23rd May 2010 - Sexuality & Feminine Power
As
we had so much interest from women in Brighton, we decided
to try once again at holding this Red Tent Gathering in
Southwick to make it easier for them. Sadly though, whilst
we had enough women attend, only one came from Brighton.
That aside, it was great that women had travelled from
various locations to attend this event.
After
our opening refreshments, we normally start with passing
the talking stick around to introduce ourselves. The gathering
was about our sexuality and female power, so we decided
instead that each woman in turn simply said, "My
name is xxx, and I am me!" On this occasion, we focused
totally on ourselves with no mention of being wives, mothers,
daughters, sisters, partners or anything else, just ourselves
as women.
The
reason for this workshop was to open our minds to the
fact that a great part of the oppression of women throughout
the globe, is due to the taboos of sex. Female genital
mutilation and the fact that in some cultures women can
not show parts of their body proves there are taboos and
what appear to be control issues. Whilst we may believe
we are sexually liberated in the Western world, we are
far from that in many ways. Whilst this workshop was not
about encouraging anyone to change their sexual habits
or way of life, it was to open their minds to the way
they think about their own sexuality, to possibly explore
that in some way if they feel comfortable with doing so,
but most importantly to learn to be totally comfortable
with every part of their womanhood. If a woman is unable
to speak openly, even if only amongst other women, about
their menstruation and how it effects them both physically
and emotionally, about sex and their sexuality, parts
of their body and numerous other issues, how can they
be truly comfortable with who they are. If part of their
very existance is unspoken and often not even acknowledged,
women are casting to one side a huge part of what makes
them a woman, and hence their feminine power.
We
started the day by making sure everyone knew what a Yoni
was. Yoni is the Sanskrit word for female genitalia, the
source of all life. Taken from Wikipedia, it also means;
the divine passage, womb or sacred temple (cf. lila).
The word covers a range of meanings, including: place
of birth, source, origin, spring, fountain, place of rest,
repository, receptacle, seat, abode, home, lair, nest,
stable. (Monier-Williams) . For more details go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoni
Once
that was established, we went around the circle to discover
what name we each call that part of our anatomy, and if
we have children or grandchildren, what name did we pass
on. The point of this being to understand how comfortable
we are speaking about our bodies, and to realise how our
upbringing and society effects us. An in depth conversation
ensued about how the media uses female sexuality in advertising,
how media effects how females feel about themselves in
comparison to photo enhanced images of models, and how
the taboo of sex can stifle female sexuality and power.
This is a very deep and complex subject, and as usual
the opinions of the women at the event are not shared
in the write up for confidentiality reasons. However,
we would be pleased to accept articles related to this
subject for inclusion on this website.
Following
the in depth conversations which we all found both empowering
and enlightening, we moved on to belly dancing. The idea
of belly dancing often errupts into heated discussions
as to whether it is empowering or degrading. Again, this
is an issue that we would welcome articles to be sent
in for use on the website. As we had so much to cram in
this one day event, we decided to keep the discussion
fairly brief. We concluded that there may have been/be
occasions around the globe that belly dancing may have
been imposed on women resulting in degradation, but ultimately
it is both empowering and healthy. It is a dance that
has been used for probably thousands of years, for health,
relief of menstruation pain and to ease birthing. There
are many reasons we decided to incorporate belly dancing
into this workshop. Some being the reasons just given,
mainly because it is a dance that can be used for body
acceptance, a dance that can be danced to make a woman
feel sensuous regardless of age or size.
The
next part of the day was handed over to Morgana Villen,
who is an amazingly vibrant young woman, with a wonderful
attitude to female empowerment and sensuality. As eager
as we all were to get started on the actual dancing, Morgana
introduced the session by explaining all of the advantages
of this type of dance, which are many. We then moved on
to dance exercises to relax, understand our body's movements,
to be comfortable and at peace, and then finally to start
on the dance movements. Morgana's dialogue was far too
lengthy to include here, so we highly recommend her classes
for both the dance and the understanding. Everyone gained
from both Morgana's words and her dance class. It was
fun as well as empowering.
Following
the dance and having built up an appetite, we enjoyed
our shared lunch, and then we turned as ever to our arts
and crafts. Whilst we all worked on an individual project,
Marie had made out some pink salt dough and placed on
a table, so that each of us could in turn make a Yoni
to be photographed, before the next person took their
turn. By producing models and images of Yonis, be that
as an actual Yoni or a representation of, it produced
some very interesting pieces. Bringing art and craft into
these workshops, allows women the chance to 'go within'
whilst working. Very often, the room is silent as we each
meditate on our task and the reason behind it.
The
day closed at 4pm, after we had enoyed more refreshments
whilst we chatted about our experiences of the day. Sincere
thanks go to Morgana for her dance workshop which added
so much to our day.
Feed
back from the day
The
open atmosphere of the day combined with the learning
of movement and history were a fabulous mix.
Thanks
Annabell, Marie and Morgana - ace energy and interesting
info.
Really
wonderful day again. Much love and thanks.
Thank
you for a lovely, honest and open day. It's beautiful
being together as women. Lots of love.
Thank
you Annabell and Marie. Wonderful day, such lovely people
and will make new lovely friends. I enjoyed the whole
workshop. Look forward to the next time.
Another
wonderful afternoon at The Red Tent. Thanks.
Thank
you for a fantastic afternoon. I learnt a lot, looking
forward to the next one.
I
was expecting it to be more metaphorical in a way like
meditating on the feminine energies, but I think it was
really important to tackle the taboos and physical aspects
of being female first, to get past the issues we often
feel too embarrassed to talk about, so you can then build
the more spiritual understanding on top of it later once
you are completely comfotable with all aspects of who
you are. I really enjoyed the dancing and art session,
its nice to just create something where there is no pressure,
just for the relaxation it gives you during the process
of completely focusing on one task.
Feedback from Marie and Annabell
This was one of the best workshops we have done so far.
Being quite a controversial, yet we feel very necessary
subject, it produced the empowering end result that we
had planned, along with being fun, entertaining and educational.
Definitely a workshop that we will be doing again. Morgana
certainly added to the day, both in her dance class and
being part of the whole day with us.
As ever, attended by a wonderful group of women who make
our work worthwhile - thank you.
