Oh Tori

An article posted on JEZEBEL sent me skipping down (yet another) Tori Amos path, merrily listening to my entire Tori collection on shuffle for 48 hours while working and humming along to the imagery. I have been fortunate enough to see the goddess perform live twice now, and both times she brought me to tears. Even when I didn’t want to be moved, she reached into my heart with her haunting voice and grabbed a hold of something in what can only be described as a long, motherly hug.

I’m mad about her and don’t hide the fact. 

Seriously, the way this woman plays the piano!

Just as Oscar Wilde and Richmal Crompton helped shape my sense of humor, and Lewis Carroll helped shape my sense of whimsy, I have come to realize that Tori is my spiritual mother and helped shaped the way I see the world and think about things for the better part of 20 years.

I love what she has to say about feminism in this interview:

"Well look, if you're a real feminist, in truth then you're a humanist because it can't be about the matriarchy that just supplants the patriarchy. It has to be about humanity and equality for all. And that to me is the seed of spiritual feminism. Now feminism came out of a place with the suffragettes and issues that completely and absolutely needed to be addressed at that time and still need to be addressed in certain parts of the world.

For me now, in the 21st century in 2014, in America and in the West, it's very much about human rights. Women's rights naturally are very important to me and violence against women and those types of things, of course is something that I'm aware of, but also, there are a lot of men who are feminists that I know that are very concerned about women's rights, and that needs to be acknowledged. There are a lot of men in my life that are feminists and I'd like to say that, as well, I'm concerned that the men in my life are being treated fairly and with compassion. And to me that is where feminism inspires me—it goes beyond gender. It has to. For us to be whole and for us to really have learned and for us to be giving back to the world, we have to consider everyone's equality and humanity."

Go Tori!

Love, lust and fairy-star-dust,

Cherry Blossom (aka Cornflake Girl)