I recently wrote about Joan of England, Queen of Scotland, who is little known because she was a quintessentially nice young lady. Her mother, Isabella of Angoulême, was not such a nice young lady and as such she is a much more intriguing historical figure – albeit more famous in France than in England. Why… Read more More Jezebel than Isabel
Today, I had planned on discussing the birth and death of Elizabeth of York. Alas, I feel as though I must discuss Beyoncé’s performance at the 2016 Super Bowl before it and its civil rights message loses cultural focus. First, a celebration of one’s heritage and ancestry only seems to be problematic in America when… Read more Beyoncé and Entertainment as a Site of Resistance
Today, January 25, is the day Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII wed in secret for the second time in 1533. From the Catholic perspective, it was bigamy, in that the Pope had not released Henry from his first marriage. The marriage was also wildly unpopular with his subjects because Anne was thought of as a… Read more An Anne Boleyn Analog in Modern China?
Iconic musical superstar David Bowie has passed away from cancer at the age of 69. His birthday was January 8th, 1947 and I am convinced he held onto life until 2016 because he wanted “69” to show up on every obituary. His overt sexuality and wry sense of humor would both be satisfied by that,… Read more David Bowie: Amazing and Transgressively Gender Fluid
I don’t consider myself to be unreasonable, but shouldn’t you READ a book before you review it … especially if you are going to give it a snark-filled, snide, condescending one-star review? This is on my mind, since I recently received a vicious one star review of The Jezebel Effect based on the pseudo-reader’s ire… Read more The One Star Angst
I have a guest post up over on Saints, Sisters, and Sluts regarding the ancient Israelite queen Jezebel and the feminine personification (or hypostasis) of God. This is not a topic that brings joy to my friends and relatives who have a more orthodox view on theology. In sharp contrast, I am fascinated by it… Read more Hagia Sophia
First, let me give a BIG thank you to all those who have already bought my book, The Jezebel Effect. Now comes step two – begging for reviews. For those of you who are not authors, let me explain that books live or die by the reviews they receive. The more reviews, the better. In… Read more Abject and Pathetic Pleading
Obviously, not all powerful and dynamic queens are slut shamed. Even when they develop reputations for other wretched things, it does not QED lead to rumors of sexual deviance. Mary I of England got the moniker Bloody Mary for her strong-arm attempts to re-establish Catholicism in England, but she was never called ‘Slutty Mary’. No… Read more What About the Strong Queens Who Were NOT Slut Shamed?
Obviously, The Jezebel Effect contains historical and cultural analysis of the ancient Israelite queen Jezebel. She is the epitome of a slut shamed queen. Even though other queens are reviled as harlots, only Jezebel has a place in major religions as a uber-harlot. In fact, Jezebel has been upgraded from a strumpet to a demon… Read more Would Jezebel like Thin Mints or Samoas the best?