Tanka Project #35: Equal

There is a school of thought that says that feminism is simply the belief in the equality of men and women. It sounds reasonable, but...

...we started from a position of patriarchy - men were in charge and they got to do the most valued things, women had to do the rest, and anything which women did was devalued either because it was devalued first and so women did it, OR (and this is really important) women did it and they were of less value in a patriarchal system (I mean this literally - men were people, women were property), therefore the thing done was less valued.

We are well on our way to breaking out of the patriarchal system now, barriers are being removed to women entering the roles that men traditionally did. We have lots of women in power. Most of those women are childless, and this is really important, because women's traditional roles in looking after people, raising children, all that nurturing stuff is still undervalued because of patriarchal hangovers. Until the value of this work is seen we cannot have equality, because women are still doing it, and men are only just starting.

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February update!

Hello! Please see above for a screenshot (not sure who the photo is by) from the lovely Fragmented Voices website which has my poem, Escaping Pheasants, as their featured poem today. This poem is inspired by the pheasants which are brought in to our local country house for people who are that way inclined to shoot. Sometimes I see them flapping down from the estate wall and on to the busy road, making a break for it toward the moors. Good luck pheasants. Escaping Pheasants also features in my book, Little Gods, published by the marvellous Roswell Publishing and available from booksellers and Amazon, or get in touch to get a signed copy from me. Other recent successes include two poems in Obsessed with Pipework #105, a Haiku in Coin Operated Press ' Haiku Zine, The Libraries came out in Culture Matters' Bread & Roses Anthology, and, as I mentioned last time, When you slow a bit you can see the way , another poem from Little Gods, came out in Butcher's Dog #19. I have ...

Cleaning: A Poetry Post

Today I'm bringing inspiration from a writing workshop I went to the other day. We had to list lots of things, like things we did every day, things we hated, all that stuff. I can't remember which list 'cleaning' fell on - it could have been either of the ones I've mentioned, but here is my poem on the subject. If you like it, please feel free to share. Cleaning I'm not leaning toward cleaning. Not predisposed to tidy clothes. I'm not inclined to wax sublime. There is no room I would vacuum. I've no desire to scrub with wire. I wouldn't wish to wash a dish. As for laundry, it just bores me. Toward cleaning I'm not leaning. © Cara L McKee 3/4/16

Winter is ending update

I've been doing lots of research lately on Scottish history, which is showing me just how much we never move on even if we think we're dead modern. I've also been writing poetry, I've been super inspired by Jacqueline Saphra's amazing poem Cimex Lectularius (see my post here for more on that), and have been writing a poem a week because of that, and informed by all my Scottish history research, and also the ongoing slow-motion car crash which is Brexit (as I write Westminster have rejected no-deal but not actually got rid of it, and they've asked for an extension but not actually got it *sigh*). Anyway, I've had a couple of bits of good news. Firstly, I'm going to have another poem in the May edition of the wonderful online poetry magazine Picaroon Poetry - such a good magazine, I'm chuffed to bits to be in again. Secondly, my poem about a grumpy old man who was genuinely in a swimming pool with me is going to be in this year's Speculative Bo...

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