Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Sita Narrative about the Ramayana

        The telling of Sita was too long to include Damsel Overcome.

🙍 All the myths I read are about a male and his battle with the demon to be the winner. Joan of Arc got burnt for her efforts. Mary and Jesus, she is a virgin as is the mother of Buddha and even Rama's mother given sacred grains to birth Rama. So on and on we go with the woman second. Really, the damsel has power, strength, and clever tricks to overcome the male demons and his suppression. Sita's curse on the daemon from another life is Ravana's death. He did touch her to put her in his chariot. That fact seals in the story!


In the South Gallery in the Asian Art Gallery in San Francisco when I told stories to children hung a large paper mural crudely drawn by women described the life of Sita, the faithful and pure wife. Drawings like this were gifts to brides at weddings. I was intrigued and noted what scenes were there ---> marriage to Rama, her capture, throwing of jewels, in the garden, all about Sita. I think the battles with the daemon were drawn to the sides in the background. Now, I wished I had a photo.

Sita, a damsel, was the death of a greedy human daemon.





Thursday, November 12, 2020

Damsels Overcome

 My next book -- DAMSELS OVERCOME


I've been writing about folktale that inspired me, and I have enhanced, adapted, and re-image into a female narratives only to discover -- my deception. All tradition tales between 12th to 18th century written in male voices that dominated in traditional literature, even today to keep that norm. 

Selected are folktales from my child readings and adult telling, which influence my thinking ‘women are the servers, helpless,  hysterical, not worthy, the weaker sex’ was the truth and shaped my reality. The powers the females in the selected stories in Damsels Overcome reveal skills used to survive. Included are bits of my beliefs as a child, young adult, and the insights of the old crone about the traditional norms included in folktales and legends. Men are also the victims of these norms.

Would you read my draft to see if I proved my point? 


Or, read the stories on this website under the heading Damsels Overcome.