July 6 2025
One of the truest short stories ever written, especially if you’re neurospicy. 🥴
Neurospicy True Story
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Category Archives: News and Events
Feminism of the Printing Press – An Unbreakable Thread
July 5 2025
Photo by Jay Turner on Unsplash
(This is an essay I submitted for my UNR Modern World compressed summer class. Loved that class!)
The shift to individualism alongside the invention of the printing press sparked the key theme of Enlightenment. Enlightenment led to feminism, with one not being possible without the other. Enlightenment eventually led to revolution and equality. Equality led to a declaration of rights; which led to first wave feminism leaders demanding equality and formal education for women. None of these periods would have happened as they did, or would have happened much slower, without the printing press. It’s important to look at the components of each of these in order to understand how they are connected. From Martin Luther’s challenges to the Catholic Church through Mary Wollstonecraft’s, Vindication of the Rights of Women, a society and culture built on patriarchy slightly weakened, leading to women demanding equal rights, education, a room of their own, and the first wave of feminism.
The Printing Press and Individualism → Enlightenment
Martin Luther’s 1520, The Three Walls, puts forth that individuals should be given the opportunity to read and learn, making decisions for themselves; rather than simply believing the messages of spiritual leaders and doing what they are told to do and living life how they are told to live. In doing this, Luther went against the established traditions of the Catholic Church. His ideas came about at the same time as the printing press was invented.
Luther was able to share his message with the masses and to print translations of the Bible in languages other than Latin. “By these and many other texts we should gain courage and freedom, and should not let the spirit of liberty (as St. Paul has it) be frightened away by the inventions of the popes; we should boldly judge what they do and what they leave undone by our own believing understanding of the Scriptures, and force them to follow the better understanding, and not their own.” (Luther Pg4)
Stemming from Martin Luther’s encouragement, a movement began of people desiring to read and educate themselves. Once this movement caught hold, citizens were not satisfied with only having the Bible to read, with their desire to read more growing the market for the printed word. Ideas spread much faster than in the past due to the printing press and with materials being produced in vernacular languages.
In 1784, over two hundred years later, Immanuel Kant expanded Luther’s message in What is Enlightenment?“Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another.” (Kant Pg1) This continued the ideology of encouraging people to read, to think independently, to make their own decisions, and come to their own conclusions.
Pulling back and looking at this broadly and from our current period, we see that this meant escaping minority status and oppression for the middle and lower class. Kant relates doing what you’re told to do as living life as a child. With this comparison, we see how it begins to connect with the status of women, and how strict religious ideology and patriarchy wish to keep women childlike. Kant understands why folks resist this, but insists they need to be courageous. “ … his immaturity is self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!” (Kant Pg1) This led us into the period known as Enlightenment.
Revolution and Equality → Declaration of Rights
Enlightenment brought with it a clear understanding of the distinction of classes, with the middle and lower classes pushing back against the absolute power and rule of the aristocracy. In 1789 Emmanuel Sieyes wrote What is The Third Estate? What he describes is essentially what we call the 99% today. “Thus, what is the third estate? Everything; but an everything shackled and oppressed. ‘What would it be without the privileged order? Everything; but an everything free and flourishing.” (Sieyes p160-161) By its very nature, Enlightenment housed within it the beginning struggles of the 99% for equality. This in turn, led to revolution because the aristocracy did not want to give up money and power. “The third estate must perceive in the trend of opinions and circumstances that it can hope for nothing except from its own enlightenment and courage.” (Sieyes p162)
The French Revolution was fought for this reason. Following and alongside this, the Haitian Revolution was fought by slaves against their masters for the same reason. Equality. This directly connects to the inequality that women experienced. In fighting for class equality and an end to slavery, women were absolutely a part of these revolutions.
The idea of slavery being wrong and that every person is equal is another thought that changed. John Locke was against slavery, putting forth his reasoning in Two Treatises of Government. He did this two centuries before slaves were freed in America. With his ideas being written and printed, shared and read, this is an idea that spread. “Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man, or number of men in the world …” (Locke sec87) Slavery connects with the status of women, as both slaves and women were considered as and treated as less than (white) men. Their entire history was of being “othered”.
Following the end to slavery and equality won by way of these two revolutions, The National Assembly of France wrote in 1789 the Declaration of the Rights of Man. “The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration …” (National Pg1)
Then in 1791 Olympé de Gouges wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman. “Woman, wake up! The tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the universe; recognize your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies. Regardless of what barriers confront you, it is in your power to free yourselves; you have only to wish it. Let us pass now to the shocking tableau of what you have been in the past; and since national education is in the air at this moment, let us see whether our wise legislators will think judiciously about the education of women.” (de Gouges Pg4)
Equality and Education → First Wave Feminism
Without the Declaration of the Rights of Man, followed by the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, there likely would not have been a feminist movement and all that stemmed from it (or the movement would have happened much slower). Women’s rights were a seed planted and incubated within the Declaration of the Rights of Man to be fully birthed just a short time afterwards.
In 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft writes a jarring statement in The Vindication of the Rights of Woman, “We might as well never have been born, unless it were necessary that we should be created to enable man to acquire the noble privilege of reason, the power of discerning good from evil, whilst we lie down in the dust from whence we were taken, never to rise again.” (Wollstonecraft p182) She was one of the pioneers of modern feminism, writing this piece about women after the French Revolution.
The feminist movement that was born from the French and Haitian Revolution, the radical political thinkers that spoke up, wrote their ideas and shared them through the use of the printing press has had a long-lasting impact on modern culture. It’s horrifying and sickening to witness society slipping back to political thinking that aligns more with pre-Individuliasm, pre-Enlightenment, and pre-French Revolution.
An unbreakable thread connects our current third wave feminism back to Martin Luther’s, The Three Walls, and the invention of the printing press. Individualism and Enlightenment combined with using the printing press were seeds planted and nourished by those who saw the benefit to society and believed in encouraging citizens to read and learn, and to arrive at their own conclusions. The seed blossomed and bore the fruit of revolution, individual rights, equality for all people, and first wave feminism. From Martin Luther’s challenges to the Catholic Church through Mary Wollstonecraft’s, Vindication of the Rights of Women, a society and culture built on patriarchy slightly weakened, leading to women demanding equal rights, education, a room of their own, and the first wave of feminism.
Works Cited
de Gouges, Olympé. “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Woman-Citizen” 1791.
Kant, Immanuel. “An Answer to the Question: “What is Enlightenment?” Konigsberg, Prussia, 30th September, 1784.
Locke, John. “Modern History Sourcebook: Two Treatises of Government, Chapter II: Of the State of Nature.” 1690.
Luther, Martin. “Modern History Sourcebook: Address To The Nobility of the German Nation, The Three Walls of the Romanists.” 1520.
National Assembly of France. “Declaration of the Rights of Man.” 1789.
Sieyes , Emmanuel. “What is the Third Estate?” 1789.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. “Vindication of the Rights of Women.” 1792
The Shine of Nature
July 4 2025
Nature delivers every time.
Dandelion Dreams While Walking
July 3 2025
Gorgeous walk this morning. Dandelion dreams. 🍃🍃🍃
Freeze Frame: Electric Poetry, Math Paradise and a Root Canal
July 3 2025
This week has been full, with moments of quiet and slowness.
Watched: The Last Night at Tremore Beach, a Spanish limited series. This one took me between frustration with some of the characters, to on the edge of my seat, to an intense drive to figure out what the hell was happening. Great series!
Watched Winter’s Bone, although a sad story, I enjoyed the acting and the sheer grit of the teen sibling determined to take care of her young siblings and disabled mom.
Watched The Electric State, mainly because I’m a Millie Bobby Brown fan after watching Stranger Things. This seemed like it had good potential with a great story. It had some unique aspects, but left me unsatisfied.
Watched Memento, and it was a wild. You’re left not really knowing what’s happening. Really cool.
Walked: I went for walk in Curti Ranch and the Damonte Ranch wetland loop; which I hadn’t visited in a year or two.
Read: Still reading Why Poetry. This is such a fantastic book.
Read: Window, a story contained in The Weird – A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories volume that we used for the Craft & Writing Horror Workshop last semester. I just randomly opened the book and read the story I landed on. This is a great story with a sci fi feel to it.
Listened to: Driving around running errands and going to appointments, I listened to Faded by Miki Rae, Evil Woman by Electric Light Orchestra, Get on the Good Foot by James Brown, Paradise City by Guns N’Roses, I Love Rock ’N Roll by Joan Jett, Tall Drink by Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds, and Everybody Wants You by Billy Squier.
Wrote: I polished and submitted three poems to Pleiades. I’m going to get as many submissions as possible done before the fall semester begins. Hoping to have 1-3 submissions accepted that I can use when applying for the MFA program.
Health and Body: Last Wednesday night I got a severe toothache in a tooth that has been giving me problems on and off. I knew I may eventually need a root canal in this tooth. That time had come. So this Tuesday I had a root canal. Bleh! But I have absolutely no pain now, so it was a lightening fast recovery.
I’ve been having anxiety and worry about a summer math class that is set to begin July 21st. It’s a core requirement so I’ve got to take it so I can graduate Spring 2026. Well, that happens to be the same week we’ll be at conference, so I would miss the entire 1st week of a 5 week compressed class. I could take it in the fall but that would make for 4 days at UNR, taking 5 classes in person. So this weekend I got online to check one more time for any college in Nevada offering this math class online. Success! Found one. I’ve registered to take it in the fall. I’ll still have 5 classes, but at least this one will be online. One item off my worry plate!
It was Lillian’s turn for a haircut this time. I drove her to The Beauty Project on Monday afternoon for a trim. She always likes to get a fresh cut before conference.
Rant: I’m also worried about this vile bill that the US Republicans are trying to pass. A brief explanation for anyone interested follows.
Medicaid is more than healthcare. Lillian receives Home & Community Based Services (HCBS) through her disabled medicaid. The rules to qualify are rigorous. There is no one taking advantage of this. How could they? There are multiple, confusing steps and there must be a diagnosis that qualifies. It is heavily monitored once approved.
This allows me to work part-time so that I can be Lillian’s Shared Living Provider, allowing her to be integrated into the community. This means that I case manage her life. I make appointments, take her to them, assist her with tasks she cannot do on her own. I make calls, I track her medical records, I take her to local events. This is essentially a more than full time job.
If this bill passes, cutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid, this service (HCBS) gets eliminated. I would have to find full time work. What happens to Lillian? I cannot work two full time jobs, she would have to enter a group home, of which we only have a few in Reno. This takes her out of the community. What happens to Lillian?
Now, multiply Lillian times the thousands of parents and caregivers who are in this role for their disabled loved one. There is more to this than what I share. However, I want to keep it short so folks will read it. This will essentially remove thousands of people with disabilities from their communities, hiding them away. Are we making America great by bringing back eugenics? Do you care?
Please call your congress person and tell them to vote Hell No. If you’re in the same area as me:
Mark Amodei
DC: 202-225-6155
Reno: 775-686-5760
Lillian – 2016 (Age 15)
See you next week, or the next, or the next … Thank you for reading my writings and for subscribing!
Clouds Dishing the Good Kind of Weird
July 1 2025
Weird. The good kinda weird. 🦇🦇🦇
Feeling Weird with a Heart Shaped Leaf
June 30 2025
I just submitted poems to a publication. Now I feel weird. 🫣 Cool plant at The Beauty Project today, though!
Wonderful Walk After Completing the TA Gig
June 30 2025
Finished the TA gig yesterday. It was a great opportunity to earn 3 credits, and interesting to see students get enlightened about disability ethics. Had a wonderful walk this morning. 💚
This is a No Tag Zone
I have never seen a more perfect description of this. 🤣
Gratitude for Scattered Pieces Coming Together
June 28 2025
(Originally posted on my Substack – https://camilladowns.substack.com/)
Welcome to this new weekly (maybe) installment. Please let me know if you think this will be too much for your inbox; receiving this weekly share in addition to my Friday essay or poem. Since this will be inconsistent and not necessarily covering only a week, or even the week in which I share it, I’m titling it, Freeze Frame.
Watched: The Lighthouse. This is one wild movie. I still don’t know what happened. Were both men crazy? Was one of them hallucinating? Or both?
Watched I Saw the TV Glow. I first heard about this movie from a fellow student in my script writing class. I was intrigued as she was emphatic about the greatness of this movie. I also came across an instagram post a few days ago discussing the film. It was a pretty good movie about feeling different, like you’re not really in your body and time moving weirdly, along with the possibility of other dimensions. The two main characters felt like real people. I’ve watched some shows and films where I could not related to characters as they behaved in ways that no person would behave.
Watched Prospect. I watched this because I love a good sci-fi and adore Pedro Pascal. It was good. Kept my attention with touching on our ability to trust others and speaking to human’s desire to remove precious materials (and fight over it) from any world, not just Earth.
Watched Vesper. I watched this one as it’s about Earth’s eco-system having been destroyed, and biohacking wrapped into a sci-fi theme and feel. I really liked this one, too. I love that the teen girl is strong and intelligent, and moved to help the population that is banned from entering the areas where the elite live.
Watched the series, Dept. Q. I love a good mystery. Make it a grumpy British detective and I’m hooked! I hope there’s more seasons of this one.
Walked: I went for walk at Virginia Foothills Park; which I haven’t visited in a year or two. I was down in the dumps, deeply sad. I haven’t been for a walk outside of my complex since last fall, before fall semester began at UNR. I went to bed deeply sad last night, woke up the same. Between this lovely, much needed walk, and a therapy session where we dug into what was triggering the sadness, I’m feeling better.
I am deeply grateful to my therapist and her use of EMDR therapy. We unpacked some deep stuff, traveled back to 5th grade, and I made a decision to honor my feelings; and to stop doing things for fear that I will miss out, or be excluded. And the big one, to stop creating solely to receive recognition. Damn if that stuff isn’t tied to sweet lil 5th grade Camilla.
Read: Finished Trumpet by Jackie Kay. I really like Jackie Kay’s writing style, and I love this story.
Listened to: Driving around running errands, I listened to Shake it Up by The Cars, Venus by Bananarama, The Glamorous Life by Sheila E., Got to Be Real by Cheryl Lynn, Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen, Whoomp! (There It Is) by Tag Team, and Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman.
Wrote: No fresh writing other than this. I did make a decision to recenter myself as far as my writing goes. I have been forcing myself to write poetry. And the results have been way less than stellar. It seems I let myself move away from writing because I needed to say something, or needed to get something outside of myself. I had unconsciously shifted to writing to receive acknowledgment. Not at all why I began to write in the first place. So I’m beginning with this weekly Freeze Frame essay. It may dwindle to nothing when fall semester begins, but I will be writing as I’m taking poetry and creative non-fiction.
Tasted: I ordered a Reuben sandwich and Belgian fries from a (new to me) Austrian restaurant, Edelweiss Pub. The best damn fries I think I have ever had! The Reuben was unlike any Reuben I’ve ever had, and was delicious!
Health and Body: After filing a complaint with Renown in regard to the rejection of my cardiologist’s referral to hematology, and some back and forth, I finally received a message that I can schedule an appointment now. I simply need my iron levels to be monitored since I’ve had to have an iron infusion two times in the last few years.
I also finally got Lillian’s iron infusion scheduled!! That took much time, advocating, and back and forth, too. Now to get her referral to the hematologist addressed which was also denied. I filed a complaint for that also.
I got a pretty drastic haircut. I’ve not had bangs in nearly 30 years. So I got bangs and a shag cut. I’m not quite sure how to deal with bangs anymore so I’ve just been pinning them down. And I actually like them that way. I don’t think I like hair touching my forehead. Ha!
See you next week, or the next, or the next … Thank you for reading my writings and for subscribing!