Due to the vast influence of Abrahamic faiths, this damage to women extends beyond communities of worship and pervades secular society. I was raised in Christianity, and although I now consider myself agnostic, I have been profoundly influenced by Christian ideas and teachings, both positive and negative. I juxtaposed vulvae with the traditional style of religious iconography to connect the spiritual and visceral aspects of my experience as a woman as well as provoke thought about how Christianity has been used to dominate and marginalize women for centuries. Regardless of personal belief, acknowledging the divine in female form has potential for profoundly affecting social change and empowering women and girls to view their lives as sacred and significant.
[Editor’s Note: This essay is published in She Rises Volume 2, How Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?]
See Meet Mago Contributor Liz Darling.
“acknowledging the divine in female form has potential for profoundly affecting social change and empowering women and girls to view their lives as sacred and significant” I couldn’t agree more.