53 Comments

This is fucking brilliant. Oh how I needed that. I've been a student of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes' work for decades and in her seminal book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, she says how women learned everything they needed to know about life and love and survival through fairy tales. This continues to be true with you. ❤️‍🔥

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Thank you so much, Sarah. And funny, I was thinking this is the perfect time to re-read it! I also picked up Rebecca Traister’s Good and Mad: the Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger - only just started it but it’s fantastic so far. She starts it with

Alice Walker, To Be a Woman

The Feminine

Is not

Dead

Nor is she

Sleeping

Angry, yes,

Seething, yes.

Biding her time;

Yes.

Yes.

I may need to get this tattooed somewhere ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

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It won’t let me type out her name properly! S-o-l-n-i-t. Darn auto-correct…

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Yes! I love her too. We have the same tastes, no big surprise :)

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I love that you’re being called back to CPE’s work! What a woman ahead of her time.

Thank you for sharing Rebecca Traister’s work! I was not familiar with her before. This poem is enough to hook you!

Another favorite is the book of essays Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit which is enough to get our blood boiling.

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Ally, this was quite possibly the best thing I’ve read all week. I’ve fully moved out of my grief phase and into my villain era!

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Thank you so much, Sonbol, truly. And welcome to the resistance lol. We’re going to be very fucking busy.

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Forget Henry V’s St. Crispin’s Day Speech. Henceforth, let it be Ally Hamilton’s Maleficent speech that roused an army.

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Thank you so much Barbara. It feels a lot better to be seething than it did to be depressed, and I shall take the wins where I can get them! There are a LOT of us who are feeling this way, and I think we need to remember that, hold onto each other, and not lose all hope.

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Agreed! I have a little group close to home and we have literally saved each other’s sanity.

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Fury alchemized into art is a powerful thing.

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Thank you so much, Rita. I am full of fury and heartache and despair but also so much love for everyone who is hurting. And so much faith in us, too. Thank you for being here ♥️

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Hi Ally, probably the best one I read so far, not that the others were "worse", but because it touches on so many things I couldn't put into words, especially the Medusa myth, which I not so long ago pondered about. I really loved the Maleficent bit too. I can't remember when I started to be curious about how women are treated in our society, but it came about because of my daughter.

It's crazy to see how little do we learn from the past or how much power we give to people who wouldn't hesitate to dispose of us should they not need us. I am still puzzled how differently I perceive people and humankind compared to when I was younger. The force of cynicism is spreading within me as the Nothing was spreafo in The Neverending Story.

I really appreciate you take time to write because I, and many others, need someone to see hope, to keep fighting regardless of chance of winning.

Thank you so much for being here!

Much love to you and your family as always.

Namaste 🙏

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Thanks so much, Peter. I think the seeds of misogyny and the theme of perceiving women *as women pertain to men* is so old, it’s hard to find a time when that wasn’t the case. And I understand your feelings. I’ve always been a hopeful person by nature. I will root for people to do better and be better long after most people would give up, but last week I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I felt discouraged in the deepest sense of the word, I just felt so disheartened. But I’m picking myself up because I have to. I sure do wish my belief that the majority of people here would not be able to excuse, justify, tolerate - let alone embrace and support - the abhorrent, hateful, cruel messaging of that campaign had been real. But there are still almost half of us who believe passionately that the world should be and could be better than that. So giving up isn’t an option. But going to sleep now is, lol. I am beat. Thank you for your kind comments, and sending love to you and Anneke as always.

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This is just so bloody good!!!

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Thank you so much, Cathy!!

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Ally this is just so so brilliant - your weaving of myth, fairytale and current dilemmas blew me away. So glad to see you’re back - and you’re writing is just nailing it all. ❤️

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❤️❤️🙏🏼 Truly appreciate this, Cathy xx

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Wow, Ally; just gorgeous. You continue to out-due yourself (but NO PRESSURE!) So thankful for you and your words.

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Thank you so much, Helia. For some reason Bill Murray yelling “Don’t drive angry!” just popped into my head lol. And I agree with that, but thankfully writing angry works for me most of the time. Maybe because I held it in for so long. I am now fully embracing my - you have to be fucking kidding me era. And I’m really thankful you’re here ❤️‍🔥

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Yup. Lean into it. xoxo

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I'm finding a lot of wisdom in fairy tales these days too. This was brilliant!

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Thank you so much, Caitlin. True story, I sat down to write and was staring at the screen for a long time. I just could not figure out how to get across what I’m feeling. And for whatever reason, Medusa popped into my head. Just the absolute betrayal. And that was it. This whole thing does feel like some kind of alternate reality. Sending you love and hugs, thanks for being here. We need to hold onto the sane part of reality a little more tightly 🤍

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"These are questions it would have been good to ask before they voted for him." Sigh.

The scathing satire is brilliant, and I am here for it. Safe travels over the next couple of days!

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Thank you so much, Kate. Scathing and seething are probably going to be my two modes for a while. And I am writing to you from a hotel room in my pajamas. Driving six hours was meditative. I did have these moments where I was just looking at farmland and wide open vistas, vineyards and beautiful rolling hills. I drove as the sun went down and the light was incredible and I started crying because I love this country so much and it just breaks your fucking heart anyway. It’s such a shame. It never had to be this way and I don’t know what we do now, but I know that whatever happens, it’s still our country, too. I guess we just have to fight harder for it and love each other harder while we do that, and hold on tight because it’s going to be chaotic and painful and people are going to suffer and need help. So yeah, scathing, seething, despairing sometimes, but not giving up. Big hugs.

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I think scathing and seething pretty much describes so many of us these days.

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Hard to be anything else right now!

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If people imagine the times we’re living in are MYTHIC, their intuition isn’t wrong. And you just laid it out like silk!

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Thank you, Susie. It seems to be the only way I can process this. It does feel like an epic battle between good and evil, though I try to be more nuanced than that. But at the moment, and every day that goes by with every new nominee, it’s hard to view it in any other context. Thanks for your comments, and for sharing. And thank you for being here 🤍

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Holy fuck. This is a fierce hug and a battle cry. I'm speechless and teary. Fuck. Happy birthday to your son. Drive safe. And thank you for being you.

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Wendy, thank you so much, truly. This made me cry. I’m so happy and grateful you’re here 🤍

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Seems only fair after you made me cry. 😏 So, so glad you’re here, too, sharing your big brain and beautiful heart.

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❤️🙏🏼🥹

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Brilliant. Thank you! I'm going to rewatch Maleficent, pull out Women Who Run with Wolves, shore up my broken heart, and keep on.

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It’s all we can do. Giving up is not an option, and we have each other for support when we need to rest and find some solace. So glad you’re here ❤️‍🔥

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Oh Ally, even though I’m not American but rather a South African living in the UK, you have made me feel the fighting spirit through your words! We all have work to do. He’s win has repercussions for us all.

This is such a brilliant essay and I will share it with whomever will read it!

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Thank you so much, Bonita. There’s something so beautiful about hearing from people in other countries who care about what’s happening here instead of just laughing at America or hating us, which, to be fair, is understandable from the outside. But there are about 48% of us here in absolute despair over all of this and support from anywhere is so appreciated. Thank you, and thank you for being here ♥️

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I did not know the story of Medusa. I'm glad I read this.

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I’m glad you did, too, Lee, and I’m happy you’re here 🤍

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I like you, Ally Hamilton!

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Oh my gosh, I like you, too, Deborah! ☺️

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This is absolutely brilliant. Thank you

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Thank you so much, Jenny ❤️

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