“…Even if we were to (somehow miraculously) fail to see their male bodies, we see their male privilege, their male misogyny, their male propensity to use violence – or at the very least the threat of it – against us. To prioritize their own needs, to elbow us aside, to speak over us, to violate our rights, to simulate our suffering, to plagiarize our struggles, to grab our accolades, to mansplained our very nature, to invade our hard-won spaces, to vilify our motives, to use our biology as a weapon against us, to even appropriate our very definition. To colonize an entire sex…” Continue reading
“…we can no longer say “I’m a woman” any more, without that not being offensive to the men who have officially appropriated the term. When however, in order to denigrate us, they call us “bleeders”, “egg producers”, “menstruators”, “vulva owners”, “cervix havers”, “birthing bodies”, “chest feeders”, “people with vaginas”, “pregnant people” and “non-men”, because the word “woman” has been colonized by them, and it no longer belongs to us, we are denied the right to even object. How is it that so many, intelligent, well-intentioned individuals still fail to see the disrespect, the disdain, the mockery, the unmitigated contempt, the sheer misogyny that is hidden behind such words? Continue reading
Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou By regressing into earlier expressions of womanhood that denounce feminism as aggressive and “unfeminine” and a form of misandry, and above all, by fetishising marriage and pregnancy, women are kept locked inside that cruel … Continue reading
Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou Patriarchy glorifies marriage and parenthood only in reference to women, in order to JUSTIFY the sacrifice that is required of them in both. Men’ s worth as human beings is never seen as being … Continue reading
Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou – Marriage, is for men – despite popular believe of the opposite – a pretty cushioned deal. Regardless of their age, most men expect to be “taken care of” by females (mothers, wives, daughters) for … Continue reading
Thoughts on Social Distancing and the Coronavirus Pandemic – Part III “…We are being infantilized, we are becoming needy children in need of constant feedback. And we are being told the lie that all of it is free. That we are … Continue reading
Thoughts on Social Distancing and the Coronavirus Pandemic – Part II “…Most of us have a long way to go before we need to start fighting in the streets for a can of expired sardines. Until then, we need to … Continue reading
Thoughts on Social Distancing and the Coronavirus Pandemic – Part I “…just me and my dog wandering the night streets like Will Smith in I am Legend… In the meantime, “Murder Hornets” have invaded the US. I’m guessing the biblical locusts … Continue reading
A Review of the TV show “The Crown” (Includes Spoilers) Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou. In the first scene of the first episode, Olivia Colman as the Queen, is asked to inspect a stamp with her profile. “A great … Continue reading
Art & Words, by Fanitsa Petrou “… They are nothing more than props. Interchangeable, nameless, faceless orifices that men enter at their convenience, because they’ve paid the price – in coins not connection. They are décor. Part of the scenery. … Continue reading
But then again, it stays true to the spirit of the show to fail female characters and to dehumanise and debase powerful women. So the show built Daenerys up for seven and a half seasons as the liberator of slaves, as a courageous and independent spirit who wanted to “break the wheel” and then turn her into a mad pyromaniac / mass murderer who burns an entire city in the finale and plans to enslave the entire world! That’s some fucked up stuff: the fact that the writers, went there, the fact that they needed to degrade her, in this specific manner. Cut her to size so to speak. Continue reading
this is a movie that understands women. That understands for example that deep down inside, it’s NOT about men! (Someone ought to alert the male screenwriters / directors / producers, already!) And that sometimes, all you need from life, is to sing “Eternal Flame” with your best friends, while wearing your “best muumuu”. Continue reading
“…Γι αυτό κι ο θύτης εστίασε τη θηριωδία του σε γυναίκες χωρίς φωνή, που ήξερε πως κανένας δε θα τις γυρέψει, να νοιαστεί, να σηκώσει θύελλες, να ξυπνήσει βουλευτές, υπουργούς και κομματάρχες για το χαμό τους. Γυναίκες που υπάρχουν στα κράσπεδα της κοινωνίας μας. Αθόρυβες, περιφρονημένες ήδη απ’ολους. Αόρατες σχεδόν. Χωρίς δικαιώματα. Απ’όλους ξεχασμένες. Όσοι τις αγάπησαν, ωκεανούς μακριά. Κι όσοι θα τις γύρευαν, κι αυτοί αδύναμοι, χωρίς φωνή. Κι έτσι λοιπόν τις είδε κι η αστυνομία. Σαν ασήμαντες. Έτσι κατέληξαν κομμάτια σε βαλίτσες στο πάτο μιας κόκκινης, τοξικής λίμνης. Σύμβολο της τοξικής κοινωνίας, της τοξικής Πατριαρχίας, του τοξικού ανδρισμού που δεν τις είδαν σαν ανθρώπινα πλάσματα, μα σαν αντικείμενα που θα εξυπηρετούσαν μια ανάγκη κι ύστερα θα τις ξεφορτώνονταν χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη…” Continue reading
Rituals and Rings That Old Marriage Trap – Part 3 (Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou) Maybe those marriages wouldn’ t have lasted for so long, if the little grandmothers had a little money in their name… Love, romance, sex, … Continue reading
The same goes for the rest of us. We do need to stop allowing our looks and age to define us! We need to step up and face the mirror! Ageing is a tough deal I get it. You do … Continue reading
The Woman in the Mirror – “Ageing is Not For Sissies” – Part II – Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou … In this era of proud porn watchers, public masturbators, outed sadists, and closeted pedophiles, it is heterosexual women who … Continue reading
Beauty Works “Ageing is Not For Sissies” – Part I Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou Digital artists are recruited in order to eliminate such “flaws” from actresses, keeping that face “bankable” and the illusion (and everyday women’s self-loathing) perpetually … Continue reading
Wedding Gowns & Lies. That Old Marriage Trap – Part 2 by Fanitsa Petrou In the words of Cruella de Vil: “We lose more women to marriage than war, famine, and disease!” Isn’t it interesting that in pop culture, whenever we … Continue reading
A Saviour & Protector That Old Marriage Trap – Part 1 Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou Thoughts of wedding gowns will attack their brain like a virus that spreads everywhere, erasing all non-family related dreams, wiping out all … Continue reading
I invite you all to join a Facebook group I have created: “Female Matters. Females Matter!” https://www.facebook.com/groups/FemaleMatters that is connected to this blog, and much like it, it aspires to examine pop culture seen through the eyes of feminism, and to promote Women’s Rights … Continue reading
Dear Single Women Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou Marriage is more about someone else’ s dirty laundry and bathroom habits. It’s about not having a moment to yourself, and endless chores, and to-do lists, and picking up after someone else … Continue reading
Dear Married Women Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou Sometimes it is about living without putting all your expectations about your happiness, well-being and comfort, on someone else’ s shoulders. *** Dear Married Women: if you don’ t come into the … Continue reading
WILL & GRACE – A Review (Includes spoilers) …I don’t know about you, but hearing Karen softly call Jack “Poodles”, just warms my heart… *** The fabulous foursome of the legendary sitcom Will & Grace, (Eric McCormack as “Will”, … Continue reading
Will & Grace in a Social Media World ** …come on young people with your selfie finger already tightly pressed on “Tweet”! Delete your 140-characters-long indignation. Go back to your gloomy, single camera, unscripted “comedies”, and your game-of-thrones-like shows with … Continue reading
Alexia’s “The Untold Story of Women in Jazz”- A Review Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou “…as soon as she opens her mouth to sing, we are reduced to tears (actual, cry-out-loud, bellowing-like-a-fool, fumbling-around-in-our-handbag-to-find-a-tissue-in-the-dark kind of tears…) Like for example when she … Continue reading
Married, not Dead (Thoughts on Cheating) Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou …you wouldn’t object to meeting, say, a winemaker in Provence who also happens to volunteer at a dog shelter, who would cook for you, and feed you peeled grapes while whispering … Continue reading
How about we talk of male violence, rape, abuse and discrimination, without feeling the need to add that “personally, we do love men!” (You know, how men are allowed to talk about say, the Holocaust, without also feeling the need to declare … Continue reading
Made to Measure ~ The Dystopia is near – Part III ~ By Fanitsa Petrou Their very nature, their very anatomy becomes the enemy that needs to be fought, controlled, altered, “Homogenised”, “assembly-lined”, in order to meet the “quality standards” of … Continue reading
The Cold Reality of Numbers ~ The Dystopia is near – Part II ~ Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou …men are really outraged, because a single movie theatre in Austin, Texas, “violated their rights” when it decided to do … Continue reading
The Dystopia is near – Part I ~ Marching Towards Gilead ~ Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou 30th of May 2017 * … They are also downright biblical in their obsession to practically criminalise sex outside of marriage, and in their obvious … Continue reading
The Handmaid’ s Tale – The stuff that female fears are made of. ~ A Review ~ (Includes Spoilers – season 01) Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou “Keep your shit together”, she keeps saying to herself, as she recites the woman-hating … Continue reading
Millennial Times & the Social Media Fishbowl (To My Generation, Part III) Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou Plus you are probably a website designer who re-reads the Harry Potter novels every year (and secretly believes that he is a … Continue reading
To My Generation – Part II, (The things we’ve lost) Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou You wished you had a reason to wear leg warmers like the dancers in Fame, you were seriously traumatized by Mary Ingall’ s blindness … Continue reading
To My Generation – Part I, (What it feels like) Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou You realise that people who are now in their twenties or even thirties, refer to the 90s in the same way you refer to … Continue reading
Dear Men – Part II by Fanitsa Petrou …as the years go by, and you start feeling cheated (!) by the fact that she, like any human being ever to be born on this Earth, has aged, try to remember … Continue reading
Dear Men – Part I by Fanitsa Petrou … feminists, do not have “issues” with ALL men. Just the insensitive, small-minded, violent, abusive, with deeply ingrained misogynistic attitudes ones. And if you are getting angry by reading this, then it … Continue reading
And if you feel you must marry, do yourself a favour: have separate bathrooms. It might save your marriage. Not to mention your sanity. Dear Women – Part I Art & Words by Fanitsa Petrou (Expectations, Fashion, Work, First Date, First … Continue reading
Stars Hollows Revisited A Gilmore Girls Revival review Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou It is a powerful ending, which brings tears to the eyes of all the fans of the series, and makes this journey worth taking. If only those four … Continue reading
It’s Game of Thrones without the bloodshed, the incest and the misogyny. And with songs! The other golden time of TV -Part 1- by Fanitsa Petrou I watch a lot of TV while I’m working, which is fun. One of the perks of being an artist. That, … Continue reading
“How about we bravely speak about the violent nature of countless men out there, without the constant fear that we also need to be protecting “traditional” masculinity, which is apparently so fragile, that it needs constant gratification and protection, even when it is not the victim but the perpetrator? How about we talk of rape and abuse and discrimination, without feeling the need to add that “personally, we do love men, and that they are mostly great!” (You know, how men are allowed to talk about say, the Holocaust, without feeling the need to declare their undying love for 40’s German architecture…”
Continue reading
WHO’S OUT THERE (Eleven) Types of Men: Men you are likely to meet (before you decide you’ve had just about enough…) Who are they? Their most valuable possessions / Their biggest fantasies / Their biggest fears) Art & words by Fanitsa Petrou *** … Continue reading
Η Γενιά του Κοριτσιού με το Μουστάκι της Φανίτσας Πέτρου … Οι νέοι άντρες μαθαίνουν το δικό τους σώμα μέσα από τέτοιες μονομερείς και για αυτό συναισθηματικά “ασφαλείς” για τους ίδιους εκτονώσεις που γεννιούνται από το πορνό, και οι … Continue reading
Μα ποιος τους βλέπει αλήθεια τους απελπισμένους όταν υπάρχει κάπου εκεί έξω η Madison Avenue με τα αστραφτερά brands, και τα εμετικά ρητά του Κουέλιο να σε διαβεβαιώνουν πως όλα όσα θέλεις σου αξίζουν κιόλας. Όταν υπάρχει κάπου εκεί έξω ένα ολόκληρο … Continue reading
Unless you are a doctor on call, the parent of a new-born baby, the president of your country, or a secret agent about to prevent a nuclear explosion, don’t answer your mobile when you are a guest in someone else’ s home. … Continue reading
Ποιος τα θυμάται πια τα σλόγκαν που πάλιωσαν γιατί ανήκουν σε εποχές αθώες, τότε που η Κύπρος δεν ήταν στο ραντάρ των μεγάλων της γης, των πολυεθνικών και των εταιρειών ενέργειας που κινούν μυστικά τα νήματα τούτου του κόσμου; Και … Continue reading
Αν λοιπόν η νέα pop κουλτούρα είναι σημάδι πως ζούμε σ’ ένα άρρωστο κόσμο, ετοιμαστείτε. Ο ασθενής θα χειροτερέψει… Από τον Hitchcock στο Game of Thrones της Φανίτσας Πέτρου Η βία έκανε cameback. Έγινε μόδα. Ζούμε λες στο μέσο … Continue reading
Έτσι παράγονται σήμερα τα μόνα ανταγωνίσιμα αγαθά, έτσι κτίζονται σήμερα οι υπερδυνάμεις: με μισθούς πείνας υπόδουλων λαών του Τρίτου Κόσμου, που εγκλωβισμένοι στα γρανάζια της μηχανής που τους έταξε κοινωνική ισότητα και τους τάισε υποδούλωση, ζουν την δική τους καθημερινή … Continue reading
…Η θεωρία του Godwin (“Godwin’s Law”) έχει βάση: αργά ή γρήγορα, όλες οι συζητήσεις (και όχι μόνο στο Internet) καταλήγουν σε αναφορές για τους Ναζί και τον Χίτλερ. Ίσως γιατί έγιναν σύμβολα πλέον, καθώς υπήρξαν μια αρχετυπική σχεδόν ενσάρκωση του κακού, το είδος που συναντά κανείς … Continue reading
You are half expecting to see Steve McQueen on a Vespa, or at the very least, Pierce Brosnan in his forties, wearing a white tuxedo… She had us at “Hello”– By Fanitsa Petrou (A Review of Adele’s new Album ) Don’t underestimate pop music. Jazz may be … Continue reading
“Οι εποχές που ζούμε “μυρίζουν” Ευρώπη του ’30, τότε που η οικονομική κρίση στη Γερμανία γινόταν η αφορμή και η δικαιολογία για να ξυπνήσει το θηρίο στις ψυχές όσων ήταν θύμα της, κάνοντας τους θύτες” “Refugees not Welcome?” της Φανίτσας … Continue reading
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Isn’t that always the way? Give them enough time, and even fictional heroes will betray you in the end… * A Belated Shock A BOOK REVIEW – By Fanitsa Petrou The publication of Harper Lee’s new novel “Go Set A Watchman” … Continue reading
And we need to be in the right mood, because she is likely to take us where we dread to go. And when her albums first come out, we need to listen to her new songs while being on our … Continue reading
I am painter / designer / illustrator / calligrapher / writer. In this blog, I will be posting articles about current political / social events, pop culture seen through the eyes of a feminist, as well as book / cinema / music, TV reviews. Writing is a time consuming, soul-searching, gut-wrenching (and even costly) kind of work. This place is free from censorship, commercial or political interference and the interruption of repetitive ads and pop ups. Keeping a blog that is not attached to big corporations and news portals, and which by choice does not display ads of the "sensational" variety (that relate to sex, dating, politics, the big pharma, or fortune telling) that bring clicks and profits, is not an easy undertaking. If any article has made you think, revealed a new perspective, or has caused you to smile, show it by sharing on Social Media, or by donating via Paypal. Your donation will be anonymous, (unless you choose to give your email), so that you will be certain that you won't be added to any lists without your consent. But feel free to drop me a line and make yourself known (email: fanitsa@spidernet.net) Check out my Art here: www.fanitsa-petrou.com Join my facebook feminist group: www.facebook.com/groups/FemaleMatters/
one-of-a-kind!
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Fantasy Art
Pop culture, TV & cinema reviews, feminism, social change Pop culture, TV & cinema review, feminism, social change, politics, Art, Life…
Angel Light
tall, green hand painted side table
Calligraphy with quotations about the Four Seasons.
Bookcover Art for the book "The Knights of Takius"
