Happy New Year!!

My Dearest Readers,
With 2008 behind us and 2009 ahead of us, I wanted to personally wish all of you a glorious upcoming new year. 2008 has been a tough year for many and hopefully with this year we will see much better times. That said, this gal is off celebrating all the good things to come!! And I hope you are too. Though I usually post on the 1st, I'll be posting on the 5th with a topic sure to raise a few brows. In February, A Bit O'Muslin will be celebrating it's one year anniversary and so be sure to stop by on February first where there will be prizes and more!!!
Until the 5th, Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle

Women with Fire

My Dearest Readers,

I give thee yet another fantastic installment by the fabulous and brilliant Maggie Grover. Now mind you the picture above is *not* a real representation of what a cave woman would have looked like back then. Just so you know. Do remember to show your love and post!

Cheers and much love,

Delilah Marvelle

I have a confession. Not only am I a geek for history, I also love reading about the latest archaeological finds. In fact, once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I was going to be an archaeologist, not an historical novelist (okay, the faraway land was only Florida and it wasn't such a long time ago, 'cause sheez, I'm not THAT old). Anyway, this love of archaeology means that I keep an eye out for the latest in interesting "digs" -- "digs" is the bland term archaeologists use to describe excavating dead people. . .and it's also part of the reason I decided not to be an archaeologist. You have to dig up dead people? Eeeuw. How about I just write stories about dead people, instead? Much better. Which brings me to this month's Woman with Fire topic -- actually it's going to be WOMEN with Fire.

I'm cheering for the women of the Neolithic era (some call it the Late Stone Age and it means New Stone in Greek) who really did live once upon a time in a land far away -- not Clan of the Cave Bear long ago, but around the beginnings of modern civilization (roughly 4-6000 years) in such places as Egypt, the Fertile Crescent (modern-day Iraq) and then migrated into Europe.
The article that sparked my idea for this blog detailed the discovery of a Neolithic family grave among four burial sites in Germany. Based on a DNA analysis of the remains, the archaeologists realized the skeletons in this grave belonged to a mother, father, and two sons. The other three graves also contained members of single family groupings as well (all revealed through the FEMALE DNA, I might add). The article said that this discovery suggested that biological relationship was the focus of social organization in Neolithic times. Nothing surprising there, as we know the evidence for the family model we use today had to be somewhere.

The next bit is what got me thinking about the magnificence of Neolithic women. The researchers analyzed the strontium isotopes (designer atoms) in their teeth. The strontium from food accumulates in your teeth over time and it's a way archaeologists five hundred years from now will be able to tell if you ate primarily at McDonald's in the Pacific Northwest, or visited the McDonald's in New England on a regular basis. The results of the analysis showed that the women grew up in markedly different regions from the men and children -- the women came from a land far, far away (for real). Apparently, the women were expected to marry out of their clan -- the reason being this would avoid inbreeding and cement kinship bonds with other communities.. And it hit me . . . imagine growing up in one clan and learning all the secrets of pottery making, animal husbandry, farming, and sacred knowledge of your blossoming civilization then marrying some guy you met at the annual gathering of the clans who hailed from the other side of the "beyond" and having to learn all new stuff in order to survive in his clan! New plants, new geography, new language, new tools, new animals, new sacred symbols, new EVERYTHING. And these ladies with fire did it. Again and again. They brought their knowledge to new places, shared it with new peoples, and learned the new ways.

Which brings me to my point. Think about it, if you will. Because of the courage of our Stone Age foremothers, we females have successfully been "marrying out of our clan" since Neolithic times, which is at least 6000 years. 6000 years. No wonder we are friggin' better at multi-tasking, creating community, seeing the BIG picture, and adapting to change. And, no offense intended, but as far as I can tell, the biggest social challenge facing Neolithic men was learning to hunt, and, ahem, learning how to correctly use their own "spear".

Neolithic women began it by exemplifying the bumper sticker (paraphrasing here): Neolithic women are like tea bags, you don't know how strong they are until you drop 'em in "new-clan" hot water. So, here's to our rockin' (no pun intended) Stone Age foremothers. Thank you for laying the groundwork for us to survive in our own intense times!

Sex Tips For Wives

My dearest Readers,
I thought it quite appropriate to set this particular post on "sex tips for wives" to the above picture of an old maid handing off a dildo to the new bride with what I could only guess the advice being, "Go forth and climax, my dear, dear girl, for no husband will do it for you." As one might imagine, a woman back in the day had to be pretty fortunate to actually experience a climax during the act. Or at all. It was truly at a man's discretion as to whether his wife and/or mistress received pleasure. After all, the world evolved around men. Still does. What was more, most men back in those days didn't really understand how a woman's body worked (some men these days still don't know....ehm). Which only perpetuated a serious problem. Women were not being satisfied.

Now with every age, came a different understanding of sexuality. The picture you see above is actually Georgian. It was a time when sexuality was a bit more embraced and romping was not only fun but a way of life (for the most part). Then we move into Regency. Sexuality is slowly being clamped down on. And then we have our Victorians. Ah, yes. And this is where we officially begin. As the Victorian age is so easy to make fun of. There is a book called
"Sex Tips For Husbands and Wives From 1894" by Ruth Smythers. Allow me to highlight the fabulous points of this book. And I do mean fabulous....

*That the wedding day is the happiest and most terrifying day of a woman's life.
*And rightfully so.
*She has secured a man to provide for her for the rest of her days.
*She has also secured a man who will want "it" for the rest of her days. (Isn't *that* the truth)
*The terrible experience of sex must be faced.
*For those women who anticipate their wedding night with curiosity and hopes of pleasure...BEWARE!
*The one rule of marriage a wife must adhere to: "Give Little, Give Seldom, And Above All, Give Grudgingly."
*Otherwise a woman's proper marriage becomes "an orgy of sexual lust." (Heaven forbid!)
*"While sex is at best revolting and at worse rather painful, it has to be endured." (Hm. Submissive behavior. Sounds familiar.)
*If allowed, a husband will want it every day (and every night).
*A wise wife will only allow two very, very, very brief encounters per week for the first few months. To create children.
*With time, she should reduce the two brief encounters to one brief encounter. And then none.
*Illness, sleepiness and headaches is a lady's good friend in this matter.
*By the fifth year of marriage, encounters should be reduced to once a month.
*By the tenth year, all encounters have been terminated. (I rather like their used of termination. It's quite...appropriate)
*Sex is not what will hold a man in his home, but his children and social pressure.(You *have* to love the Victorians)
*Men by nature are perverted (isn't that the truth! LOL) and if given the chance would indulge in all sort of disgusting sexual activities.
*These disgusting activities include "performing the normal act in abnormal positions; mouthing the female body; and offering their own vile bodies to be mouthed in turn." (Those poor, poor women, not to mention those poor, poor men)
*A wife should never allow her husband to see her unclothed.
*A wife should also never allow her husband to flaunt his unclothed body.
*Sex should only be performed in utter darkness.
*The darkness creates yet another glorious opportunity for the man to stumble and hurt himself so that the act can be denied. (Snort)
*No body movement must be made by the wife during the act as it will be seen as sexual excitement.
*Kisses should be placed upon the cheek. Not the lips. (Okay, now this is where I bloody draw the line...shaking head yet again)
*Buttermilk toilet soap ought to be placed on the nether region to prevent a husband from mouthing the forbidden territory.
*The gown will not be pulled up above the waist.
*Above all, she will remain perfectly still and never moan. (Either in pleasure or in pain.)
*A wife's duty is to suppress a man's need for sex. Period.

So there it is. Sex Tips for wives from 1894. My response to the above? Where the bloody hell is that dildo?! And what about your response? Dare I even ask?
Cheers and much love until next time,
Delilah Marvelle