In a funk...
Sigh. Yesterday I finally finished From Housewife to Heretic by Sonia Johnson. I took a long break in the middle of it, but yesterday I read the last 150 pages. This book was published in 1981 and written in 1980. Now that I'm finished, I'm bummed...not because it was a good book and I hate to see it end, even though that's true too. I'm sad because Johnson ends the book on such a positive note--saying that women need to get angry, to be "all on fire" for women. I agree. She ended the book on such a hopeful note that the Equal Rights Amendment would pass. It didn't, even though she and many others fasted for 37 days in Illinois--fought SO HARD--were willing to die for women's rights. For this sentence: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." That was twenty-one years ago. I'm just learning about all the things that happened in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and I can't let any of it go. I won't. I feel like some kind of quaint relic; it would seem strange to bring this up in casual conversation. But maybe I should anyway!
Eh, so much for pleasure reading. Now I'm on to reading for my fall classes.
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ERA
Hi Clancy, Laura here, not sure if I am doing this right, but as a feminist of the 70s and 80s (and beyond!) I wanted to say that I still have a clipboard with a bumper sticker that says "ERA now." The conversation about passing an Equal Rights Amendment seems very distant to me now. The counter-arguments at that time used to be absurd things such as "why, we'd all have to use the same restrooms!" Anyway, if you want to borrow my clipboard, you can.
Laura Gurak
Your posts about political/wo
Your posts about political/womens' rights spur this simple thought:
I was not born til 68. For a long time, I wanted to be a part of what I perceived to be an ever-changing era: the hippie 60's. I thought I'd missed the boat on women's rights and the right to change. The 70's are so attractive: ground-breaking. But they are gone. Which sorta sucks. I could have been a really good hippie!
But there are other things out there! Like women who think they have to tow the line when they shouldn't because they COULD arrange another schedule b/c they have kids. And what's wrong w/that? It's grossly undervalued and I found only one person, another woman, willing to work w/me while I did it.
Oh PS, that was me re: the bo
Oh PS, that was me re: the born in 68 comment. Michelle from phlebas. Sorry, forget I have to sign here. ;)