You read it here first! I am establishing a new sub-genre of
women’s fiction and romance fiction: Crone Lit, coming to a book seller near
you!
I happen to be one of the very few women, I discovered, who
thinks crone is a perfectly good word
that women ought to reclaim. I know I was influenced by the book, Crones Don’t Whine (Bolen, http://amzn.to/15dUsFd ). Until then, I never
gave the word much thought. I loved the notion of being a “juicy woman”. Oh,
and perhaps being a woman “of a certain age” I have come to a different
perception, too. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be a "crone" than a "senior"!
I am convinced it was male underhanded dirty politics which
led to the pejoration of the word. When you check it out, ignore the etymology
from Old Northern French meaning “cantankerous woman”, and go to how the word
plays out.
Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about “crone”:
The crone is a stock
character in folklore
and fairy tale, an old
woman. In some stories, she is disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner,
often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either
helpful or obstructing. The Crone is also an archetypal figure, a Wise Woman.
She is marginalized
by her exclusion from the reproductive cycle,[1] and her
proximity to death places her in contact with occult wisdom. As a character
type, the crone shares characteristics with the hag.
The word "crone"
is a less common synonym for
"old woman," and is more likely to appear in reference to traditional
narratives than in contemporary everyday usage.[2] The word
became further specialized as the third aspect of the Triple
Goddess popularized by Robert
Graves and subsequently in some forms of neopaganism, particularly Wicca in which she symbolizes the
Dark
Goddess, the dark of the moon, the end of a cycle. In New Age and Feminist spiritual circles, a
"Croning"
is a ritual rite of passage into an
era of wisdom, freedom, and personal power.
What’s not to like about that?
Focus on these key terms: wise woman, wisdom, freedom, personal power. Okay, so hag
is there, but really, that and the etymology are the pejoration pieces.
Focus on the fact that traditionally
a crone could be either sinister OR sympathetic and supportive. Just like REAL
people, right? So let’s write Crone Lit that shows real women “of a certain
age” drawing upon those years of experience.
I have a play in progress with a crew of crones (that’s what
I’m calling a group: crew), and I
have outlined a novel. I think women want to read about women like themselves;
older, wiser, without “work” having been done who face the realities of aging
and loving. Don’t you?
References:
Crones Don’t Whine:
Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women, Jean Shinoda Bolen http://amzn.to/15dUsFd
