79. A new pattern and positive thinking

An easy pinafore dress and thoughts on a feminine upbringing

I have been a bit laid back this week. I attribute it to the new moon phase. It’s convenient to attribute my tiredness to the new moon and it makes me treat myself a bit more gently than if I had no excuse at all. We all have our ups and downs and I like to recognise mine as part of the moon cycle. I like order and continuity and using the moon cycle to create a feeling of order works really well for me.

According to my self imposed schedule, I am late posting my newsletter this week, but I have softened the deadline and will post before the end of July.

I read and listen and think a lot about the world in crisis and I am pleased to see Anthony Albanese (Australia’s PM) using language and expressing emotions that are more gentle than the typical hard hitting bully leader. Something he often says is that showing kindness is not a weakness.

I would love to see more women in positions of power but getting power is not a big driver for women and when they get there they have to suppress their feminine traits or quickly lose their place. It is still a man’s world, where only masculine traits are considered useful. I hope that our prime minister is able to leave a legacy for both male and female members of parliament, now and in the future, so they feel comfortable using a combination of male and female traits.

I am happy with my feminine socialisation. Luckily I live in a country where women are respected as people, if not equals. Looking back on my working years I can see that I would have benefited from some training in how to deal with men in a way that combined my feminine traits of cooperation and humbleness with some more masculine traits of speaking up and not succumbing to intimidation. However, successful women shouldn’t have to act like men and suppress all their feminine traits just to get ahead. Since it is women who are fighting for their say in world affairs it is women who need to uplift other women by pointing out women’s roles in successful negotiations or women’s roles in creating healthy and productive societies. Being the best country in the world is not just about stopping an attack by another country it is also about the standard of living for the people.

What’s the use of having a huge defensive army if it is not balanced out by a high standard of living? I think women are better equipped to create both. Will the mothers of the future be able to socialise their little girls to speak up and have their ideas taken seriously. I can only hope, though I may not be around to see it happen.

I can’t help adding here that Ursula von der Leyen now president of the EU had her university thesis examined in 2015, 25 years after she wrote it. In 2015 she was the Minister for Defence in Germany and she has some ‘interesting’ ideas about how things should be run that were not very popular. Ideas such as daycare for soldiers, recruiting soldiers from any EU country into the German army, suggesting Ukraine and Russia should negotiate rather than send arms to Ukraine. I’m glad she survived the attack on her character. She is obviously a great person to have as a world leader.

I used Wikipedia as my source.

In the mean time I am all for continuing to instil traits of nurturing and cooperation in little girls and doll play is a great way to do that. I have a new classic doll dress design this week. It is a classic pinafore dress with straps and snaps. I will also be including the open neck blouse with short gathered sleeves that I have extracted from my 1806 shirt combo pattern.

You will need to be a paid subscriber to download the pattern files. Adding doll clothes patterns to my newsletter is my way of continuing my Doll Clothes Pattern Club alongside other lifestyle topics and resources that interest me.

Cheers,

Val