In Praise of Womanhood.

You might forgive some customers in the Tavern for their grumbles that the almost half-hourly praises heaped upon women by our 24 hour media are almost wholly applied to women who do not want to be women.  The 'narrative' that has captured the western world seems focussed upon 'Eeeekwaleteee' to the detriment of recognising real difference and applauding it.

'Diversity, ' it shouts while forcing women to be men and men to be gone. 

"Forget about facts; tell the story that gets sales", is the way it goes in the media, while the sensible, sensitive and insightful gets the editor's spike. The differences are not applauded. Women who want to be women go the way of the men.

Two visitors, one a regular and always most welcome and the other a newcomer who is also welcome, had things to say today. We shall start with the awfulness first, in order to end on a much more satisfying note.

Our friends at 'Women for Men' who are always found on the right side of the Tavern wall, sometimes up and sometimes quietly sitting lower, were talking of the fiasco at the 'Rolling Stone' magazine and at the University of Veracity Awol.

http://womenformen.org/2014/12/06/rolling-stone-backs-off-from-u-va-rape-story/

Rolling Stone magazine apologizes for its pathetic piece of journalism re a story about “Jackie,” an unidentified UVA student who says she was gang raped at a party at the house of Phi Kappa Psi in the fall of 2012, that generated worldwide headlines. 

For Serious People: about Matters of Moment.
You think?

The magazine admits to having taken “Jackie’s” story at face value without checking the facts. The girl claimed she was raped by the men at a party at the fraternity house that took place four weeks into the school year. But as USA Today reports  the chapter said it didn’t have a social event or a date function during the weekend of Sept. 28, 2012. 

Writes managing editor Will Dana, “In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie’s account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced. We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault and now regret the decision to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account. We are taking this seriously and apologize to anyone who was affected by the story.” 

This is a vicious example of feminist bias, in which the media are quick to assume that if a woman says she’s raped, then it must be so. Dear Mr. Dana: Apology not accepted. If the unidentified UVA student were a young man claiming he’d been stalked by an ex-girlfriend, you would never would have run the story without tracking down the girlfriend.  

This war on men must stop.

Why? It seems to be going so well. An entire generation has been over-run and the rubble of old Institutions lies all around.  I cannot see the war ending any day soon. Not while Marriage still totters to its feet after a rain of body-blows and men insist on actually seeing something fine in women that attracts them. They, men, have to be destroyed.  This resistance cannot be allowed to go on.
(says the 'Narrative')

But Sir Gawain, (or rather his ghost) a noble enough young Knight insisted that we know some background. It reinforced what I said above. He made a strong and careful comment to the ladies at Women for Men, and repeated it here.

What this incident indicates is the precipitous decline in standards seen in journalism, and in media and academia and politics as well, seen over the last few years.

Sharyl Attkinson disusses this subject in her interview with Rush in the latest issue of the Limbaugh Letter. Her latest book, Stonewalled, is an indictment of contemporary journalism. Attkinson, a veteran investigative journalist with extensive experience at CNN and CBS, says that in her early years as a reporter, not so long ago, she believed and had been trained to think her job was to ask tough questions and allow the story to lead where it will. “Just the facts, ma’am,” to quote the old Dragnet. 

Every story was vetted, the sources double-checked and cross-checked, because the role of a reporter was to present the facts, as verified, to the public so that the public could then draw it’s own conclusions. She has high praise for the older production managers she worked with, because they expected investigative journalists to, you know, investigate.

In the early days of CNN, when it was the only 24-hour news channel, management noticed that ratings soared during breaking news stories, but declined during regular news stories. 

So there was a concerted effort to make every news story appear to be breaking news, to keep ratings up, 

which blurred the distinction between unfolding events and normal news.

In her later years at CBS, Attkinson says that a new generation of younger production managers came in with preconceived notions and political agendas. 

They would not approve stories that didn’t fit their ideology. 

Or if an actual investigation didn’t lead to a conclusion that supported their ideology, they wouldn’t air it. Thus, investigative journalism became political advocacy.

Attkinson was working on a story about Benghazi, asking tough questions. Where was Obama? Where was Hillary? What did they know and when did they know it? What decisions did they make as events unfolded? (To this day, we have no answers to these questions.) Instead of pursuing the story, that is investigating, the networks and their sychophants in the blogosphere trotted out this lame story about some unkown video on YouTube, and the producer was jailed for it.

Attkinson then had a private expert perform security protocols on her home and work computers, and came to find out they had been remotely hacked. Files had been deleted or altered, incriminating evidence, top secret files to which she had no access had been implanted, all to discredit her in case her story gained traction. Even her children’s computers were hacked. CBS had its own experts perform security protocols, and formally announced that, yes, Attkinson’s computers had indeed been hacked. But, she said, even after the formal announcement, she was still looked upon with suspicion, as if she had done something wrong.

She did do something wrong–she questioned the narrative,

which apparently is the only real crime now. Attkinson has since left CBS and is pursuing a career as a freelancer, and while she has had job offers from numerous “distinguished” publications, she prefers to work alone. Because that’s the only way she can remain objective. And kudos for her.

This is what passes for journalism these days, preconceived notions and political agendas. 

We’ve seen it time and time again. From Twana Brawley to Trayvon Martin, from New York to Florida to Fergussion. It’s all of the same ilk. A white cop shoots a black criminal, it must be racism! No mention of the fact the over 90% of the crimes, including rape and murder, committed against black people are committed by black people. No mention of that, because it doesn’t fit the narrative.

A white man goes to college. If he joins a fraternity, he must be a rapist. He must be an oppressor. That is the narrative. And any evidence to the contrary is ignored.

I’m not saying that rape is not a crime. It is, a crime of violence and degradation. But how often does that really happen? Realistically, not that often. Regretfullness after drunken sex is not rape. How is a drunken man supposed to realize that a drunken woman is not consenting to sex, when they’re both drunk and falling in bed together?

The accusation is the crime. 

All a woman has to do is wake up and say she was raped, and it’s all over but the crying.

Rolling Stone, much to their discredit, ran with this article because it fits the narrative. White men are rapists, white men are oppresors, white men are racists, and so on. No investigative journalism is required. 

All that matters is reinforcing the narrative.

We have reached the low point in our culture when the accusation is the crime and no investigation is required.

 I have to say there were many heads nodding as he spoke. I had to give him a well earned pint.

And in all this mendacity and false accusation by women and the media we tend to lose sight of really important matters. 

About Human beings. About Triewe Men and Women.

We certainly cannot rely on the media to emphasise the real and remark-worthy aspects of womanhood. They are far too busy making them 'victims'. It is not even for women's benefit that their 'victimhood' is portrayed and even invented. It is to do with destroying our society. The women who are within the 'Narrative' are those who do not want to be women; the ones that simply express all that womahood ought not be; the liars, the hysterics, the destroyers of all around. 

This is the opposite of what womanhood is about.

And so The Southern Gal stepped up, ordered a mint julip and took the floor. I  love the accent.  I do wish the angry and disaffected young women at the U of Veracity Awol could have her as a visiting lecturer. Just for balance.

Abraham Lincoln – “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

We don’t often realize the power we have as women to encourage those around us, in our homes, with our hands or even the words of an uplifting message we give to others. 

 It’s interesting how a man like Abraham Lincoln can attribute all he is to his mother.  She must have been a great woman.  We can see by his quote she inspired him somehow and certainly made a lasting impression.

“Because a woman brought death, a bright maiden overcame it, and so the highest blessing in all creation lies in the form of a woman.  Since God has become man, in a sweet and blessed virgin” - Hildegard of Bingen

In my generation, so many women are seeking their identities in the superficial things the world offers.  Women want to make an impact, but somehow in the modern world we have lost our way and even our very souls along with it. 

  We have disconnected ourselves from the human spirit from what makes us unique by our God given design.   

So many young women are left with the question, what is true womanhood?  What makes us women outside of just our biology?  Is it our ability to bear children?  Does our identity lay strictly in our roles as wives and mothers?  Were there women who made great impacts on their communities AND nations outside of these roles while still maintaining a sense of feminine womanhood?

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do humble work.” – Mother Teresa

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”  - Mother Teresa

Femininity is something that is innately written into our DNA at birth and it often manifests itself in little girls in the games we play in elementary school.  It was a gift given to us by God to bless those around us.  

Fact check: Journalists take note. I have it on the good authority of the Angel Shape that delivers the grace to my cellars that this is in fact a fact. 

When acts of kindness  and selflessnss are performed  it often has a ripple effect on the communities around us.  The same can often be said for acts of evil.   

I know some in the faith may say a women’s greatest call is to be a wife and mother.  I go a step further, and say a women’s greatest calling is FIRST to serve Christ and find our identity in him before anything else.  

I have listened to quiet conversations in the snug between TSG and others, and even joined in, discussing Masculinity and Femininity.  The focus of all too often on the 'externals' of our behaviours and 'structure' but there is a need to prioritise. She is quite right about 'first' callings. It is not what we would see in the Newsprint or on TV.

Many women seek identity in the clothes they wear, in what the scale says, in their youth, in their looks or the attention they get from men, and many in monetary possessions they have.  These things will change, fade or can easily be taken away from us.  But our femininity cannot be taken from us regardless of where we are or what we have in life .  

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  - Mother Teresa

But judge we must. It is possible that Mother Theresa was making an ureasoned judgement there.  We can love and judge.

We underestimate the power we have as just being women the way God designed us to be.  Christ loves people, where they are.  

And I also have it on good authority that where we are is not where we are meant to be. We love small children, judging their ways and understanding that there is a path for them to tread yet. And far to go. But we love them.

But our modern world makes a path for many women that does not take them to where they need to be. It takes them down a Road to Perdition. 

And when they arrive, they will be judged. 

Love knows sorrow.

God gave women the ability to give comfort, care for the sick and wounded both spiritually and physically, where they are, and there is healing power in that.  It is these qualities that can make a home a place of rest and replenishment.

The softness of our voice and the tenderness of our touch is where our strength lies.  It shows in our ability to support and inspire those around us.   

Godly femininity is strong.   

Godly femininity is gentle.   

Godly femininity is powerful.

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless.  The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.  We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” – Mother Teresa

 We reflect parts of God that a man cannot reflect, and the same for men.   

If a woman is healthy emotionally, we have a much easier time displaying affection and intimately connecting than most average males do.   

We have the ability to provide a relational environment that nurtures others so they feel at home in our presence.  One shouldn’t feel combative in the presence of womanhood.  We are God's designed comforters to the weary soul.   Don’t run from it, embrace it, and find joy in it.

“That special power of loving belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother.  Motherhood is the gift of God to women….Yes we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion….No job, no plans, no possessions, no idea of “freedom” can take the place of love.” – Mother Teresa

Our very composition is that which breeds and nurtures life. 

 I have known many women who sadly deal with infertility, even at a young age, or are single and childless.  These women still have the nurturing elements of their biological composition.   

I believe women like Mother Teresa and Hildegard of Bingen, were just as influential and content with life as many women who chose to marry and bear children.  Being a wife and mother is a part of who we are as women, but not ALL of who we are as a whole.

  Not all women are called to marry and have children.   As a single woman, you can find fulfillment by nurturing those in her life through love, affection, softness and care in a way that a man might not be able to do.   

As women, we are no greater than men, we just have a different role that can flourish our femininity and can nourish a man in his masculinity.   

We reflect the nurturing heart of The Lord (we see this picture in Psalm 132:2 and Isaiah 66:13.)  But this power only comes from authentic femininity.  

 Another element of femininity is our desire to be beautiful.  Our inward beauty is something that should be seen in the contentment and peace shining through on our face, in our smile, on our outward appearance.  It is expressed in the softness of the colors we choose to wear and the flow of the fabrics in our clothing. 

 Not in a vulgar, hard or obnoxious way.

We shouldn’t be totally consumed with the outward, nor should we try to dismiss the outward in an attempt to hide our womanhood or to avoid vulnerability.  It should be shown in a way that honors God AND womanhood.

In Scripture we see beauty as a good thing, even physical beauty.  Women like Sarah (wife of Abraham), whose beauty attracted the attention of kings and rulers.  Esther, Rachael and Rebecca were also described as beautiful women in the Bible.  This quality is not mentioned as a mark against these women but merely as a way of describing them.   

Attracting men is a benefit of femininity, but it is not, nor should it be, the sole reason for being so.   

As women, we must look like women.  It is important to accept and embrace this aspect of our personhood . 

The outward appearance is a manifestation of what is going on inwardly with a woman.   

So embrace these attributes in a modest manner, and you will be respected for it.

We must reclaim what has been so far lost. we must move forward and find joy in who we really are.   

We must reject this notion that we are objects and slaves of the state. 

We are daughters made in the image of Christ.   

We should define ourselves as Christ does and not as the world, magazines, television, feminism or pornography do. 

 In all things sisters look to Christ because it is only there you will find rest.  So be feminine, and move forward proudly reclaiming true womanhood.

Now I would like to see Rolling Stone put something like that in its pages.  Would the hysterical young women at UVA howl her down and set the fire alarums going?  

But 'priorities' has me wanting far more first.


Pax