Dora Djamila Mester
  • about me
    • personal
    • me and the garden
    • community building
    • sexuality * intimacy * relationships
    • art and beauty
    • all my works
    • media
  • activism & green transition
  • education & community building
  • garden projects
    • KK33 Budapest * community in a historic garden 2008-2013
    • Feldmár Summer University 2015
    • Muiderslot * a medieval herb and vegetable garden 2015-2017
    • Laterna Magica Amsterdam * gardening with children 2016-2020
    • SET community gardens Amsterdam (NL) 2018 – running
    • HOLD base * garden * nature * art * care * seat of learning (HU) 2025-
    • Campo Para°Diso (IT) 2025-
  • In Touch Amsterdam
    • Running projects
      • SET community gardens Amsterdam 2018-
      • community oven 2024 – running
      • Beyond Gender 2022-2025
    • Past projects
      • STEK Oost Amsterdam community garden & atelier 2024 January-August
      • Three tier garden 2021-2022
      • Using the voice and body in the classroom (VOICE) 2021-2023
      • Integral Sexual Education and Empowerment in Schools (ISEX) 2021-2023
      • DRAW the lines of safety (DRAW) 2018-2021
      • The BODY project
      • Sex-ed in schools
        • Intimacy, Relationships and Interculturality in Youth Work (IRIS) 2018-2021
      • Pestalozzi teachers training
      • Body, society, culture: together for integration
  • art
    • photography
    • zen videos
    • creating spaces
    • community art
    • dance
    • Erotica
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How (not) to be a woman in this world

madonnas-full-billboard-woman-of-the-year-award-speechOpen, brave, sharp,  honest, deeply personal and powerful. This is what we need more to make the world a better place. Not only for women…

Madonna heartfelt acceptance speech | Billboard Woman of the Year 2016

Throughout her remarks, Madonna spoke openly about her eventful life and career, sharing plenty of wisdom.

She addressed her rape as a young woman in New York, a deeply personal subject she has spoken about previously, as well as the loss of many friends to AIDS. From these tragic events, she learnt vulnerability and power: “There is no real safety, except self belief,” she said.

“There are no rules, if you’re a boy,” she said. “If you’re a girl, you have to play the game. What is that game? You are allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy, but don’t act too smart. Don’t have an opinion.

“You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut, but don’t own your sluttiness and do not — do not, I repeat — share your own sexual fantasies with the world.”

“Do not age. Because to age is a sin.”

“As women we have to appreciate our own word, each others’ word. Seek out strong women to befriend, to align yourself with, to learn from, to collaborate with, to be inspired by, to support, and enlightened by”.



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