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The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
by Sue Monk Kidd
A Woman's Journey to the Feminine Spiritual
It all started when Sue Monk Kidd ("The Secret Life of Bees") walked into a drugstore and saw her daughter putting up stock. Two men walked by. They noticed the young sales clerk kneeling on the floor. One said to the other, “That's how I like to see a women – on her knees.” She saw the wounded look on her daughter's face, crestfallen, while the men laughed at her subordinate position. This was Kidd's awakening. It was at this point that she decided to step across the line and become a dissident daughter. She began exploring the feminine wound. She sought the feminine spiritual side and came to understand that we had lost our balance.
After years of searching, wondering where she belonged in the spiritual realm, the author realized the intensity of the female wound brought about by a world and a faith dedicated to the superiority of men. Kidd began to look at her Baptist faith more closely, seeing the constant biblical and pulpit reference to the strength of man. The casting from the Garden of Eden was constantly blamed on Eve, supposed perpetrator of original sin. The man was always led astray by the woman.If a woman spoke up, she was out of line.
The chapters in Kidd's book speak of a journey: Awakening, Initiation, Grounding, Empowerment. With each step she delves deeper into the Christian condition and winds up transformed, embracing the Sacred Feminine. Kidd goes to retreats at monasteries, seeks solace in a circle of trees and watches as her nighttime dreams lead her to new realities.
In the middle of her search, she comes to the realization that to embrace the new, she must discard the old. She says, “Women grow afraid at this moment because it means giving up a world where everything is neat and safe. In that world we feel secure, taken care of; we know where we're going.” She goes on to say that continuing in the same path denies inner feminine wisdom. “How many times can a woman betray her soul before it gives up and ceases calling to her at all?”
At the end, Kidd puts the pieces together. She take her newfound knowledge of feminine spirituality and ties it to early Christian teachings, completing the cycle.
Every woman should read this book. Not all can accept it. Some will denounce it as apostasy and some will embrace it as the feminine answer to salvation come to call. But, without a doubt, no woman can read these pages without being changed.
Title: The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006064589X
Review written by: Mindy Phillips Lawrence
Reviewer's Rating:9
Reader's Rating: 8.00
Reader's Votes: 2
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