Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: women
Held
The room is full of nuns. They’re easy to spot with their short hair and pastel blouses, elastic waist pants, and sensible shoes. More than that, they have an aura of calm and camaraderie that I think comes from having been together a long… Continue Reading “Held”
One’s Own Fire
Self-doubt and second-guessing. It has often seemed to me to be a woman’s thing. Thinking with certainty about something and then the conviction unraveling, a thread at a time. Sometimes, someone’s comment or question starts it, sometimes, the self-doubt and second-guessing just unfurls on… Continue Reading “One’s Own Fire”
Group Hug
When the motivational speaker told the audience of job-seeking women that they each should have a power network of friends, a woman in the front of the room raised her hand and said, “I was in an accident eight years ago, I’ve never had… Continue Reading “Group Hug”
The Day the Truth Saved Her
Once upon a time, there was a woman who practiced fooling herself every day. She was so good at it that she could go months with no firm grasp of the truth. The truth changed colors in her hands like a kaleidoscope dissembled and… Continue Reading “The Day the Truth Saved Her”
Five Things Young Women Should Know about Life before Roe v. Wade
Tomorrow night I am going to the campus of the small state university where, as a sophomore 47 years ago, I discovered that I was pregnant and agreed reluctantly to have an illegal and unsafe abortion, the effects of which hung on me for… Continue Reading “Five Things Young Women Should Know about Life before Roe v. Wade”
Note to My 19-Year Old Self
If this note had been left on my pillow when I was 19, I would have been offended. Advice from any corner, even my future 65 year-old self, would be an insinuation that I wasn’t running my own life well. And even if it was true… Continue Reading “Note to My 19-Year Old Self”
To the Grave
Shoes so beautiful they should be strung on a gold necklace and worn with a perfect black dress, buried for eternity, too wicked in life, the pain of walking remembered but now forgiven. _____________________ 33 words inspired by a photo of my beloved red… Continue Reading “To the Grave”
I Don’t Have a Blowtorch but I Do Have a Hair Dryer
It has taken an extraordinarily long time but I have had it with being oppressed. More specifically, I am done with thinking I’m oppressed or thinking that all women are oppressed, lamenting that, worrying about it. Even though it’s true and in extremes beyond… Continue Reading “I Don’t Have a Blowtorch but I Do Have a Hair Dryer”
Margaret Thatcher and Shirley Muldowney
8 of 18 It’s enough that they did it first. They didn’t have to do it right. Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to be Prime Minister of the UK after elbowing her way through layers of rock hard, calcified male privilege. She went… Continue Reading “Margaret Thatcher and Shirley Muldowney”
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect.
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect May 27, 2020
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
