Sex, Power, and Ann Romney

f I could play a game of Freaky Friday with anyone, it would be Ann Romney.

Oh to be affluent, clueless, and white.  To have multiple children born male who subsist on handy-me-downs. To never know the meaning of 'shuck and jive' and if I heard it, to only chuckle because it sounded so low-brow. To cling dearly to religious passages that affirm the choices that I have made for my life and have others around me respect me for those choices.  To be married, the one and only wife of a man who has made my life easier because he has left me and a host of household employees to the care of our family and hearth, while he does what he knows best--shuckin' and jivin'.

For now, Anne Romney represents an image of feminine power and sexuality to which some American women will aspire.  Girls are often asked who they want to most be like, and that person, whether female or male, becomes a figment that exists outside of her conscience molding itself and taking the best of her insides to create something bigger on the outside.  As monstrous as that sounds, women encounter the same dilemma of  needing to be better, smaller, and  to always exist for something greater and larger than herself.

Forget about the superficial debates about what women really want.   Resist the urge to do a mental google search for which Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.  Don' t dare to stop and think about your mother and what kind of example she provided for you. See all those images of women in business suits, on prescription drugs, in aprons, on birthing tables, on poles, in swimsuits, on film, and in military fatigues?   Delete them from your brain.  Sit comfortably.  Place your hands over your pelvis. Now, go inside of yourself.  Welcome to the true essence of power.

The second chakra, Swadhisthana, is loosely translated as the seat of the sacred self.  In here a woman holds that which is most precious--her uterus.  The uterus literally floats inside of the pelvis only attached to the rest of the lower body by her ligaments.  Because the organ moves freely, her positioning is easily affected by the states of the surrounding organs like the bladder and rectum. The sacred area  is governed by sexuality, creativity, and power. Meditating here, you can create an increased sense of flexibility and flow in your life.  Swadhithana is where you trust yourself to follow your dreams, adapt gracefully to any situation and release ideas that are no longer useful.  This all sounds very flowery and new-agey, but think more Jillian Michaels and less Deepak Chopra.

With so much power radiating from one place it's hard to see why women do not take up more space in the upper echelons of society, since they practically give birth to civilization.  Consider this-- after c-section, a hysterectomy is the most common form of surgery performed on women in the U.S, even when it is not medically necessary and there are other viable options. African-American women are more likely to receive this surgery than White American women, and hysterectomies are most commonly done by male ob-gyns and than female ones. In her book, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, Dr. Christiane Northurp recounts her days in residency when an oft used slogan was " The uterus is for growing babies or for growing cancer."  When the uterus is removed, we are told that we have lost a power source and an ability to function normally without the aid of synthetic hormones.

So, what do we talk about when we talk about sex, power, and creativity?  Certainly not reproductive organs.   We talk about values and qualify them as either conservative or liberal.  Someone else is having a discussion about how all three can either be a force for good or the seat of corruption.  All of the brouhaha is within earshot of the uterus, and she has something to say. It's time to get grounded and tune into her energy.   Instead of reaching out or up for borrowed strength, lets turn an interal gaze toward the uterus. She holds the secrets and solutions for our life only noticeable to us when we carve out time to listen.