#matriachy

The oldest continuous culture in the world, the australian aboriginals practiced a form of genital mutilation to make their penis resemble a vagina. Put very plainly.

Time and time again when we look to these ancient cultures we see tiny little remments of different societies and cultures that worshipped the bodily processes of women and their life giving energy. Womb envy is REAL.

Doesn't it say something that the longest continuous culture was made of many different matriachal groups within Australia?

We can look to different cultures for a blue print on where we want to go and how it was done.

Our contributions to culture and society as women have thought to either never exist or have been lost but it's still in memory of some indigenous Australian women.

There's even documentation of the ritual needed to be performed by men to become husbands.

What would a matriarchal society actually look like?

A world catered towards women would have maternity leave and paid menstrual leave, but what else? Could we assume the general working conditions would be better and allows balance in our lives? What would transport look like? More public transport? Better designed cars?

Obviously there’d be less men but what would their role be? Would they have a curfew or not be allowed in certain spaces? Would society more or less be the same in terms of men working jobs as they do now (with bosses being women) etc?

Heart of Thorns is a daring, fun and hilarious new fantasy novel that I finished in less than a day. The plots follows the flight of ex-huntress Mia Rose and her reluctant, new husband Prince Quin following their interrupted nuptials. Mia's world has been turned upside down because she learns that she has magical powers - same as the demons she has hated and hunted all her life. The relationship between the two newlyweds is strained; but the banter was full of great sarcastic quips and the world was developed with lush scenery and language. "You said you'd never manned a boat before." "I said I'd never been on a river. In my royal bathtub hewn of gold, I steered small ships made of walnuts." The origin of magic as a result of centuries of oppression and violence against women is an interesting concept. A very unique way to apply feminism to a fantasy novel. I am sure many women (myself included) wouldn't mind having unblooding powers some days. Who am I kidding? MOST Days. The book is a 5 star fantasy for me if not for the dialogue Mia has with Zaga upon their initial meeting. Now, I understand that Mia needs to be able to use/open her heart (ergo the subtitle) to access magic but I hate the argument that ALL knowledge has blinded and twisted her. Sure Mia has been taught to think poorly of the Dujia but that the blame can equally be laid on the environment. Instead, Zaga spits Mia's years of studies (history, medicine, languages, etc.) back in her face, while also arguing that the greatness gift of an inquisitive mind is its ability to silence its own inquisitions. To which I wanted to say: why can't it be both? Why can't you use your mind and heart to create brilliant things? As a creative person with a background in math and economics, I found this chapter hard to get through. Furthermore, to think with your heart means to act brashly. I don't think Mia would have survived as long as she had if she was a purely emotional person. In any case, it was a small pain point so nevertheless I persisted and I was not disappointed. The ending came on with a rush of adrenaline. Mia is forced to make a life-altering decision and this catapults us into book two. I won't say much more because I don't want to give away all the magic. But if you are looking for a fantasy book with a strong female cast that rises up against their male oppressors - this book for you. The only thing I will add is: I really hope that there is no love triangle in the following books. Familial and romantic love are veins in the plot but don't detract from the story. Soo... I will be immensely disappointed if the two sisters have to duke it out over a guy in the second book. (Small spoiler) Happy Reading XX

Susan