The Battle Cry of My Wild Femininity

An Invitation

This week is all about wild femininity – or femininity in general. Maybe you’ll listen to my Turkish version. Maybe it will also speak to the wild child in you who still plays with sand and stones and leaves, trying to find their own way.

When I look back… I’ve never fit in anywhere. Not as a child, not as a B-Girl, not as a musician, not as a mother.

There are moments in life when a single song changes everything. When melody and lyrics function like a key – a key to parts of ourselves that we may have long forgotten or never really known. Somehow, throughout our entire lives, we move along a very narrow path that either leads us to ourselves or away from ourselves.

For me, one of these moments was when I heard the song by Wyndreth Berginsdottir. It was like a subtle wake-up call. An awakening. As they say, truth always comes in small doses like glimpses of light into our lives. This was a moment full of truth for me.

The Daughter Who Didn’t Want a Turkish Family

I was always exactly the daughter who didn’t want a Turkish family. Outside all day, only playing soccer or dodgeball with boys, not coming home when I should. Playing hide-and-seek until late at night. This behavior intensified even more during my puberty. Running away, staying out at Jungle Parties, jumping around all weekend, having a boyfriend. I can say with full confidence that I sent my parents to hell and back once.

Do I regret it? Actually, not really. I believe we all became a bit wiser and more grounded because of it. The Creator knows how to make us human.

Of course, there can be many reasons why it was like that. One could certainly analyze everything depth-psychologically and relate everything to childhood.

But I’m not convinced of that.

I don’t believe we get answers about ourselves that easily when we are such complex beings on this planet. It’s all too simple for me when there are problems to blame everything on childhood, on messed-up parents. Because we don’t just carry this life in our genes, but carry memories from many lives within us. We also have an energy body that stores memories. It’s more complex than we think.

I once read in a GEO issue that 50% of influence is our direct environment (school, friends, etc.), 25% upbringing, and 25% genetics and epigenetics. But that was a long time ago. By now there are probably different numbers… As is often the case in research.

Nevertheless – or perhaps because of this – this moment with the song was so powerful for me.

Here is the original:

Here are the lyrics:

Chorus

I am my mother’s savage daughter,

the one who runs barefoot cursing sharp stones.

I am my mother’s savage daughter,

I will not cut my hair, I will not lower my voice.

Verse 1

My mother’s child is a savage,

She looks for her omens in the colors of stones,

In the faces of cats, in the fall of feathers,

In the dancing of fire and the curve of old bones.

(Chorus)

Verse 2

My mother’s child dances in darkness,

And sings heathen songs by the light of the moon,

And watches the stars and renames the planets,

And dreams she can reach them with a song and a broom.

(Chorus)

Verse 3

My mother’s child curses too loud and too often,

My mother’s child laughs too hard and too long,

And howls at the moon and sleeps in ditches,

And clumsily raises her voice in this song.

(Chorus)

Verse 4

Now we all are brought forth out of darkness and water,

Brought into this world through blood and through pain,

And deep in our bones, the old songs are wakening,

So sing them with voices of thunder and rain.

(Chorus x3)

Verse 5

We are our mother’s savage daughters,

The ones who run barefoot cursing sharp stones.

We are our mother’s savage daughters,

We will not cut our hair, We will not lower our voice

We are our mother’s savage daughters, The ones who run barefoot cursing sharp stones. We are our mother’s savage daughters, We will not cut our hair, We will not lower our voice.

A Battle Cry to Myself

When I heard this song, it was as if I had heard a battle cry. A battle cry to be myself. A battle cry to my femininity. A battle cry to the wild child in me who played wildly and full of love with sand and stones and leaves. Who tried to find her own way.

Still to this day.

In my enthusiasm, I translated the entire poem into Turkish and performed it myself. This translation is a homage to this wonderful song – and to a part of my identity that I struggled with for a long time.

My Big Goal: 100 Women, One Voice

My big goal would be to get at least 100 women to perform this song in Turkish with me next year – or alone. Simply as a sign that it’s okay to live this wild femininity and to recognize it as part of oneself.

And I believe this is very important right now. When feminine energies embark on the path of “healing,” we heal the masculine energies along with them. I am firmly convinced of this.

Maybe you have a Turkish migration background or know someone who would like to sing this song. Then please share this post.

What I Mean by “Wild Femininity”

When I speak of wild femininity, I’m not saying that we as women all have to unite and trample down men. Men also have their place in this world, and masculine forces are also very important. The biggest mistake I currently see in women’s emancipation is not seeing men as part of it. Let men be wild too, whatever that means. As long as they don’t intentionally harm anyone, why not.

But it’s about becoming a better person when you know yourself. Every person becomes better when they learn to know and love themselves.

I can say this from my own experience: The better I got to know myself, the happier I was and the more love I actually give in my environment. Of course not to everyone – because the moment you recognize yourself and recognize your boundaries, you naturally try to maintain them. Maintaining your own boundaries is important for healthy growth. There are many people who like to cross boundaries. Especially in partnerships, you often experience this.

This is a classic problem of many women: not being able to clearly say NO and set boundaries. It’s simply usually implemented in our upbringing – but not just in upbringing, but in culture. In every culture.

How do you relate to your wild femininity? What battle cries have you heard that brought you back to yourself?