Zoe Helene Vine of the Soul.Photo by Tracey Eller

These Women Are Fighting Sexism in Psychedelic Research
VICE
by Kate Richardson

"We're sure as hell not going backwards. That's not going to happen." - Zoe Helene

The movement has always been mostly white and male, but 'psychedelic feminists' are making sure the so-called renaissance doesn’t repeat mistakes of the past.

Zoe Helene, the founder of Cosmic Sister, an umbrella organization for psychedelic feminists, agrees with Labate. "Men do tend to get out there, they're more declarative, and they put themselves up as an expert and as a star. And they will stand up there no matter what they look like. They get up there, they do their thing. Whereas women, in general, will not."

"Programming is insidious. It's inside and it's very hard to identify," she told VICE. "These psychedelic plants and these ceremonies… I've never seen anything even come close for uncovering those—for helping us to see those little pieces of social programming, in ways that actually help to get us over them or at least identify them, which is the beginning of the journey."

Helene says she's seen women work through body image and self esteem issues with the help of psychedelic plants. Combining these ideas with the core beliefs of feminism and the anti-authoritarian anti-establishment world of psychedelics makes sense to Helene and the many women who have reached out to her and Cosmic Sister.

May 2017