Manipulation, Lies, and Power
The Patriarchy’s Dictation of Modern Feminism
September 12, 2017
For the Ordo Sororitatis Satanicae, Lilith being on top means far more than her sexual expression in a dominant position. It means her being able to achieve the highest of any endeavor’s success. We imagine her desire for equity to whomever her counterpart, should not have to be a desperate wish; her talents, knowledge, and mind, worthy and acknowledged when displayed… whether with great theater of meaningful production, or in quiet efforts with deepest humility. Certainly, the allegory can be interpreted at a basic value of sexual positions or roles in carnal congress. But the OSS adores meanings within meanings. And throughout the many myths of darkly divine, Diana-like figures, neither goddess nor demoness has ever been any one thing, at all times.
If I, as a woman, were to advise other women to use sex as a weapon or a tool for controlling others; to maneuver them toward making decisions which result in achieving their desired goals, have I not counselled and legitimized deceit? Does it harm the wider movement of feminism, that I advise another woman to reduce herself to an object of desire; devaluing her intellect, discarding her talents, and reinforcing the longstanding misogynist narrative which labels women as schemers, liars, and bimbos, incapable of achieving anything of note on their own merit? Would it not be a decimation of a woman’s true worth to make silly assertions like the use of her “feminine wiles” being akin to a sort of magic(k), as if it were some romantic legacy of witchcraft and female empowerment?
I cannot honestly state that I have never engaged in flirting to achieve an end. I cannot claim I have never used the implication, or led another to believe that some physical reward may follow their submitting to my will or desire. And finally, I cannot say that I have never used my body to pay a few terrible debts in full. However, at this last admission, I never contrived to do so. It would be more accurate to say I was the victim of economic violence; selling sex to survive my unfortunate reality. But today, I refuse any longer to engage in lying to myself that I was somehow powerful because of these acts.
There are many reasons one might choose to engage in the practice of sex-work. And while there exists a small percentage of women who equate their involvement in such a trade as empowering, or somehow essential to their personal definition of feminism, the overwhelming majority find themselves in sex-work because of economic hopelessness; coerced by a faceless, financial monster whose influence tugs upon every fiber in life’s web.
But it happens that those women who insist they are empowered, were rarely driven by desperation. From mild to wild, softcore to hard, T&A restaurants to brothels… one consistent theme is that the essence of this empowerment, seems to reside in the perspective that women are the users, and not the used.
Could it be that this narrative was created merely to ensure a well-maintained pool of women who will be ever ready to step into such roles? Possibly. One’s perceived reality can be changed based on the employ of a chosen, limited vocabulary, and repeating these phrases like a mantra. Whether these selections are made individually (denial for the preservation of sanity) or they were led to believe them to be their own thoughts when in fact they were crafted by a patriarchal system (control through deceptive manipulation) they could both be considered manipulative practices.
Manipulation… there are some who would attempt to conflate it with the wide-ranging arts of the Geisha. Sell an image. Sell a fantasy. Engage in a mutual lie where opposing parties, both supplier and consumer, believe they have the advantage of each other. Or let them acquiesce they share something of mutual benefit if that is where the comfort of rationalization takes them. Yet beneath this, remains the lie. Someone here, has been conned.
If I were to hold a seminar on how to lie for personal gain, would you be able to trust any issuance from me, ever after? If I told you that you needn’t promise, but only imply you would provide reward for allegiance or financial support, throwing your head back in laughter — amused by your domination through deception, have I improved your character by insisting this is your “power”.
The OSS considers the manipulation of others through deceptive means (subversion, sabotage, or betrayal of deceit) intended to bend the results of another’s will or opinion, to be a despicable act. It is the lie generated and used to obfuscate the truth, to achieve a desired end for self-serving purposes. Consider again, the proto-form of chemical engineering and physical sciences: Alchemy. Altering an experiment or operation which requires honest input, objectivity, and that depends upon a true result is deception. It can only lead to a faulty result, a weak product or argument, a fragile achievement. And once the means to that end have come to light, the veracity of what it helped to create is now suspect, and is easy to dismiss as invalid for having produced it by dishonest means.
There is no reason one cannot be cunning. But to be cunning, requires preparedness, research, and attention to detail. It requires deviousness, and not deception. The liar for gain, upon either side, is never to be respected.
This is a stricture of our private, religious Order: Integrity. We insist upon it. We expect its adherence as the central policy for how our Dame-Sisters and Knighted-Brothers conduct themselves within the Ordo Sororitatis Satanicae. We are not the breed of Satanist who seeks victory through despicable means. Nor do we delight in the weaving of lies and those who spin them. Of the few wise words uttered by the character Polonius in the play Hamlet “…to thine own self be true…” isn’t bad as advice goes. But it is incomplete.
To thine own self be true, and to the world be so, too.
Ave Lilitu!
The Lady of Gehenna
