The Feminist Review

Sue Monk Kidd’s The Dance of the Dissident Daughter has been a feminist repose in my summer. Thanks to Elizabeth, I’ve been reading it, one chapter a week, and discussing it with brilliant, creative women.

I read Kidd’s later novel The Secret Life of Bees years ago, and loved it. Reading Dance shines so much light on the soul-searching and transformation that led to this provocative novel. Both books are rooted in her love for girls – her real-life daughter, the fictional Lily, and the unfettered girl inside herself who she longs to re-encounter.

Kidd invites readers into the depth and breadth of her own feminist spiritual awakening. Moving from a Baptist faithful daughter of patriarchy to Goddess-centered, grounded in a feminine soul is a powerful journey. Kidd offers detailed narratives that open up the universal aspects of her journey for all women grappling with empowerment. At least, I found myself countless times in her stories, as did the women I moved through the book with.

Kidd manages to write firmly and gently about patriarchy, particularly in the church. I am grateful for this balance, and wish that those who fear feminism would encounter the love she clearly has for her heritage and faith. But love is not always enough, and Kidd makes the frightening, exhilarating decision to stop translating and molding to keep herself and the church together. As I have been moving toward this break-up in my own spiritual journey, I was inspired by Kidd’s clarity and confusion.

Her stories and reflections are brimming with goddesses and archetypes. She weaves a tapestry of images that will feed women seeking the Feminine Divine. Her dream life and travel opportunities are richer than I can imagine for myself, and I enjoyed living vicariously through both.

I was disappointed that Kidd shied so consistently away from sexuality. I can’t think about gender or spirituality without engaging sexuality (even when the text begs for it, e.g. the opening scene of men commenting on Kidd’s daughter being on her knees). Perhaps Kidd was not ready to open the door to the complexities and pitfalls that inevitably come with sex? I have her later novel The Mermaid Chair which promises encounters with the erotic. I look forward to finding out.

Filed under: books on June 28th, 2010 by Anna Lisa