why did it take this long?

[kaigou]

I won't go into any irons I may have in the fire (but I will say it's long since died past embers), but it still surprises me -- and disappoints me greatly -- to discover that this conversation in the pagan world is only now occurring with any significant intensity. It's 2011 already, people. This debate is long overdue.

Comments

[branchandroot]

*snorts* Yeah, the basis of paganism in the West has been so damn cis from the very start. It's one of the things that pushed me away. (Like you, the fire is pretty well burned down for me.)

...well, that and the whole "matriarchal prehistory" bullshit.

[thejeopardymaze]

The Wiccan community (not all individuals, of course), is still stuck in a 70's mindset. I'm trying to think of the bright side of this drama, that being that the cultural and generational shift of the young people (& one of the reasons why I'm sick of hearing about how every generation after the world wars are so evil and narcissistic) is clearly pretty more liberal and open minded about gender issues, so at least that's a sign of hope for the future.

In fact (kind of ironic that I'm linking to a Goddess movement site, but I haven't found any in depth news items on these kinds of pagan/polytheist generational divides yet) I hear of goddess/Dianic types complaining about the lack of interest from the younger generations about their gender essentialist religion (not hard to understand why these days...)-

http://www.matrifocus.com/LAM09/editorial.htm

Speaking of cultural appropriation

[thejeopardymaze]

One would also think that by 2011 more people would be aware of the fact that Lilith was never a goddess, but an evil demon who sickened at killed children, even during the Bronze Age in the Near East. And don't even get me started on the self-proclaimed Amazons. There is so much Wrong here that is so typical of the state of the pagan and occult community its not even funny.