A warm and friendly welcome to all you Chapesses (and I suppose you too sly chaps that fancy finding out what all the whispering and scheming has been all about - that's mainly you Richard!)
First of all, I thought I might set out thoughts about why I am doing this...!
I've met lots of remarkable women in the last couple of years and they more than anything have inspired me to get going with this project. I see it as a long term ongoing exploration, but also as a long overdue form of micro-activism.
More than anything, I ultimately hope that doing this Zine and blog will go someway to freeing women from their final shackle - themselves! All the self recrimination and berating that I have indulged in and witness other women put themselves through, seems to me to be one of our highest hurdles, one that is just waiting to be surmounted.
I actually feel quite strongly that this project - if it works - could be part of the humble beginnings of the fourth and final wave of feminism that we need in the UK - self-liberation!
I know that change can come from small steps and I make no apology for keeping my activism fairly local! Not that I don't want to welcome readers afar, but I really believe that ripples can spread far and wide and that's how I see the zine and this blog ultimately fulfilling my rather daunting and ambitious opening gambit! I do believe this could be the beginnings of a new sisterhood speaking out together for an improved representation of women, but I think this can only be brought about by instilling greater belief in ourselves first. How? Well, I believe there is great merit in sharing our experiences. Taking time to creatively interpret and express what we are experiencing can also be hugely cathartic. It probably goes without saying that discovering that others are thinking about something ... or have been through something that you are going through makes you feel more connected and less alone in this big wide world.
Don't believe for one miniute that I am as confident as I sound - but my motivation for doing this is ironically to somehow find the self belief I know I will need to pull this off! Fortunately I have a great deal of determination on my side!
Anyway, I have recently uploaded a bit of a manifesto which is actually a bit cloying I think!!! Never mind - it is stuff that I really do believe in ... so I make no apology for it! The manifesto 'codes' aren't intended to be rules at all ... I suppose it felt helpful to have a sense of what values underpin this publication. Most of all, the thinking behind starting 'The Chapess' is to champion everything that is good about us ladies - hopefully a bit of back patting will help build up our self-confidence along the way. We all know how fragile that can be ... I know I do!
Zed x
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