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 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..
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,..
~24 people per minute are victims of intimate violence—more than 12 million people per year~ The fact that the Violence Against Women Act expired when the government shut down isn’t widely known. While it also isn’t cause for immediate panic (unauthorized programs can receive appropriations), what is alarming is the fact that violence against..
“You raise your consciousness to a level where you feel that you must do the right thing, because it is the only right thing to do.” ~ Wangari Maathai As I left the theater after the screening of the documentary Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, her words kept running through my..
Over the years, as a teacher of women writers, and as a woman writer myself, I have taught and written about countless women, their lives, and their works. I don’t shy away from a challenge. After all, I have taught Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I have examined the demons that pursued Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath,..
It has happened to me three times prior to this most recent incident—three times that I vividly remember. I imagine there have been other incidents over the years. The first time that I was told it was ‘all in my head’ it was actually in my ovaries—more specifically, an ovarian cyst that had..