Diane DeBella and I Am Subject: Women sharing their stories to become “subjects” in the 21st century
When she walked into the room, my first thought was, ‘How can all that fierce determination fit inside such a tiny young woman?’ She began to speak—slowly, deliberately, with patience, strength, and grace—and I sat transfixed, tears streaming down my face as I struggled with my own sense of shame and shared responsibility. I needed..
I’m not sure what I expected to feel, but this isn’t it. At first I thought I would be elated. Then I thought I would be sad. Perhaps I would even need to grieve. Yet so far I haven’t experienced any of those feelings. Instead I just feel ready to move on. I have been..
I haven’t blogged much in the last year–or four. I have plenty of excuses, including ongoing health challenges, Covid, and the implosion of democracy. Yet as dark as it seems, I am looking ahead to lighter, brighter days, when a new president and the first female vice president will do their best to put out..
I often wonder how different my life would have been if the Equal Rights Amendment had been ratified instead of falling three states short in 1982. I bet I wouldn’t have had to quit jobs after being told that in order to be promoted I would have to sleep with the boss. In fact, I..
On election night 2016, despite the tiny hint of doubt gnawing away at my confident façade, I grabbed a bottle of Prosecco and headed over to my friend Nancy’s to track the returns and smash the bottle of bubbly against the most imposing glass ceiling that ever existed—I was ready to shatter the patriarchy as..
I haven’t written a blog post about women’s issues since February, because, well, Covid. During a worldwide health crisis, other issues tend to take a back seat. To date, millions have contracted Covid-19, and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have died from it. Fighting the virus is at the forefront of our minds. Yet,..
Last night, while at a Super Bowl party, I found myself in the uncomfortable situation of being the perceived feminist authority in the room during the halftime show. Yet I was far from the only uncomfortable person gathered around the big screen. While many of the men responded in fairly stereotypical fashion, I got a..
My fondest memories of the winter solstice were when my kids were young, and the cartoon Little Bear was popular. There was a winter solstice episode, and it was filled with love, family, food, joy, community, warmth, and the uplifting refrain, “Happy Winter Solstice!” It still makes me smile to think of it today. Yet..
19-year-old Ruth George was killed in the early hours of November 23rd when she was attempting to get to her car in a parking garage on the University of Illinois campus. She is just one of the countless victims of violence in the US this week. She was murdered two days before the UN’s International..
I was baptized Catholic. I had no choice in the matter. In 1956, when my mother, who was Methodist, married my father, who was Catholic, she had to agree to raise her children Catholic. She actually had to sign a piece of paper. I left the church as a young woman when I could no..