#and its a matter of principle for me

[wormtoxin]

"And one specific iteration of this is that during the 60s and 70s, among certain feminist thinkers, the idea arose that before Judaism brought monotheism to the world, the patriarchy didn't exist. This is absolute historical hogwash."

"And it's only within this framework, this conspiratorial antisemitic framework, that the idea that the Jews are lying about a figure from Jewish folklore, for whom that folklore is the only source, makes any sense at all, and it's only within this framework that Gentiles taking that figure, divorcing her completely from her folkloric roots, and then worshiping her as a goddess, would even be appealing."

I found this to be really disingenuous, and went and read some of those original texts. During the 60s and 70s, these "certain feminist thinkers" were, themselves, Jewish.

I found, in no particular order:

Lilly Rivlin's 1972 article "Lilith" for Ms. magazine.

The Jewish feminist magazine Lilith, founded in the fall of 1976

jewish feminist theologian Judith Plaskow's "The Coming of Lilith", a feminist "contemporary midrash" published in 2005.

American poet and professor Enid Dame's poems titled "Lilith", "Lilith's New Career" and "Lilith and Her Demons"

Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb's theatre piece, "About Lilith", discussed here in an interview with Judy Waxman from Veteran Feminists of America in 2022. I really like this quote about the piece's use in her community work, so I'm going to post it in its entirety:

"I created a theatre piece called, About Lilith. It’s a very funny piece, and I performed it thousands of times. And in this piece, Lilith, as the old story goes, as we learn from Judith Plaskow in particular, Lilith refuses to be on the bottom. And rather than put up with her domineering mate Adam, who wants her to be on the bottom, she flies off. And I had a lot of fun with this story, and I used to create workshops. What would happen if Lilith met Eve?

I did that hundreds of times, and I tried to create a safe space for women to explore issues of agency. Because issues of domestic violence and sexual abuse on the preventative side can happen if women feel more agency. That’s one aspect. Especially young girls, if they have the language to feel like they can resist and they know how to keep themselves safe.

Another component is the question, “What resources does the community have that can assist women?” So, in Albuquerque, where I was a rabbi for 25 years, I’m still rabbi emeritus there – Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I founded my own community. That’s something else I learned from feminism. It’s a lot harder to reform…it’s almost impossible to reform, actually. I realized I needed always to start with a clean slate, and I could build an infrastructure from the foundation that was equitable. That was really the only way for me, and I believe for many people, to not spend years banging your head against the wall, but rather just from the beginning to create that space."

Jacqueline Lapidus' poem "Eden", which "imagines a lesbian encounter between Lilith and Eve. Using the Lilith legend, Lapidus invents an origin story for love between women."

"Scholar and author Ohad Ezrachi frequently writes about Lilith as a split-off sexual component of women, an image created by men fearful of a full relationship. He encourages men and women to see Lilith and Eve as the same person."

Rabbi Jill Hammer's article for myjewishlearning.org's "Women & Feminism" section, titled "Lilith: Lady Flying in Darkness". This is the article I've been quoting above. I like this article's final few lines, which I'll quote here:

"While some disapprove of this widespread embrace of a former demon, Lilith’s rehabilitation makes sense. The frightening character of Lilith grew, in part, out of repression: repression of sexuality, repression of the free impulse in women, repression of the question “what if I left it all behind?” As modern Jews begin to ask questions about sex, freedom, and choice more directly, Lilith becomes a complex representation of our own desires."

Both of the articles I read (which I'll link to below) acknowledge Lilith's place in contemporary folk Judaism as a demon, with references to the practices sometimes employed to keep her away. This confirms the second paragraph written in the post above.

To respond to specific parts I disagreed with:

Gentile feminists are not responsible for the so-called "feminist reclamation" of Lilith. Being actively Jewish themselves, these authors, poets, and academics, theologians, and rabbi probably did not, in fact, give rise to the idea that "before Judaism brought monotheism to the world, the patriarchy didn't exist."

I agree with you on the whole that it is disingenuous and antisemitic to claim that "jews are lying" about the figure lilith, or in most any context. I also think it's academical disingenuous to claim that "Jewish folklore is the only source" for Lilith. The article and encyclopedia I discuss above and link below show that, outside of folklore, Lilith is also interpreted and conceptualized through the lenses of Jewish feminism, Jewish poetry, Jewish theology, Jewish history, and Jewish literature.

Works Cited:

“Lilith is part of a closed religious practice” except it’s not appropriation to worship her as that is not practice what is within the closed practices of judaism :) Lilith is not an exclusive figure! Lilith is open

So according to your logic, it's okay to worship Lilith because she isn't worshiped in Judaism so therefore worshiping her isn't cultural appropriation. So if I a completely non-Native American/First Nations person were to start worshiping the W*ndigo, that would be completely fine, and not at all cultural appropriation, and not deeply fucked up, because W*ndigos are not worshiped in any of the cultures that have them as part of their cosmology and traditions. And I'm sure that the people from the various cultual groups that originated the W*ndigo, who tell me that doing that would be deeply deeply fucked up, and culturally appropriative, are just wrong and harshing my squee.

Don't incorperate Lilith into your practice if you aren't Jewish, and worshiping the demons from other cultures is no less culturally appropriative because they aren't worshiped in their home cultures. Hope that clarifies things! :)

[triglycercule]

imagining this very funny totally amusing bit where dust (despite having a lot of pockets) makes horror carry a lighter for him (only because he can't be bothered to remember to bring one on him all the time) and horror keeps it in his head

but horror's a dick so everytime dust wants to smoke and he needs a light horror's always like "whats the password :3" (he actually said the emoticon i was the quotation marks) and dust has to guess. because horror changes it every time. and its never something predictable. and then he either just totally gives up on that cig or he has to forcefully dig into horror's head to get the lighter because horror's being a PRICK

now dust is shoulder deep into horror's eyesocket while horror is clawing and screaming and killer's just standing there behind them watching this unfold with that fuckass smile on his face (he can't get this type of entertainment anywhere else)

[starlene]

Every time someone comments the state of musical theatre in their country by saying musicals here should be presented in English because the translations are awful, a muse loses its lyre.

I mean, sure, if you think musicals should always be sung in their original language to preserve the exact vocal flow the original artists intended or whatever other purist connoisseur reason, fine. You're entitled to that opinion.

But other than that, the correct statement is this: musicals here should be translated better because the current translations are awful.

Just saying.

[b4kuch1n]

one string is all that I need

[floridagirlboy]

fighting for my LIFE with this sketch. tumblr you get a glimpse in case i never finish. bc i kinda like this crop

[squidborne]

Absolutely unhinged article about Wicked wtf

“Stop caring about representation focus on the bigger picture about liberation!” We can and should ask for both actually. In fact one usually comes with the other.

[shadowkira]

I texted my mother yesterday asking that she call me when she didn't answer her phone. No response, even this morning.

If she ever wonders why I always contact my grandmother first...

I'm trying to tell her that we got our "dream house" for rentals. All of this will be within a 2 minute drive from the new house:

[beetrotxo]

idk whats worse the fact that this has just been rotting in my drafts for months or the fact that i read this and immediately knew who i was referring to

[cosmicrhetoric]

but it is extremely funny that when mal finally gives up the ghost and says something about the a at the end of his name the only reaction he gets is jade going "dat's nice :) 👍" and polly going "yeah yeah whatever. huh i'd be cleaning the toilets right about now"

[find-the-path]

I'm going WHERE, now????

[themyscirah]

Reading shit comics kind of sucks but at least I get the satisfaction of proving my own point w this

[bloomshore]

It is kind of crazy to me Dragonborn and Dawnguard are both DLCs. Locking two of your most interesting quest-relevant characters behind a paywall? Todd? You stupid prick?

[saintbanglesthegazelle]

I promise you if you give people the benefit of the doubt, if you assume ignorance or misunderstanding instead of malice, if you make the effort to give and recieve clarity, if you listen to people's thoughts and explanations, you will see the world as so much less cruel than you had before. So much more loving. It's not easy, but it's so so important to do, for yourself and others

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

lies on the floor and has just So Many Feelings about all the ways in which pericles and cassidy are foils, one of them being the comparison between how they use constant, vocal, unabashed affirmation of the qualities they value about themselves to cope with rock bottom self-esteem.

there's so much to be said here about how pericles' 'positive' self-talk is ultimately destructive to himself and everyone around him, whereas cassidy's has both been healing for her and held her back from processing her self-loathing in other ways, and so much of that has to do with her experiencing firsthand the results of pericles' shit handling of his poor self-esteem and desperately not wanting to be anything like him. fuck me up man

[balladofthelamb]

im honestly tired of the male attention at work, and i know its literally because my hairs been getting longer, and this frustrates me because while i do love having short hair the most, i actually feel really confident styling with the length i have now and i like having the back of my neck be warm.... and i like being able to dress more masculine but still have a couple more "feminine" attributes, it suits my genderfluidity the most. but then i feel conflicted with my butchness, especially with the type of attention i get from guys, even though i know that attention isnt my fault and i cant control how people perceive certain facets of mine. and in a way, it honestly makes me feel like no one really values my butchness or masculinity. i wish people weren't more kind to me depending on how feminine they perceive me to be. anyways, all this to say, my coworker made some comment, and then explained it to me saying it wasnt a joke, and i was like "no yeah i got it." and he was like "sorry, sometimes i over explain things to the other people here but i think it goes without saying that youre a cut above the rest when it comes to intellect"....... and then he had the gall to try and get me to agree with him........ i really hate guys like this that try and express how they value you by putting others down. UGH!

[bilerthetired]

take a wild guess on what movie I just watched