THE QUEEN'S PATH

Simmons’ guide encourages women to follow their own roads to self-actualization and personal sovereignty.

The author, a psychotherapist, begins her discussion of the path to self-ownership by identifying two female archetypes that have permeated literature, history, and social constructs for thousands of years; then, she posits a third one that better defines women in the whole of their beings. She calls the first type “Maiden in Search of Relationship (MISOR, pronounced MEE-sohr).” This appellation applies to women who adhere to socially approved expectations—patterns that traditionally place them subordinate to men. Simmons identifies the second type—women who rebel against these constraints—as those who “take on the part of Magical, Isolated, Powerful, and Endangered (MIPE, pronounced MEE-pay).” Per the author, young girls, taught at an early age to be quiet, respectful, and dutiful, still have an inner voice that allows them to participate in behavior that society traditionally expects from boys and men. She posits that somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12, MISOR girls push their MIPE instincts back into the subconscious, accepting the roles convention has prescribed for them. Society depicts those who follow their MIPE inclinations as bad, bitchy, and dangerous, Simmons observes. (In stories, they are often witches or villains.) The author calls the separation between the two competing identities “the Divide.” Her premise is that women must navigate a path through the Divide, separating themselves from society’s expectations and embracing “The Divided Woman,” the third archetype. Simmons makes generous use of biblical stories, fairy tales, movies, and television dramas to underscore her indictment of the demeaning treatment of women. The plight of women’s subjugation is not startlingly new material; what the author brings to the table is a reconfiguration of the conception of the female psyche, one that brings together that which derives from social pressure and repressed natural inclinations. Simmons’ prose is engaging (albeit filled with unnecessary repetition of the elements that define the MISOR and MIPE); for today’s disenfranchised women, and for those suffering the penalties of ignoring societal constraints, this guide is a useful self-empowerment tool.

An intriguing analytical twist on an age-old problem.