People like to say bad things about women competing with each other, and stabbing each other in the back. Every fiber in my being resists these petty stereotypes.
But.
Backstabbing Women, Part 1
A Poem of Empowerment
Hush, hold your breath
Don’t move, I can feel you
The heart waits
The mind waits
Delirious, cacophonous noise awaits movement
Dissonant chords, twanging vibrato
Delicious, drumming and humming to
Invisible, silent beats
Don’t speak, she said
Don’t make a sound, she pled
She waits
A limb quakes
I’m afraid
I’m frail
I’m full
I’m overwhelmed.
Don’t breath, she said
Her exhale rocks the sea
but all she said was
hear
me.
Isn’t that fantastic? The poem is entitled “A Voice” and it’s by Kathy Shattuck who is in my critique group. I don’t feel comfortable critiquing poetry, because poetry to me is like art – I read it for the emotional impact I feel (or don’t).
I’d like to tell you what it makes me feel, and see: Most of the poem is waiting quietly, as if a curtain is about to go up, when people shush each other good-naturedly in excitement and anticipation. The a woman steps forward, suddenly finding her strength and voice, her breath rocking the sea with the power of this simple demand: Hear me.
Kindle readers can contact me at Lmspreen@yahoo.com.
Sad Old Feminist
I’m one of the “sad old feminists” referred to here by one of my fave writers, Gail Collins of the NY Times. [Read more…]
Women Earn 80 Cents to Men’s Dollar but Aren’t Afraid to be Feminine, Gosh Darn it!
Recently I was arguing with Patricia Handschiegel about her column at the Huffington Post where she asserts that women have made huge progress in the work world, and the proof of it is that women today aren’t afraid to be feminine in the workplace. I argued that primal issues like power, equal pay for equal work, and visibility in the C-suite (CEO, CFO, CBO, etc) sort of crush femininity as an issue. Also, I kept my mouth shut about her subtext that younger people are so much more advanced now, and that if only those earlier women had done X and Y, they would have been better treated. (Poor stupid old women!)
And yet, vindication! Today I was gratified to see this article by Chrystia Freeland: Why Aren’t There More Women at Capitalism’s Heights? Freeland, who is the global editor at large for Thomson Reuters, agrees with me, although maybe gratified isn’t the word. More like depressed.
Hope for Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia
From Time Magazine, this is heartening: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1929152,00.html
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