Daylia, while also a pagan, I could never bring myself to join a female only wiccan coven, purely for the fact that the energies to be called upon are both masculine and feminine. To have all females, you are pivoting over the edge of a feminine balance to something else. Woman also have bad sides, and can be spitefull, vicious, catty and subtley manipulative, before you realise you've been manipulated. In life as well as religion, I beleive we should appreciate the male and female form and energies for what they are, both positives and negatives.

Serious thread drift here I know - but throughout my life (and I'm still only in my twenties) I have had to fight against male dominance. My father for one, has a noticable lack of respect for what I say, yet can hear the same words from my younger brothers mouth. I am not seen exactly as an equal. I know that I am. My mother however female rightous she could be, would still make my dads dinner, and serve his food first. The things she said and things she did contradicted. I on the other hand became single purely because after I had constantly been ignored and treated like the little woman, the little woman suddenly became Budecea (however you spell her name!). Still I have had to fight verbally, even physically against males in my life, and have been matched equally. Neither more or less. That has what has got me victory - I have the knowledge that I am neither better or worse than my counterpart, they on the otherhand think I'm less than they are. The shock tends to be great.

I have always been a bit tomboyish and hated the thought that I was a girl growing up. As an adult, I still prefer trousers, but I also embrace that I am a female.

And yes, the media still exploit women for a recent example I was disgusted by the I'm a celeb get me out (in) the jungle....A woman was put up to wear a skinny white bikini and wash her body with soap under a shower until some key/token was uncovered by the soap to rescue her fellow Celebrity jungle buddy. The footage taken was numerous and tended to focus heavily on her bikini. When she came out of the jungle, she was shocked at the footage, and had no idea that they were filming her for so long, or even showed the film on TV. If that is not respect for someone, then I don't know what is?
She took it in good faith, but it was still an unnecessary intrusion.