I know that the account of this kind of solitary imprisonment is insufferably tedious, unless there is some cheerful or humorous incident to enliven it,—a tender gaoler, for instance, or a waggish commandant of the fortress, or a mouse to come out and play about Latude’s beard and whiskers, or a subterranean passage under the castle, dug by Trenck with his nails and a toothpick: the historian has no such enlivening incident to relate in the narrative of Amelia’s captivity. Fancy her, if you please, during this period, very sad, but always ready to smile when spoken to; in a very mean, poor, not to say vulgar position of life; singing songs, making puddings, playing cards, mending stockings, for her old father’s benefit. So, never mind, whether she be a heroine or no; or you and I, however old, scolding, and bankrupt;—may we have in our last days a kind soft shoulder on which to lean, and a gentle hand to soothe our gouty old pillows.
-William M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, XXII. Eothen
Therefore, if taken seriously, a Bitch is a threat to the social structures which enslave women and the social values which justify keeping them in their place. She is living testimony that woman’s oppression does not have to be, and as such raises doubts about the validity of the whole social system. Because she is a threat she is not taken seriously. Instead, she is dismissed as a deviant. Men create a special category for her in which she is accounted at least partially human, but not really a woman. To the extent to which they relate to her a a human being, they refuse to relate to her as a sexual being. Women are even more threatened because they cannot forget she is a woman. They are afraid they will identify with her too closely. She has a freedom and an independence which they envy and challenges them to forsake the security of their chains. Neither men nor women can face the reality of a Bitch because to do so would force them to face the corrupt reality of themselves. She is dangerous. So they dismiss her as a freak.
-Jo Freeman, The BITCH Manifesto
“The Ones Before”
01. Ralph Towner - Solitary Woman
02. Eva Cassidy - Oh, Had I A Golden Thread
03. John Lee Hooker - Kiddio
04. Patti Smith - Rodondo Beach
05. Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter
06. Neil Young - Harvest Moon
“The Ones After”
07. Flying Canyon - Crossing By Your Star
08. Lambchop - The Distance From Her to There (alternate version)
09. Ani DiFranco - Millenium Theater
10. Summer Hymns - Pity And Envy
11. Ani DiFranco - As Is
12. Rogue Wave - Endless Shovel
note: list connected to an old discussion. Also in it Eva Cassidy (hey Fishy, there ya go.) and a lot of excellent recent tracks. (Ani DiFranco, Lambchop)
image credit: moriza, lunaryurna
