Heroes

Quote of the day:

I worshiped dead men for their strength, forgetting I was strong. Vita Sackville West

Watching The Golden Age yesterday evening I was impressed with Cate as a knight in shining armor. She reminded me of Joan of Arc, who has been my hero ever since I was a little girl and first heard the story. Indeed, I have always wished I was like her. Fearless. Independent of what others think of me. Willing to burn at the stake for my principles.

Come to think of it, I cannot remember women-hero role models when I was young. I adored the nuns at our local Mater Dei hospital in Bulawayo. They had been kind to me during a short stay when I was eight or nine years old.

Did I always worship nuns? I remember loving The Nun's Story with Audrey Hepburn. I think I still do. It is not the devotion to God that impresses or excites me. It is the ability to live without men, not needing to be considered sexually attractive, and to have a constant focus on doing good things for human kind. I have admiration for humility and compassion.

As I read over what I have written I see a childlike fascination with purity, and realize how naive I must sound.

And so, I simply must dedicate this post to LeAnn, and say to her:

LeAnn, it takes one to know one ...

A year ago at Mining Nuggets: Favorite photos

Comments

[tamarika]

Dear mariasimona,
Thank you so much for stopping by blog, and sharing a tip of your own story! Much appreciated.

[mariasimona]

Tamarika, I know exactly what you mean when you mention the lack of women heroes in your childhood, right now I´m looking for my own in adulthood (nuns? I don´t think so, but there is an option). I arrived to this blog looking for pictures of Vita Sackville-West and instead found a very nice quote

[tamarika]

Yes .. "A Nun's Story" it was...
Yes - Audrey Hepburn had one gorgeous neck which is what made her totally gorgeous as a nun.
And, Dean, aren't you still more precocious than some might consider normal? Gee, I certainly hope you are!

[Dean Landsman]

Too much of The Nun's story (wasn't it A Nun's story?) suffered from Audrey Hepburn's very long neck being covered by the drab, black habit.

Even as a young lad, I thought to myself, "feh, what a waste!"

Well, little did I know. Either that or I was even more precocious than some might have thought normal.

I was, of course, too young to make the punny word play, "time to kick the habit." That came later.

[tamarika]

Tess,
I am certain that there is that aspect as well: "women trapped in a narrow life ruled by men (some mortal some not...)" - just as so many women are, who are not nuns (me included for a large part of my life).

My image is fantastical and romantic and more along the lines of: "There's something beautifully subversive and powerful about their lives." (so beautifully put - thank you)

And it is precisely that second notion that I hold onto as I try and find my own identity as a woman among women in general.