Because women matter, and so do their voices.
A few weeks ago, I was having drinks with an ex-colleague who told me a story about my previous boss. This supervisor, “Tina,” had recently gone off during a work party, condemning the many sexual abusers coming to light. She brought up her daughters and how it infuriated her that they had to watch out for those who might harass or demean them. Beer to my lips, I smiled and shook my head with disbelief.
When I was 19 and I read the part of “Tracee” on The Sopranos, I immediately knew I would play her, and I knew I wanted to play her because there was something about her story that I understood so well and wanted to do justice to. I had never seen The Sopranos, but I knew it was a gangster show with plenty of violence and misogyny. Tracee was a young mother, stripping at the
I have always been interested in politics. I grew up the daughter of an attorney and elementary school principal. My grandmother was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she met her husband, my grandfather. My great-grandfather was a judge. My uncle was a state representative. I knew all my life I wanted to be an attorney, but I also always kept politics on the radar. I
When you are in your twenties, not famous, and somewhat ordinary, and you tell people you’ve written a memoir, very often you get the response, “you’re too young to write a memoir!” It’s annoying, and insulting, but it’s par for the course. Plus, it helps you build tough skin. First of all, memoir isn’t autobiography. It’s not a lifelong chronicle. A memoir is a snapshot, a moment of a life lived through and realized. When
For 22 years living as a straight, cis-gendered, white woman in Wisconsin, I experienced varying degrees of pressure to adhere to the dress-code of my employer. At age 16, my first job was as a waitress at a drive-up burger joint. Employees had the choice between a T-shirt or a tank top with the restaurant’s logo. I was encouraged to opt for the tank top because I would “get better tips.” When dressing for professional
Up until the age of nineteen, I navigated the world as a straight tomboy who would not shy away from a dress. Societal influences told me who I should love and how I should dress; and I really came to not only believe it, but also to live in its constrained box. As a young adolescent I witnessed my gay brother struggle with understanding his identity, coming out, and coming to terms with the
