People with healthy self-esteem do not need to create pretend identities. - bell hooks

The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not . Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves. If an individual is not successful in emotionally crippling himself, he can count on patriarchal men to enact rituals of power that will assault his self-esteem.

Self-acceptance is hard for many of us. There is a voice inside that is constantly judging, first ourselves and then others.

Creation spirituality replaced a patriarchal spirituality rooted in notions of fall and redemption.