An In-person Conversation I Had With My Sister After Mentioning Harry Potter (she’s In Quotes):

What Are Women's Lands?

Reposted from The Women's Land Blog

Women's lands are privately-owned land that center women. The ethos of women's land can be simply summed up as women primarily focusing their energy towards each other. 

In general, men are not allowed on women's land. 

However, women's lands aren't about the absence of men. Rather, women's lands are about the presence of women, and what women can do to lift each other up when we choose to intentionally live together in community. 

History Of Women's Lands

The first women's land was started in the United States in the late 1960s. 

Over the next several decades, more and more women's lands were founded as intentional communities. Over the years, many disbanded, mainly due to internal conflict, lack of funding or the death of a key organizer. 

However, a small handful of the original women's lands are still in existence and currently operating, with women living on them. 

Where Are Women's Lands Located?

Most women's lands are located in rural areas in the United States. Many women's lands are set up so women who live there are surrounded by nature.  

In 2023, there are about 50 women's lands located around the United States. The sizes of these women's communities range from 2-20 women, depending on the particular women's land. Ages of women who live on the land range from 25-80 years old.  

There are also several women's lands located internationally, including in South America and Europe. 

How Do Women's Lands Make Money?

Some women's lands make money through a cottage-industry system, where women on the land specialize in producing some specific kind of craft or produce that they can reliably sell to support the costs of living on the land. 

Other women's lands support themselves by charging rent, usually at a lower-than-market-rate, to women who live on the land. 

Traditionally, most women who live on women's land have worked some kind of day job in nearby local towns. 

Today, with remote work widely available, there are lots of options for women who want to live on women's land to support themselves. It's become a lot easier to explore the possibility of renting for lower-than-market rate at a women's land near you. 

Women's Lands & Lesbians

Historically, women's land are lesbian-majority spaces. Most of the women who come to women's land to visit or live there are lesbians. 

Many of the women who live on women's lands are lesbians. Many of those lesbians are artists or writers, or both.   

However, most women's lands are not lesbian-exclusive. Most women's lands welcome straight and bisexual women as residents or visitors. 

What Is Living On Women's Land Like?

Living on a women's land typically means a lot of contact with nature, and a lot of community with other women.  You'll have your own space, but you won't be alone.  

You may find yourself skill-trading with other women: teaching them something you know, and learning something they know in return.

You may also find yourself bartering items, or giving and receiving gifts from other women on the land. 

It's common to have some sort of shared chore system to make sure all the work to upkeep the land gets done. Back in the '70s, this sometimes meant working 8-hour shifts nearly every day just to finish all the many chores of the land: chopping wood, carrying water, cooking meals and washing dishes. 

But these days, most women's lands no longer have regular communal meals, instead opting to host communal dinners only on holidays or a regular day of the week/month. Also, more infrastructure has led to significantly less chores. 

Rents on women's lands are usually significantly below-market-rate for two reasons: to enable women to come live on the land, and in exchange for help with the land chores. Today, most individual women who live on women's land spend less than 10 hours per week on land chores. 

If a woman is upkeeping a woman's land on her own, she's probably spending significantly more time than 10 hours per week doing land chores, and could probably use some help.   

Many women's lands also host regular or semi-regular events on the land for the women who live there. Other women in the local neighborhood may also be invited.    

A World Without Men

Most women's lands do not allow men, even as visitors.

Some women's lands allow a male service provider to visit the land on case of need, and often when a woman can't be found to do the same job. 

Some women's lands allow male relatives of women who live on the land to visit.  

Some women's lands allow the sons of women who live there to temporarily live on the land, often (but not always) until age 18.  

There are several women's lands that allow trans women and AFAB non-binary people to visit or live there. 

However, most women's lands are exclusive to biological women. 

Average Age Range On Women's Land

On any given women's land, ages of the women who live there tend to range between 25-80 years old. 

It's very common to go to women's land and meet older women who would be happy to teach you new skills, mentor you, give you advice, lend their wisdom or even just a listening ear. 

If you're a younger woman, you'll find no shortage of elders to learn from. You'll also find your skills very much appreciated, whether you are able to help lift heavy items or assist the older generation with your computer skills. 

If you are an older woman, you'll find many other older women living on women's lands, all helping each other out to the best of their ability in various stages of retirement. Common shared activities are doing puzzles, making art, writing workshops, drum circles, playing scrabble, playing cards, building bonfires, howling at the moon and taking care of animals on the land. 

How To Visit Women's Land

The first step to visiting a women's land is finding out whether or not you have a local women's land in your area. Some states, like Oregon and California, have more women's lands than others. 

The next step is getting vetted. Once you've figured out where the closest women's land is to you, you need to reach out to that women's land directly to indicate that you want to visit. If you don't have their contact info, or can't find it on the internet, you can email the author of this blog post to request information about women's lands near you. 

Each women's land has their own vetting process for new visitors. After all, this women's land isn't just a tourist spot. It's also the home of the women who live there. You will need to build trust with the women of the land before you can get an invite to their home. 

Getting vetted could be as simple as a phone call, or as in-depth as sitting down for a coffee in a nearby town. The woman vetting you may even reach out to a few women she knows to see if someone has heard of you and can vouch for your good intentions. 

If you have dreams of living on a women's land, it's a good idea to start off as a visitor. You'll need to get to know the women on the land and build some trust with the community before the woman who owns the land is ready to rent to you.  Focus on ways you can give back, like bringing a small gift (of food, vegan to be safe) or asking if there are any small chores you can help out with while you're visiting.  

Renting On Women's Land

Women's lands often have a series of rustic cabins or cottages that you can rent at below-market-rate. But what's living on a women's land like?

1. WI-FI: Many women's lands have limited or slow wifi. Some have no wifi, either because no one needed it or because not having wifi was an intentional lifestyle choice. If you want high-speed wifi, prepare  to step up and help your local women's land figure out how to install or upgrade their wifi.   

2. Water: While many women's lands have hot water, not all do. However, all women's lands have running water. At some women's lands, you may need to carry water to your dwelling. 

3. Plumbing: Almost all women's lands have plumbing or at least outhouses. Some have regular plumbing, while others have various eco-friendly solutions, like composting toilets.  

4. Kitchen: Each women's land is different. A women's land may have a communal kitchen, or kitchen facilities may be located inside each individual dwelling. 

5. Laundry: Some women's lands have shared washer/dryers. Others handwash and line-dry their clothing. 

6. Firepit: Many women's lands have shared firepits where women can sit around and talk. 

7. Electricity: Most women's lands have electricity. Some women's lands may have limited electricity, so you'll need to be mindful of how much power you're drawing. 

If there's one takeaway, know that most women's lands, to one extent or another, have limited amenities. 

If you move to a women's land, you'll be living rough and close to the land. 

But while you'll have your own space, you'll never be lacking in the company of other women, whether for a neighborly chat or a listening ear. 

Find Women's Land Near You

The location of women's lands are typically secret or underground. If you're a young person, or a young lesbian who wants to visit women's land, you may have trouble finding women's land near you. 

Because women's lands are so deep underground, finding them can entail some serious legwork. You may need to know the right woman to find out where your local women's land is, or even what the women's lands name is!  

To find women's land near you, visit the women's land map. Reach out directly to the women's land in your area, or in an area you'll be travelling to, for more info about how you can visit. Expect to undergo a vetting process that can be as quick as a phone call or as extensive as an in-person meetup.  

If you are a lesbian in the United States, or a woman of any sexual orientation who wants to learn more about women's lands near you, email findwomensland at gmail dot com to get information about women's lands in your local area. 

Next time someone tells you women are meant to have children blah blah blah have them look up what a placenta is. We are so misinformed about the female body that despite most of us hearing that word before, we don’t really think about its role. The placenta is built by the embryo (not the mother) to essentially hide itself from the mother. Because otherwise she would KILL IT. It’s a foreign body with half of another person’s genetic code. Also we all have heard about the hormone HCG but most of us hear of it in regards to pregnancy tests and not the fact that it forces the mother’s uterus to start secreting a protein to feed the embryo. With every pregnancy, the fetus and mother are in competition. The fetus wants to grow and the mother tries to protect herself and not DIE. we are capable of pregnancy, we have the organs necessary to birth new life. This does NOT mean our organs are for anyone but ourselves. Every part of you is there FOR YOU. Regardless of what anyone might say. Don’t be ashamed of not wanting children. Don’t feel like a broken woman for not being able to have children. Don’t let anyone tell you your sexuality is wrong because it doesn’t result in offsprings.

it's actually really weird to me that a lot of adults don't seem to remember the worst bits of being a child. were you not horribly aware of when adults were talking down to you as a child? don't you remember how little autonomy you were allowed, even when it came to things that seemed pretty harmless? don't you remember the times when adults would seemingly be assholes to you for no reason? even if you had nice and reasonable parents, didn't you ever have teachers or other adults in power who treated you disrespectfully? didn't it sting no matter how people justified it?

especially when I was a teenager, it seemed obvious to me & to most of my peers when an adult wasn't treating us with respect. you could almost smell it, in certain classrooms. there would be this palpable, shifting undercurrent of teenage dissatisfaction whenever some teachers started talking. and it made a lot of the kids act out! which of course made the teachers try to exert their power, which never worked because nobody respected them, which made them get more draconian, etc.

as a teen, I didn't really get why my peers and I seemingly had a superhuman sense for when an adult was on a power trip. but now I think I get it. kids are systematically denied autonomy, respect, and consistently have the validity of their experiences denied. like, flat-out. they're a vulnerable class of people made even more vulnerable by their lack of societal rights. being disrespected as a kid is so frequent that I would say it's a defining experience for most children. is it any wonder they tend to pick up on when an adult doesn't see them as worth listening to?

so yeah, of course a ton of kids want to be treated "like an adult." to them, that's synonymous with being treated like a human being worth listening to. it's up to you, as an adult, to understand that wish for what it is, and behave accordingly. you don't gotta be a child psychologist. you don't gotta be perfect at it. all you have to do is remember how painful adult disrespect could be when you were a kid & do your best to act with some compassion.

I remember this lol

Meghan could blink and people would equate it to mass g*nocide.

Meghan Markle cradled her baby bump — and it's upsetting some on social media

The Duchess of Sussex was seen frequently caressing her belly, and some did not like it.

THIS IS A FUCKING THING??? THAT PEOPLE GET UPSET ABOUT????!!!!! !?!?! THIS ISN’T EVEN THE FIRST TIME IT HAS HAPPENED TO A PREGNANT CELEBRITY!!?!?!?

You have to be selfish to be selfless. When you take care of yourself you automatically improve your environment. If you're always taking care of other people you will not be able to fulfill your purpose to the best of your ability or at all.

My gripe with Euphoria. Part 2:

The Lifestyle of Lexi

I may do some of these characters separately as opposed to in pairs. I may pair character who share similar plot elements or affect each other's storylines in a major way. In some cases, I might even give them a seperate page for further analysis if necessary. While Lexi connects to both Cassie and Rue's characters, I feel like specifically addressing how she was written.

Unfortunately, I might show my favoritism here because Lexi is one of the more humanely drawn character that I found myself relating to. She is the younger sister of Cassie and is comparitively more introverted. She has a contrasting choice of attire as well, dressing more conservatively in a prim, bookish style that.

Lexi Howard, played by Maude Apatow

Character outfits notably play a large role in this show, specifically in its eye-catching presentation as well as a reflection of the characters. Maddy, Kat, Cassie, and even Jules are shown to be more chic in their style and very willing to show some skin. These characters are presented as the hyper-feminine and hyper-sexua) characters of the show. They've been presented naked and sometimes afraid when facing certain sexual encounters. Lexi is one of the few characters who gets to keep her top on and not have sex, lust or really any other risky obstacles define her character, but that comes at a cost in this show. That cost was, of course, her screen time. She did not make up overarching storylines like Rue's love for Jules and her addiciton to drugs. She was also not anyone's main attraction until season 2 when Fezco (the local drug dealer) started taking interest in her. My concern was also that this male lead is indeed a drug dealer. That is not me rejecting any of his good intentions toward her. Funny enough, despite his job, he is probably as nice as the male characters get in this show. Still, he has a dangerous occupation that has been shown to lead to trouble. This is the bad boy-good girl plot that seems to flourish in the media. Like most good girls, her story is only seen as interesting to work with when she becomes a troubled male character's point of interest. Her additonal screen time ultimately amounts to a rushed plot. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy her theater production in which she presents a detailed rendition of her life alongside the other characters. In the 2nd season's finale episodes, Lexi also appears to be facing an evolution in her clothing style that reflects these speedy changes. Her outfits become bold, taking on darker colors and more exuberant flourish.

Her outfits were still just a minor thing about her. The psychology of the character was given in brief flashes and short quips, but I had something to work with. Her relationship with Cassie was far more my concern. It took me a minute and even stumped me when I found out later in the series that Cassie was the eldest. She embodies all of the aspects of a stereotypical younger sibling, which we often see presented as bratty, self-centered, spoiled, etc. It is a part of the controversial "birth order theory", which takes a look at how birth order determines a child's capabilities. These qualities tend to stem from the youngest children not having room to be resourceful, probably having an older sibling to fall back on. There was plenty going on in the Howard household for the girls to develop that kind of reliance on one another, although Levinson did not attempt to give them that much screen time. Still, we get a glimpse that a younger Lexi is the more resourceful one to whom Cassie often released her woes. We see their realtionship reach a breaking point in the seadon 2 finale when Lexi's play very much shine's a light on Cassie as a person. In theory, this goes back to the the turbulent lifestyle both girls had to live. Their father had a drug addiction, which we learn later how that impacts their reactions to themselves as well as to characters like Rue. Cassie seems to take the fore-front, or more active approach in their father's slow decent into addiction. She is ready to love him regardless, openly supporting him even though is not specifically sure of what has occurred to him. Lexi is more reserved and noticeably more analytical of her father. We don't get to hear much of how she feels about this, specifically in the aftermath. It seems to have affected Cassie quite blatantly as we see her break down in the last episode, and in front of a live audience nonetheless. It was heartbreaking to watch their cold views of eachother be brought to light. Lexi saw Cassie as broken, but she also saw her sister as someone she hardly knew. This decision of her sister's ditziness and sexual nature sheds some light on Lexi's thought process, but we hardly see her reflect on this in moments that span longer than a minute. We also see Cassie's feelings emerge as well, where she states that Lexi is so "uninteresting" that she has to chronicle everyone's life just to add some spice to her own. Here, the narrative presents some interesting conflict between the two, but they don't get that time together. We are instead shown Lexi running away as Cassie is left to be chased and beaten by Maddie Perez. We are later shown that Lexi does rise again, ready to finish her pretty successful (and expensive looking show). Still, it did not feel like an enjoyable conclusion for either of these characters. Although the show is setting itself up for a third season, I doubt that any more time needs to be waisted as Sam Levinson continues to not flesh out the supposedly less interesting characters. It's clear why Rue remains front and center, but why are other characters given such shallow archs (and possibly unnecessary falls)?

Fezco (Angus Cloud) and Lexi (Maude Apatow) sitting together

Returning to the dynamic between Lexi and Fez is made even more odd when her father's story lingers in the background. Sure, Gez has the laid-back nature that matches her own, but he sells drugs. Plain and simple. Her father used them. This does not seem to give much in terms of morality for her characts. She may question his actions here or there, but it does not seem to affect her as directly as it should. Her attraction to him should be more of a struggle. Honestly l, we could even factor in Rue as an addition to this struggle. Rue and her were close for a long time, and she had to sit and watch as her friend fell into the same path as her father. She has been seen even helping Rue cheat her away out of a positive drug test, marking how strongly she feels about Rue as a friend. We see how this conflicts her to a certain point, but not enough time is given for this reflection to be effective. It is fairly obvious that Fez is the one selling Rue more drugs to fuel this addiction, but Lexi is not allowed to think about that. This would get in the way of the artificial plot that the writers constructed for her in order to push her into the limelight. Her need to start this play and simultaneously run it is also a leap in her character that leaves me with more questions than answers. We see her play review the lives of the show's main characters in an almost sympathetic way, but her narration hardly explains away her conflicting actions alongside her hasty development in confidence. This development presents itself, consequently, as force to drive the plot rather than a natural progression.

We were together. I forget the rest.

source: annalaura_art

indy100

Woman shares theory that we never really die and it’s freaking people out

People on TikTok are freaking out after one woman suggested that we might not ever truly pass on - and that the world could have ended many

I've heard of this Quantum immortality theory before. There's this idea that we have been experiencing multiple apolocalyptic events for many years and essentially restaring humanity with each wipe out. I agree with this lady. I don't think we every truly die. Rather our consciousness could live on in an alternate reality.

It's especially odd when you consider other phenomenon like the Mandela Effect. How do some people end up believing they remember events that others believe never happened? Perhaps this is a case of some people paying more attention than others? Suddenly, those theories about the world ending on certain dates don't seem so crazy. People have theorized the world's end for centuries. More recently, people thought the world would end in 2000 (where we would experience a digital apocalypse), then in 2012 (where we would suffer cataclysmic disasters)... maybe something did come to an end in those years, but it wasn't the physical change we expected? People spit on "conspiracies", but I think it's important that at least some people are asking questions about our existence.

Fortune

Shanghai residents scream out from high-rise apartments as lockdown stretches into second week

Other viral videos coming out of the city show pets being beaten to death, parents being separated from their children, and a struggle for f

As if these past few years couldn't get more disturbing...

While they are shoving celebrity slaps and reality tv in our face, across the globe, people are screaming for a shred of freedom, and having their children snatched away from them. Is this really about "safety" at this point? What is happening to them could happen to the rest of us if we remain silent. They will create a problem, then snatch away every shred of freedom we could possibly own just to "fix" that problem. People will eventually have to create their own solutions. We know what we want. It is up to us to take it. There is strength in numbers, but a few individuals in their little high chairs have convinced us that we are lesser than. How have they done that for so long? It will come to a point where we can no longer rely on figures that would have us b*mbed in a second if it meant they could spit right back at their opponent.

These people don't want to lead. They want to destroy. The world is their playground, after all.

hideji oda’s miyori’s forrest || 小田ひで次の『ミヨリの森』