You knew this was coming, didn’t you? I want to make sure that if you are reading this, and are a woman of any sort, that you know you are an Iconic Woman, and that you are iconically feminine. You have control over this. Words are powerful and whatever you see yourself as, whatever you […]
Iconic V: Women Are Not Weaker Vessels
I knew from the first thought of doing the challenge this year that I wanted to do the word vessel for the letter V. Women being thought of as vessels is a problematic, but common concept. I suspect it is one of the most harmful iconic visualizations of women in the world. I do not […]
Iconic T: Titles
This morning I began thinking about hereditary titles when the British Royal family grew by one. I heard more than one talking head saying that it was so 21st Century for the line of succession to have been changed so that daughters of Kings and male heirs would inherit ahead of sons born after them. […]
Iconic R: Aretha's R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I created this image last year to pay homage to the 50th anniversary of the recording of the song, Respect, by Aretha Franklin on Valentines Day. Otis Redding wrote the song, but Respect as Aretha interpreted it, became an anthem for women and the downtrodden. Was it the song or the woman, or both that made […]
Iconic K: Kindred Kali
“The phrase “kindred spirit” evokes for women who grew up reading the stories of the adventures and misadventures of Anne Shirley Anne Shirley a young woman, an orphan, who desperately wants to have a shared relationship that is a true and lasting connection between people as deep as a connection of kin but as individually affirming […]
Iconic H: Hype, Hyperbole, and Hymens
If we are going to cover the iconic elements of THE FEMININE some space has to be given to discussion of the concept of virginity and the hymen. This is a brief article, but a necessary one, as an iconic aspect of how women are defined depends on this trait that is largely a culturally […]