Chapter 1 con'd

There is one more love of mine that i will probably be talking about -MUSIC. Music soothes me, makes me laugh, makes me dance, energizes me, sometimes makes me cry, reminds me of events past, reminds me of people in my past, connects me with younger members of my family, makes me want to sing, creates entertainment for me, my family and my friends. Good gracious! Is there anyting else in your life that can do all that for you? And most of the time, it's for free! Can't beat that bargain.

Let me return to the issue of woman. Most of us had women teachers all thorough elementary school.  I did. There was one male sixth grade teacher in our elementary school. For most of us our Mothers and the female members of our families were the most important peoplein our lives until we were into our teens. For me women Sunday School teachers and librarians were also important. From the time i was 8 or 9 i could walk the six long blocks in my small town to the library. It was housed in one of those quaint, small, red brick buildings that had started life as a railroad station. There is at least one in almost every small town on the east coast. By the time i was 10 or 12 i was shelving books and checking out books for patrons. From that age on there has always been a library in my life. 

My question is, since we all had that foundation of women being the authority, the decision-maker, the comforter, the doctor, the manager of the household, how did we then get brain-washed by society to believe men were better at those tasks than women!?! For most of us by mid-teens had "learned" that lesson, and many still live with that idea today. 

Chapter 1 - What WOMAN STORY is All About

WOMAN STORY

Chapter 1 - What WOMAN STORY is All About

WOMAN STORY

Chapter 1 - What Is WOMAN STORY All About?

This blog will be primarily about my four avocations: women, learning, books  and  yarn crafts. That sounds really boring, doesn't it? NOT SO! Stick around for a couple "stories" and see.

My #1 avocation has been women:  studying about women, listening to women, reading about women and their history, teaching others about women and women's history,  preserving women's history,  helping women in the workplace, helping men in the workplace understand women in the workplace,  and working and lunching and chatting with women. Most of this blog will be about those things.

My #2 avocation  has been learning/teaching. Many times I am the one who is learning and many times I am the one doing the teaching.  I love doing either one of those. Sometimes my actual title has been "Teacher/professor/trainer." But even when it wasn't, I always got in a little teaching,  whatever my actual occupation was. A lot of this blog will be leading you to books,websites, magazine /newspaper articles where you may learn something new. I am thinking I should include "research" as another avocation. I LOVE doing that almost as much as I love learning ( OH, you're thinking  "aren't they the same thing?" I'm not sure.  Tell me what you think about that) and  as much as I love teaching/training.  More about all of this  later.

My #3 avocation is books. As long as I can remember - granted that time shortens the older I get :) - I have been read to, or have been reading, and always loving it. Much more about that later.

My #4 avocation has been knitting and crocheting, altho in the last year it has been occupying a lot more of my time and has been competing with #'s 1,2, and 3. There will be less about that avocation then the first three.

Are you wondering about the blog title? WOMAN STORY,  not Women's Story or A Woman's Story? I thought that might catch you eye. …………. I choose that word title because it is not going to be A woman's story, I'm going to talk about a lot of different women, but generally one at a time. It is not MY story, altho some of it will be personal. There is also some philosophical use of the word WOMAN that came about in the first feminist/suffrage movement in the 19th century, or maybe even before that,  of which  I have forgotten the details, (it's that memory thing again. HEY, my computer/brain is full, it takes a little time to retrieve info) but I WILL CHECK THAT OUT and get back to you on it.  Remember, I mentioned that I LOVE doing research? I know just who I need to call to chat with about that "woman" thing.  The folks at the other end of the line  will be women, of course!

The STORY in WOMAN STORY is my belief that every one's life is just a whole series of stories and everyone has a story to tell. When I taught history I told my students how ironic it is to me that studying  history is just a whole series of stories about people and events. I also find it ironic that it is His-story, because that is what it was entirely until the latter part of the 20th century and then THE WOMEN ROSE and said we need some HER-STORY as well. And oh boy! It's all over the place! So if you didn't have any women in your American History textbooks and classrooms, come on around! I'm going to tell you about some very interesting ones.

Always in my teaching or discussions I like feedback, comments, musings, questions. Please fill free to participate.