“I’m really friendly but not quite tame.”
I’ve wanted to read Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths & Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes for a bit, I just never got around to it. As someone who has been drawn to reoccurring archetypes in legend and lores throughout the world (and someone who embraces a wildness), this seemed the perfect read to listen to while traveling. (I attempted The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*UCK and realized pretty quickly that I’m not it’s intended audience.)
Women Who Run with the Wolves is a bit of an interesting presentation as it stresses early on that only the so-called “wild women” are intuitive and creative, and they are born into the wrong families and don’t fit in. It discredits the passion and intuition that drives others who don’t seem to fit the same archetype that Estes believes fits that archetype. And where it gets preachy and almost demeaning to women who were not outcast is where I found it lacking. She walked that back a bit later, but it annoyed me.
I was familiar with the majority of the myths presented, but I disagreed with some of her take-aways. I think it needs a more nuanced approach. I do think more folks need to read the section “The Fallacy of Relationship as Completion,” and there are some great sound bites on independence and finding one’s voice, but I’m not sure I would recommend it.
A Girl Named Tommi 