"The Holy Bitch"

Thoughts On, About and by Women featuring Denise Linn

"I love my women friends. They comfort me during the hard times and celebrate with me during the splendid times. They are wonderful, passionate, compassionate and kind...and some of them are also occasionally considered "bitches". People have said to me, "Denise you are so nice, why do you have friends that act like bitches?". After hearing this comment, a number of times, I realized that I was subconsciously drawn to strong women who spoke their truth and weren't afraid to speak up for themselves....
The word "bitch" has an interesting history. It became a derogatory term in early Christendom because it was one of the most sacred titles of the goddess Artemis, who led a pack of hunting dogs. "Holy Bitches" were also found in ancient India as the revered Bitch Goddess Sarama, who led the Vedic dogs of death and rebirth...
I have grown to cherish cherish the word "bitch" and I even use an acronym for a woman who is "Being In Total Control of Herself".
Of course, there are nasty bitches, but the woman I'm describing is a "holy bitch." She is self assertive while at the same time maintaining her humor, dignity and grace. A holy bitch speaks for herself, yet she still has love, joy, and creativity in her life.
The greatest thing I learned from these friends is that you can communicate your truth clearly and compassionately without having to package it with a pink bow and "niceness."

~ Excerpted from "Secrets and Mysteries" by Denise Linn (This sub chapter entitled "Holy Bitch", is among one of my favorites in this book:)

Today's Featured Voices of Women ~ Joan Baez

TODAY'S FEATURED VOICES OF WOMEN ~ JOAN BAEZ

Women have often been key leaders in working for peace. Joan Baez is known for her pro-peace positions in the Vietnam era.

"My concern has always been for the people who are victimized, unable to speak for themselves and who need outside help." ~JB

Dates: January 9, 1941 -
Occupation: folksinger, activist
Known for: part of the 1960s folk revival; advocacy of peace and human rights
Also Known as: Joan Chandos Baez
About Joan Baez
Joan Baez was born in Staten Island, New York. Her father was a physicist, born in Mexico, and her mother of Scottish and English descent. She grew up in New York and California, and when her father took a faculty position in Massachusetts, she attended Boston University and began to sing in coffeehouses and small clubs. Bob Gibson invited her to attend the 1959 Newport Folk Festival where she was a hit.

Vanguard Records signed Baez and in 1960 her first album, Joan Baez, came out. Baez was known for her soprano voice, her haunting songs, and, until she cut it in 1968, her long black hair. Early in her career she performed with Bob Dylan, and they toured together in the 1970s.

Subjected to racial slurs and discrimination in her own childhood because of her Mexican heritage and features, Joan Baez became involved with a variety of social causes early in her career, including civil rights and nonviolence. She was sometimes jailed for her protests. Joan Baez married David Harris, a Vietnam draft protestor, in 1968, and he was in jail for most of the years of their marriage. They divorced in 1973, after having one child, Gabriel Earl.

In 1967, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied Joan Baez permission to perform at Constitution Hall, resonating with their famous denial of the same privilege to Marian Anderson.

Early in her career, Joan Baez stressed historical folk songs, adding political songs to her repertoire during the 1960s. Later, she added country songs and more mainstream popular music, though always including many songs with political messages. She supported such organizations as Amnesty International and Humanitas International. Joan Baez continues to speak and sing for peaceful solutions to violence in the Middle East and Latin America.