Zoe applauded the loudest as Blaze walked across the stage and received his diploma. He worked for this day; she worked for this day. She was happy to support him, and glad that now he would start a new job and would be able to support her while she went to school. They made the deal the day they got engaged. “Fair is fair”, he said. She agreed. Now there he was, looking so smart in his mortarboard and gown, the honors sash draped across his chest like a beacon. She wanted to elbow the person next to her and tell them about his new job, an offer coming before he even finished.
Read More“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
Probably everyone who teaches has had this experience: a colleague comments to them, breathless with wonder and admiration, about how today’s youth are sooooo good at multi-tasking. They manage to switch from one tab to another to check their messages and statuses without missing a tab! I never say anything to this admiration; there isn’t anything to say. They expect you agree with them; if you don’t, just keep your mouth shut.
Read MoreMy mother used to have a wall hanging that said “A man may work from sun to sun but woman’s work is never done”. When I was a kid, I didn’t quite understand it. I liked it, mostly because it rhymed. I think seven year olds have a natural affinity for doggerel, and it was funny to me.
Read MoreWhen I was a young girl, growing up in the middle of the feminist movement, we were urged to ‘have it all’. We were served up a steady dose of television women who didn’t have it all…unless cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, and smiling is having it all. We had few role models in our storybooks, few role models in our music or movies, and for a great many of us, few role models in our schools. Still, we were told that women could have it all…just like men.
Read MoreI want to talk about some amazing women; you may have heard of some or all of these women. You may have heard of none of them. Their accomplishments have not been the highlight of the media, though many of them are beginning to get some notice in recent years. I want to start with a woman I admire greatly.
Read MoreWhy is the woman tired?
What do women do all day?
I imagine the TV was on,
Her feet were up,
And she sipped hot tea.
Why should a woman be tired?
Okay, so the breasts are large.
That doesn’t mean they are there
For you to stare at.
Today, 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 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.
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