Nine months…for a woman, what does it mean?
If she is a mother, it is the length of gestation.
If she is a teacher, it is the length of the school year.
If she is…well, I’m not sure if it has more meanings.
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
I’m kicking the habit.
Not smoking – I already don’t.
Not drinking – why would I?
No, the greatest vice I have…
And I’m kicking the habit today.
Do you ever feel like your life resembles a refrigerator? One you haven’t cleaned out in a while, all sorts of stuff, some good and some bad, lost in the back? My life usually feels like that, at least lately. There is a lot of stuff just shoved to the back of my life, half forgotten, some of it wrapped with care, some of it shoved in without much thought. So, what is in your refrigerator? I’ll tell you what’s in mine…at least some of it. There are some things I can’t identify, and some things I don’t know are there, because I still haven’t gotten around to cleaning it out.
Read MoreI read. A lot. Some of the books I read are feminist books, and I’ve noticed something, especially among the younger feminists. There is a tendency to say that no woman should have to be perfectly feminist all the time; she can make some choices that are not, in fact, feminist, some choices that might even be stereotypes of what a woman is. I agree. I have noticed another thing, however. They are always willing to carve out an exception for whatever it is they like…lipstick, high heels, perfume…but they are quick to condemn other women’s choices of where they prefer to be, shall we say, traditional?
Read More“No. And neither are you. I’ve worked here ten years, I do not know what is behind that door. If you try to open it again, you will no longer volunteer here.” Jocelyn tried to soften up her words. She understood what the girl was feeling; curiosity was a strong emotion, and she felt it many times. The only time she tried to go in, she was written up with a warning that transgressions were grounds for termination. “What’s your name?” She wanted to make the girl feel at home.
Read MoreI don’t remember how old I was
When I learned
I must smile constantly.
I must dress to please.
I must never speak unless asked a direct question.
I must never step out of my proper place.
I must never succeed…unless it is childbearing.
I must never win.
Okay, so the breasts are large.
That doesn’t mean they are there
For you to stare at.
Women have a short shelf life.
We are marked by
Implicit decay.
So, what do I think I would have done if I had the proper environment for me? Sailing a boat across the Atlantic to visit Europe. A small boat, just one or two of us (I really didn’t think I would get married, so my childhood dreams tended to include just me). Skydive. Hang glide. Climb a mountain. Visit every continent. Maybe I would have been a hippie; I was in the right generation for it. Maybe I would have learned to dance, not ballroom dancing, but the fast dances. Maybe I would have been a feminist from early on instead of waiting until I was an adult to become involved.
Read More“Because doing chores is good for you.” Nicole dismissed them; they could fight over the computer all night, and she wouldn’t care. She would stay in the kitchen and wouldn’t hear their fighting or Devin’s snoring as he slept in front of the TV. She washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. The dryer beeped, telling her the laundry was ready, so she hauled it out of the dryer, folded it, and carried it upstairs to put away. Off her feet…yeah. Devin was off his feet, the recliner all the way back, the remote clutched in his left hand, about to drop on the floor. The kids were off their feet, sitting cross-legged in front of the computer, an old used model that led to constant arguments with her about why they couldn’t have a better computer.
Read MoreIt’s Women’s Day.
It’s International.
All over the world, women will be
Today, I have a poem. It’s short, but if it says what I want to say, it doesn’t need to be long. For this poem, though, you need to have some insight. If you are unfamiliar with what happens to women during a war, there are plenty of sites out there to help you. The war in Ukraine has been weighing on my mind, and from stories I hear, it sounds like this is like every other war…the women are a tool of war, a prize of war, and an opportunity for warriors. One can wish we had progressed beyond this, but it seems we never do.
Read MoreOne of the plays about me concluded that the most important thing I did was have my daughter, the one who married a Frenchman and history doesn’t even remember. She made up a whole life…and a line of descent…for my daughter, then had her descendent act as a surrogate for a couple of rich folks who couldn’t have a baby, so my most important accomplishment…was having the daughter who supposedly had a child who had a child who…well, you get the picture.
Read MoreToday, a poem. I challenged myself to get words from a random word generator and work them into a poem. I’ve never done a poem based on random words, so I wanted to try. The result is, like many of my random word experiments, a little different. But it does say what I want it to say; at least, I think it does.
Read More“Someone is going around shooting women…and promising to shoot more.” Simon was undisturbed by the restrained rage in Elle’s manner and voice. “So I’m taking steps to protect the women.”
Read MoreYou know how some days you have something you need to do, but it’s hard to get started? This is one of those days. In fact, everything was hard to get started today, from the moment my cat walked on my head to wake me up to the moment I sat down at the computer to write.
Read MoreIt wasn’t supposed to be like this, right? She married early and was pregnant at nineteen. Oliver was only a year old when she got pregnant again…Sophie came along, a darling but a lot more work. Then…Caleb walked out. No reason, no explanation, just a note saying “I’m gone.” Child Welfare hadn’t been able to find him, so no child support. She was still officially married to a man she hadn’t seen in eighteen months. Rumor had it he moved to Australia. She couldn’t track him down. She didn’t have any money.
Read More“Sure. If a man wrote it. Look at this. ‘Although the research is sound and the conclusions are solid, our readers simply will not take it seriously if the only authors are women.’ And why not? Why would they take it seriously if it had a man’s name? Don’t answer that.” Kayla wasn’t ready to deal with one of Megan’s tirades, though she usually agreed with her. She ripped the letter in five pieces and threw it in the wastebasket. “Well, back to Home Ec class for me.” Her tone was mocking, but her heart was heavy. She had worked a long time to earn her degree, to complete her research, and she had paid her own way through.
Read MoreThis year the United States inaugurated the first ever woman Vice President, a woman of color. She is talented, intelligent, energetic, and capable. She is inspiring. While some people were conspiring how to steal the victory and hand the office back to the old white man who was holding it, the rest of us were cheering her on, excited and hopeful, more hopeful than we’ve been in some time. It was a major milestone.
Read More