Who's Eve, What's with this Apple, and Why won't it Digest?

Hello Femifriends!

I just wanted to take a few minutes to explain the title of this blog.  The above video is a poem by Mindy Nettifee called "For Young Women Who Don't Consider Themselves Feminists,"  performed by slam poets Lauren Zuniga and Andrea Gibson.  There are many lines of this poem that have deeply resonated with me, but the last verse in particular struck a chord:

 "Can't you feel it? Some repressed ambition stirring nauseously inside you. The piece of Eve's apple that won't digest.  The slow monstering of you when you try to smile and be nice. The tiger hinging on its hind legs.  Don't be grateful, be ungrateful, be on your last nerve, get ready."

The line about Eve's apple in the context of this entire verse reflects the silent, brewing power of women.  The willfulness and strength that still exists despite every effort to quash it.  The apple won't digest because we refuse to except our banishment from Eden, from the ideal, from equality and respect.  In the past we've been martyrs, accepting fate and trying to "be nice," but we now must rally in the beauty and dignity of Woman that society so disdains.  If you are a human who believes in respect, social justice and positive self- esteem, you are a feminist.  By saying you aren't one, you deny both yourself and others these basic rights.

What I have just said may inflame some who politely don't consider themselves feminists.  Tomorrow I will address concerns about this being rude or presumptuous and the role of enlightened sexism in our society.  Sometime this week (maybe in the same post) I will talk about men being feminists, religious feminism, and why I start my blog posts by calling you guys "Femi" somethings.  At some point, in a longer and more poetic post, I will discuss how the women's movement has changed my life for the better and been a key to my own self actualization.

A poor quality photo of me, with a sign I used as an ironic Purim costume :)

As always, thank you all so much for reading, I'm so excited to get this blog on the virtual road!

Love,

Helyn