An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than most men.
…………………….Charles Darwin, Brainyquote
Photo Source: Collage from IFLS Facebook Page.
Dating for Grown Ups
by Kerry Cue
When virtual reality gets cheaper than dating, society is doomed.
………………..Dogbert, Scott Adams Dilbert Cartoon
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Kerry Cue is a humorist, journalist, mathematician, and author. You can find more of her writing on her blog. Her latest book is a crime novel, Target 91, Penmore Press, Tucson, AZ (2019).
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The Sibyls Salute: Judy Chicago
By Kerry Cue
Because men have a history, it is difficult for them to imagine what it is like to grow up without one,
or the sense of personal expansion that comes from discovering that we women have a worthy heritage.
Along with pride often comes rage – rage that one has been deprived of such a significant knowledge.
Judy Chicago, Good Reads
Artists never grow old because …
there’s no use-by date for passion.
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Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is a celebrated artist – There are 7 retrospective shows celebrating her work across America this year alone – who, at 74, shows no sign of slowing down.
Not only is Chicago a Sibyl, her life’s work has been dedicated to showing how women’s voices have been silenced throughout history and, this of course, includes the Sibyls.
Chicago’s best-known and most loved work is The Dinner Party. It consists of 39 place settings each representing a woman neglected by history. The vulvar and butterfly shaped ceramic place settings celebrate forgotten (female) goddesses, philosophers, priests, writers, doctors, painters, explorers, and rulers. The triangular table sits on a Heritage Floor, which contains the names of a further 999 women throughout history, who have made a significant contribution to bettering women’s’ lives.
The Dinner Party
Judy Chicago 1974 – 79
A new book by Chicago, The Dinner Party: Restoring Women to History (with a foreword by Arnold L. Lehman and contributions by Jane F. Gerhard) was also published this year.
The book not only looks an iconic feminist artwork, it highlights the fight feminists faced in the 1970s. The Dinner Party, for instance, once inspired aN 87-minute debate in the U.S. House of Representatives over whether it was art or pornography. You will find more information about Chicago’s fascinating art in the article Why Judy Chicago Still Fights for Feminist Art at 75 by Bob Duggan at Big Think.
We the Sibyls salute Judy Chicago.
Kerry Cue is a humorist, journalist, mathematician, and author. You can find more of her writing on her blog. Her latest book is a crime novel, Target 91, Penmore Press, Tucson, AZ (2019)
When God had a Wife
by Lorna Ebringer
“Respect only has meaning as respect for those with whom I do not agree.” 
― Karen Armstrong, A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
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Where have all the goddesses gone, long time passing?
Where have all the goddesses gone, long time ago?
In the ancient world before there was one god there were many. Each one had a limited domain of power and different responsibilities. Karen Armstrong in her book “A History of God” pub.1993 tells us that they were often gods of place and as you moved from one location to another you would encounter a new set of gods and a different form of worship. These gods were both male and female and were served by both priests and priestesses. Because there were many gods the pagan religions were tolerant, there was always room for one more deity.
Asherah
God’s Wife
The founder of the idea of one god was Abraham, born in Ur in Mesopotamia in around 2000BCE though no one is quite sure of the date. Legend has it that for some reason Abraham and his family decided to migrate west. For many years they lived in Haran and then at the age of 75 he heard the voice of God for the first time. God instructed him to go to the land of Canaan.
On arrival Abraham encountered the gods of Canaan. In charge of the pantheon was El. He, together with a council of deities, kept order in the cosmos and in the human realm. El had a wife named Ashereh, goddess of fertility and symbolised by the tree of life. Their son Baal was the god of storm, their daughter Anat was the goddess of the harvest and in addition there were gods of the dawn, dusk, plague and death amongst others.
The people of Israel were slow to adopt the idea of one god. The women in particular did not like the idea of losing their female fertility goddesses and there is evidence that for hundreds of years they refused to do this. Dr. Francesca Stavrakopoulou, biblical scholar, suggests that archeological finds at Ugarit in Syria and in the Sinai and in the bible itself show that worship of Asherah as the wife of God persisted for at least a thousand years until the Babylonian conquest of Israel. The loss of the temple in Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE led the scribes of the bible to abandon the pantheon of gods and turn to the one God for protection.
Dr. Stavrakopoulou suggests that the loss of Ashereh has led to religion becoming more masculine. If God is male then to be a man is to be like him.
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‘Monotheism then has disempowered women.’
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Lorna Ebringer’s passions include trekking in remote areas of Georgia, China and Japan, opera appreciation and rock ‘n roll dancing.
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Anti-Wrinkle Creams: When Hope Conquers Experience
by Kerry Cue
Most men running the major beauty corporations,
where you undoubtedly have spent
a lot of money,
think you’ve lost it at 50.
– Andrea Robinson, Toss the Gloss: Beauty Tips, Tricks & Truths for Women 50+
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Apply daily and avoid gravity for the next 40 years?
In the New York Times this week Bea Shipiro interviews Andrea Robinson, who worked in the cosmetic industry developing products for Revlon (Ultima II Naked collection ) and L’Oreal. The cosmetic industry veteran has just published a book titled “Toss the Gloss: Beauty Tips, Tricks & Truths for Women 50+”
Her book, according to Robinson, intends to “unconfuse” older women whom the industry has already dismissed. (We’re well aware of being dismissed by the industry.)
The person to ‘unconfuse’ 50+ women is Bobbi Brown, 56, the author of “Living Beauty”. According to Bobbi Brown, whose book has remained in print since 2007:
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“There is no cream that is ‘anti-aging’ ……. There is no cream that fixes wrinkles.”
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In fact, in Australia it is illegal to claim that a cream can reduce wrinkles. If an anti-wrinkle cream can do anything it is not a cosmetic.
It is a pharmaceutical product and must be tested. As a result, ads for cosmetic creams have developed a convoluted language to convince women that they do something that, legally, they are not allowed to do. A Multi Revitalifting Visage Night Creme will provide ‘hydradiance’ or ’luminescence’. Obviously, such creams do not reduce wrinkles, but you get to glow in the dark.
If you pay big money for an ‘anti-aging’ cream remember it doesn’t do anything, but at least you can be comforted in the knowledge that, philosophically speaking, it is opposed to the concept of aging.
Kerry Cue is a humorist, journalist, mathematician, and author. You can find more of her writing on her blog. Her latest book is a crime novel, Target 91, Penmore Press, Tucson, AZ (2019)
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At my age, doctor, John Glen was an astronaut!
by Kerry Cue
The United States contains more people aged 65 and older than the total population of Canada.
…………………………….The Demographics of Aging Report
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At your age, what do you expect?
When consulting with your doctor about some illness or injury, you may hear the words, “Well, at your age, what do you expect?” In other words, your illness is ‘your age’. You may want to respond, “At my age, Doctor, John Glen was an astronaut”. John Glen went into space at 77 years of age! Unfortunately, your health provider would more than likely mumble [under their breath], “You’re no John Glen”.
Now imagine you are a 70-year -old American with a painful knee. What does it actually mean if your doctor glibly comments ‘Well, at your age, what do you expect?’ According to the statisticians there are 18 million Americans in your 65 – 74-year-old age group. As there are 18 million Americans ‘your age’ does that mean they are all limping about the place because of painful knees? The flaw in this logic is simple. You cannot make assumptions about the health of one person from group statistics. When the sample size is 18 million, such assumptions become a joke.
If your doctor thinks YOUR AGE is the disease, he or she might miss a more specific diagnosis. How do you respond to this type of comment by a medical practitioner? One 70-year-old had the answer. In her book, [published over 30 years ago!], ‘Mirror, Mirror, The Terror of Not Being Young’, author, Elissa Melamed, tells the story of a 70-year-old who visited her doctor with a painful right knee. “You’re 70 years old, what do you expect?” he insisted. “My left knee is 70 too”, she replied, “and it’s fine”.
Kerry Cue is a humourist, journalist, mathematician, and author. You can find more of her writing at her blog. Her latest book is a crime novel, Target 91, Penmore Press, Tucson, AZ (2019)
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63 Year old Style Icon
by Kerry Cue
Looking for a quote to head this post about 63 – year – old New Yorker, Lyn Slater, Associate Professor and Style Icon, I couldn’t find one that fitted the bill. So I made one up. Her Accidental Icon Instagram account has 100,000 followers! Her Accidental Icon blog is equally fascinating.
Style does not depend on age. Look at the images of Lyn (below) taken from her Instagram account. Confidence and flair seem to sum up the impact of her fashion style. May there be more like her.
How Do You Slow Down Aging? Move Fast
The Sibyls
An encouraging article for mature-age readers was pubished in the New York Times this week. The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles (Gretchen Reynolds, 23 March, 2017) reported on research showed that ‘decline in the cellular health of muscles associated with aging was “corrected” with exercise, especially if it was intense’ according to Dr. Sreekumaran Nair, a professor of medicine and an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.
This research highlights one simple message for those in the mature years. GET MOVING.
The Sibyls Salute: Gloria Steinem
by The Sibyls
Gloria Steinem, feminist icon, founding editor MS magazine, social activist and commentator is currently on tour in Australia. In an article titled Gloria Steinem at 82: a hopeless hopeaholic always on the move by Susan Wyndham (18 May 2016, SMH) Gloria claimed she will have to live to 100 years of age to keep up with her current commitments.
‘On her to-do list: help get Hillary Clinton elected as US president (“I think she can win and she has to win”); introduce a Vice series of documentaries on violence against women around the world; consult on an HBO TV series about Ms, the feminist magazine she co-founded in the ’70s; work on a one-woman theatre show in which actor Kathy Najimy plays Steinem and the real Steinem joins in for an audience Q&A.’
We, The Sibyls, salute Gloria Steinem for her lifetime involvement in social reform and her continuing commitment to improving the lives of minority groups and the disadvantaged. She has been politically active for over 50 years and an inspiration for generations of women. Now, at 82 years of age, she is a role model for older women. She is an articulate, intelligent and vital life force, who demonstrates how much can be achieved at any age by anyone willing to put up their hand and become involved.
1 hour interview on ABC Radio 774 with Jon Faine and Kaz Cooke
A Conversation with Wise Women
By Kerry Cue and Doris Brett
Last Sunday, we had another gathering of The Sibyls. Our Sibyls come from a variety of backgrounds, but all have open and curious minds. The conversation was vibrant and full of wise words, as always. We kicked things off with the ‘open’ question(above), and the answers showed how diverse, thoughtful and mischievous the Sibyls can be. Here is a small selection of God’s imagined response to a Sibyl at the Gate:
*What took you so long?
*You are a good person,. You made a difference. You lived a good life.
*Welcome.
*That surprised you?
*The job’s yours!
*Don’t worry, you don’t have to catch up with all of your relatives!
Thanks to Sibyls Viv I, Donna, Celia, Eva, Margot, Carol, Di, Viv II and Jenny. Photo source: pinterest
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