority and focus. This is the time for the modern-day priestess to emerge. I began my own journey in the ’80s when I discovered the Goddess. I was new to the concept of there being a female version of God and so I began to read every book that I could find on the subject. From Wicca and the mythology of the Goddess to the new findings in anthropology. It was a time when I discovered the rich herstory of women's spirituality. By learning about the Goddess cultures that existed and the various archetypes she represented, as well as beginning to understand the power of the feminine I started teaching other women what I was learning. These were the first things I did when I began to undertake the role of a modern-day priestess. I also found myself enacting the role of the Sexual Initiatress, and being a priestess of Aphrodite, who is the goddess of love, sensuality, and beauty. After I began studying Tantra, or to be precise Neo-Tantra my role as the sexual initiatress evolved and I became more ceremonial within the context of my intimate relationships. After I officially undertook a year-long training to become an Ordained Priestess, I broadened my awareness of what it meant to be a modern-day priestess and began to learn how to create sacred space from a deep place within myself and within the environment amongst other things. The role of the priestess is not something that is confined to a ritual or a ceremony or only for special occasions. Today this role is more about becoming a woman who is able to hold a high vibration of love, compassion, clarity, and focus, within herself and to be empty of her personal identification so that she is a clear reflection of love and Truth for anyone that she meets. To be a Priest/ess is a sacred calling. It is a lifelong practice and inquiry. You may wish to ask yourself what would your life be like if you lived it in a sacred way? The journey to become a priestess is never done. Never over. There is always something else to heal within ourselves. There is always something else to learn. It is a state of consciousness that you bring with you wherever you are. It is the way we learn to live our life 24/7. Being of service to the Divine (or to the cause of wholeness) all the time. These are the Lifelong Keys to BEING a Modern Day Priestess  1. Clarity of Life Purpose 2. Ongoing Spiritual Practice 3. Integrity of Life Practice 4. How do I contribute to the whole? 5. Service/Sacred Service: Supporting the wholeness/holiness/health of each being; Being a blessing and offering a blessing to all; Supporting the wholeness/holiness/health of each space, group, environment, organization, community, culture. 6. Seeing the Divine/the best in each person. 7. Life-long dedication and practice. 8. Everything in life is sacred - It’s not the what, it’s the how. 9. Being responsible for what we think as well as what we say. 10. All your skills and training become in service of the sacred. The of the path of the priest/ess is not for everyone but if you choose to embark on that journey of self-discovery, healing, and awakening to your full feminine power then you will find yourself on the journey of a lifetime. If you are interested in finding out more about our priestess training program, The Priestess of the Flame Initiation & Training, or contact me directly at, soulmentorcoach@gmail.com.  What makes a woman her most alluring? Is it her brains, beauty, wit, charm or sex appeal? What are the elements that create feminine sexual empowerment? Some might say that for a woman to be sexually empowered she must be experienced. Others might say she must know how to be charming and have great sexual charisma, but true female sexual empowerment includes all of this and more. The truth is that what makes a woman truly powerful and what makes her sexually empowered are not as different as you may think. One of the primary keys to being a powerful woman is learning how to use her natural goddess given gifts and talents. Those things that make her, you, the funniest, smartest or wittiest, and to learn how to cultivate these talents and attributes whether they be beauty, wit, brains, sex appeal or all of the above. Betsy Prioleau author of the book, Seductress, Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love, tells us that the archetype of the seductress has been given a bad rap. "She has been villainized as the terrible goddess {who} rules over desire and seduction, a bloodthirsty ball breaker like Salome and Circe, and the antithesis of virtuous femininity." Throughout history, there have been women who have indeed taken their God/dess talents and ravished the world in which they lived. Without these sex goddesses, we would not have known what true female sexual empowerment looked like, felt like or acted like. What made these women different from the rest of the women of their time? Many lived during eras where women had no choices of any kind, no education or way to earn a living other than what was dictated to her by the male politics of the time. Why were these women unafraid to step out of the mold and dare to be true to themselves? By understanding this we can learn how we can do the same today. Dressing sexy or having a lot of sexual experience doesn't give you true sexual empowerment although it may give you self-confidence. It is what our current western culture would like us to believe but it falls short in describing and demonstrating what authentic feminine sexual empowerment is. I say sexual, because, women are sexual by design. They, we, can't help but be sexual or be seen in relation to sex because of our biology. All women have a womb, breasts and have for thousands of years during the reign of the Great Goddess, been seen as the Creatress of all life. In the ancient religions of the Goddess men and women have envisioned goddesses of sexuality and worshipped them. The everpresent symbol of that being the yoni or triangle. Women today need a new roadmap to learn how to become more. This new roadmap can be found through the study of seductresses both old and new as well as in specifically designed programs such as The Priestess of the Flame Initiation and Training. Women today have the advantage that many of these women did not have. Today we have permission to explore our sexuality, to dress with a flare that expresses our own sense of style, we are independent, self-supporting and have more sexual experience than our predecessors were ever allowed. Learning how to embody and integrate a few more of the essential arts of seduction is not such a far stretch if it will round out what we already know and assist us in stepping more fully into our authentic feminine sexual power.  "The Sirens of old knew that to be a woman who understood the art of seduction you had to first be true to your own self. They were brave, courageous and weren't afraid to break the rules." ~ Betsy Prioleau
10 Things You Can Do To Embrace the Art of Seduction
 What's your sexy, is a question that I like to ask women of all ages. I often wonder if living in the world that we do confuses women and girls as to what being a sexually empowered woman is all about. What if you could just stop for a moment and begin to ask yourself what does it mean for me to be truly sexually empowered? I wonder what your answer might be.
For some, it may mean how they express themselves in the bedroom and the different flavors of energy that you express in a particular way. For others, there might be a much broader definition. such as what turns you on at any given moment. So it could be writing a blog, or dancing or being in nature or anything that is using your creative energy. Sex, of course, is part of that but it is not exclusive to that. The New Standards of the Hook-up Generation The hook-up culture today has morphed into an "anything goes" culture. Sexual identification has become more blurred and so sexual preferences are not so rigid as they once were. The new standard for women in their twenties seems to be embracing the "zipless fuck" of the women's lib generation, sex just for the pleasure of it. Nothing else is required or needed. Just sex for the sake of getting off. Romantic relationships aren't as important as they once were, falling in love a bit passe. But is this a good thing? I have heard women say that since men have always been the ones to love'm and leave'm that now it is their time to do the same. The table has turned and more and more young women are embracing the idea that sex is no more than a physical relationship of mutual pleasure. If this is the new norm for our youth and for the millennials, I feel concerned that they will lose something very valuable...which is how to create and experience what it means to be an authentically powerful, sexually aware and savvy woman. A woman who embodies all of the qualities of her innate feminine qualities and her feminine sexual essence. This term was originally introduced to me by David Deida. I am adding to it and in some ways expanding his definition here. Your Feminine Sexual Essence is:
It seems that these women have no context from which to live from and nothing to feel connected to that can show them how to embody these qualities, and that will also assist them in understanding what true feminine sexual power is. Being willing to explore your feminine sexual power, to learn how to understand it, how to use it with integrity, how to embody it with grace and how to begin to own what I call your Sexual Presence is what I am here to offer. Don't you think it is time to be the change that we are all seeking to happen in our world? Rather than go back to trying to mimic how men have treated women for centuries I am suggesting that we reconnect with in our authentic feminine power and begin to establish a new way, a new paradigm for all women and girls to grow into.  Who is Lilith and what does she have to say to us at this time? What is her gift to you and to womankind? To answer these questions, I need to share first more about Lilith as an archetype of the Original Woman something that is not often shared. Lilith as an archetype is a template for women to use so that we can reconnect with our essential feminine power. As a part of my teachings, Lilith is more than just the demonic seductress that she is often depicted as. She holds the key to our very essential nature as a woman. This information has been hidden for thousands of years and is now ready to be revealed to womankind through the teachings of The Priestess of the Flame Training based on my lineage as a Keeper of the Flame. What Does Lilith Represent? "Lilith is the true ancestress of humankind; She is the eternal root of the Sacred Feminine from humankind’s spiritual genesis, she symbolizes the archetypal role women once held. Lilith is the triune goddess, snake, bird and Tree of Life. She is the Alpha and Omega of everywoman's journey."~ Lilith, Keeper of the Flame. Lilith is not only the representation of the primordial feminine energy, the raw passion and independent spirit of a woman, but she far more importantly is the aspect of a woman that knows herself to be a holy and sacred vessel of the creative power of the universe. She is the original sexual initiatress. "Lilith immortalizes the memory of a woman’s true sexual nature that originated from the primordial Garden. She represents the undivided transgender state of unitary wholeness and the sexual practices taught to convey their memory to others." ~ Lilith Keeper of the Flame. The Power of Our Sexual Nature The true power of our feminine sexual nature has been corrupted so that we have forgotten our rightful place as the sexual initiatresses that we are. This role is very important because the use of our sexual energy it is a gateway to the restoration of the Divine Feminine Energy.
Our sexual energy when used with a sacred clear intent brings harmony and balance back into our own life and relationships as well as into the world. It has only been through making women's sexual power something to fear that sex and women's bodies have become profane, a commodity, entertainment, something to be bought and sold and violence against women normalized. Now more than at any other time in our history we have the opportunity to change these messages. The time has come for womankind to take a stand for a new way of being with their sexual power. This will begin to establish a new paradigm for us all and free us from the patriarchal controls we have adhered to for over 5,000 years. You can begin to reconnect yourself as the Sexual Initiatress and the archetype of Lilith by:
We must reconnect with our internal Lilith and her teachings that so needed at this time for all women and girls. integrated, fully sovereign and free woman. Connected to her authentic feminine sexual power and an expression of the New Divine Feminine energy.  Have you ever thought of yourself as the heroine of your life?
Just like Wonder Woman, we too have challenges and obstacles to overcome in our quest to be whole and know our True Nature. Perhaps you have never thought of yourself as a heroine at all? Perhaps you may have thought that in order to qualify you must do something daring, but the truth is that we all have opportunities to be the heroine of our own life. No matter how big or small the task might be we are all faced with many difficulties in our life to overcome. Maybe you remember a fairytale where the heroine must go through several tests put forth by an evil queen or king and must conquer her fears and have the courage to face the obstacles before her. Does this sound familiar? Perhaps you have had to scale the walls of your mind chatter, slay the dragon of self-doubt or wrestle the Cyclops of self-hate and unworthiness. Since your life’s journey is really created by your soul’s agenda, you may have had to take a good look at yourself and confront your shadow and deal with your own personal demons. If you consider yourself to be a spiritual warrior, you have had to make your commitment to your soul’s evolution primary in your life and be willing to discover who you really are no matter what the cost. Often our ego or personal self-has had the opposite agenda which has opposed our soul’s call, thus making our journey even more challenging. At times my own personal journey has been long and wrought with all kinds of difficulties. And, not all have been of my own making. Some have been influenced by the collective mind field that I am a part of, that we are all a part of, the Matrix of dualistic thinking and the illusion that we are powerless. And, at times my journey has seemed endless. Under the influence of the Matrix stepping out and flying freely is not an easy feat, for we must find the courage to unplug ourselves. Each step of the way has at times felt as if I was pulling myself out of the quicksand and the muck and mire of my thoughts, beliefs, perceptions and the stories I have clung to. My identity has been so entrenched in the story of “me” and the roles I have played. How then do you become the heroine of this journey you have created? How do you get to the end of your own rainbow and actually find the treasure or get the prize you have been seeking? For me, it has taken a one-pointed dedication to realize my TRUE Nature and to be willing to meet all of the tests and lessons that my soul has created for me so that I can finally claim the pot of gold I have been seeking. That means knowing myself to be a living, breathing aspect of God/Goddess incarnated in a woman’s body. It is becoming firmly rooted in my I Am Presence (authentic self) and stepping out of the Matrix into a new way of thinking and being, free from the restraints of the limitation of 3D reality, and learning how to navigate through the obstructions that still may show up but in an entirely new way. To be a Master of my own REALITY! Free and Sovereign. What is your story and how will it end? Do you know? Will you be triumphant or will you be vanquished? The heroine’s journey is fraught with uncertainty and takes remarkable courage at times, and sometimes to even be the fool for God. But the prize is worth all of the challenges that you have met and annihilated, for it is the prize of becoming whole within yourself and to recognize the Truth of who you are and to live boldly as that.  For hundreds if not thousands of year’s men have been dictating the standards of beauty to women. No matter what time in history beautiful women have been admired, sculpted, painted and sought after. Being beautiful was something that every woman wanted to be for being beautiful gave women power over men. Look at Helen of Troy who started the Trojan War she was considered the most beautiful woman of her time, and her face was said to have launched a thousand ships. Being beautiful gave a woman an edge in the world of men. Today, just like sex, beauty has become a commodity. Beauty is cash currency and in the modeling industry it is sold as a lifestyle. In the documentary Chasing Beauty these stats were shared. "25% of young American women would rather be on Americas's Next Model than win the Nobel Peace Prize and 23% would rather lose their ability to read than lose their figure." Naomi Wolf in her book The Beauty Myth, shares how women for decades has been sold a bill of goods by the marketing moguls of Madison Ave., and that women have believed them. The standards of beauty continue to be dictated by the men and women who create the fashion industry. Hollywood the music industry and MTV are brainwashing not only young women but girls as well and we continue to believe that we are not the right kind of beautiful or not beautiful enough. In each era, you will find the standards of what defines beauty in a woman changes. In one era, it might be ivory skin, tiny waist, rosy cheeks, and in another being voluptuous and full figured or as in our own day, being a top model or blonde, skinny and busty resembling our favorite icon Barbie.  I find it interesting that women themselves have had very little say as to what they feel defines being a beautiful is. We allow ourselves to be told over and over again how we should look, act, dress, smell and be.
Don’t you think it is the time that we women take our power back from the dictates of these megala industries, from anyone who has told us what it means to be a beautiful woman and finally decide for ourselves? Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we must train ourselves and our daughters to see beauty in your/herself and to begin to question what the media and the collective consensus is telling you and her. We have the opportunity to move forward at this time and to change the status quo. For never has there been a more urgent need to do so. It makes me heartsick to see another generation of girls grow up thinking that being beautiful is the only value that they have and that being beautiful has to look a certain way and by being beautiful you will be more valued than if you are not. I dare you to take the time to discover where you too may have been or still are in some way supporting a system that is detrimental to the health and well being of women and girls everywhere. I invite you to take the lead in being a woman who dares to define for herself what being a powerful, strong and beautiful woman is. To become a living example for the new generations. |
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