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That
Takes Ovaries!: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts (Random
House) presents sixty-four brave, unabashed, fun-loving women
and their short stories of strength and audacity. That Takes
Ovaries! rejects
the notion of how females should
behave and instead boldly declares, "look what I just
did!" From courageous and smart to outrageous and foolhardy,
from the seemingly frivolous to the obviously political, this culturally
diverse group of women and girls models the range of what real femininity looks like today -- sassy, self-assured,
and estrogen-fueled.
Because women and girls everywhere have triumphant stories to tell, readers are invited to join the fun and get in on the action: This book is complete with Guidelines for Organizing an Ovaries! Open Mike in Your Community (from in your living room to in your local pool hall). It's a grassroots movement for women's and girls' empowerment! Many of the readings and open mikes held around the country -- and hopefully the world -- will be fundraisers for local girls' groups, and for groups working to end human rights abuses against girls, including female genital mutilation and sex trafficking. Whether
you always knew you had ovaries or you're just figuring it out now, this book will
spur you on to be even more feisty and fearless. Having ovaries: unabashed, gutsy, feisty, playful, challenging, full of chutzpah, mettlesome, naughty, victorious, straight from the hip, full-flavored, outrageous, righteous, loving, inspiring, bold as brass, self-assured, self-confident, self-possessed, daring, heroic, wild, wanton, crazy, optimistic, unflappable, pushy, unstoppable, impressive, rebellious, unstoppable, kick-ass, carefree, having moxie, having heart, having no fear. "That takes balls" are the three words of praise usually reserved for a man who has done something tough, fearless, and maybe a little crazy -- someone who pushes the boundaries or breaks a few rules. But when it comes to hotheaded courage, impassioned activism, quirky wisdom or bold confrontation, women have got what it takes -- and then some! That Takes Ovaries! is a lively, fun, and often touching celebration of women and girls doing their thing their way:
Now that takes ovaries! Focusing on women's and girl's issues, editor RIVKA SOLOMON writes and rabble-rouses on the East Coast. Three
Rivers Press, New York TABLE OF CONTENTS That Takes Ovaries! Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts Table of Contents & Story Summaries Introduction......... 00 Rivka's NOTE TO ALL READERS......... 00 CHAPTER
1 CHAPTER
2 CHAPTER
3 CHAPTER
4 CHAPTER
5 CHAPTER
6 CHAPTER
7 That Takes Ovaries! Open Mikes......... 000 Female Genital Mutilation, Sex Trafficking, and That Takes Ovaries! Fund-raisers......... 000 Acknowledgements.........000 RIVKA'S NOTE TO ALL READERS Rivka's
NOTE TO ALL READERS * Girls are born self-assured and bold. It is not a chromosomal thing that makes many girls shy about speaking up in class, hesitant to dive into competitive sports, or tolerant of street harassment. It's not due to genetic makeup that women are less likely to run for political office, climb the corporate ladder, or attain equality--whether equal pay on the job or equal attention in the bedroom. It's not nature; it's nurture. Internalized social messages and conditioning by a sexist, often violent society are what contributes to any female suppressing her naturally confident, daring self and replacing it with less risk-taking, less space-taking behavior. Well, it's time to deprogram. It's time to reject all that keeps a woman quiet or unsure. Many girls are conditioned to downplay their abilities or needs so that no one else's feathers get ruffled. Most women are taught not to push for or promote their own self-interests. This antiquated behavior has kept women back. What femininity needs is a boost of bravado. We perk up and take note when we hear about acts of female adventure and courage. They are stories we grab onto and delight in with others ("Hey, did you hear about the woman who...!"). We fix on these magnetic mental images and they become models of how we, too, can be in our lives ("If she can do it, so can I!"). So what we need are role models galore--down and dirty role models. They show what is possible. They show how to counteract the subtle and overt messages telling us to be "good girls" even when doing so isn't in our best interest. Fortunately, role models abound. They are in every racial, cultural, and socioeconomic group, and in girls and women of every age, sexual orientation, ability, and disability. They are everywhere, because they are us. Many girls believe in their strength in spite of cultural conditioning. Women find ways to skirt around and overcome efforts to program them. Examples of resistance, bravery, and breaking-the-mold behavior can be found in every female. If courage creates ripples, get ready to be hit by a wave. That Takes Ovaries! is a celebration of ourselves--girls and women just like you and me, speaking in our own words about our own actions. This is a celebration of everyday feisty females, those who haven't made the history books or the cover of Time magazine but who have taken on the tired, false stereotype of the passive female. Their gutsy acts spur us to be risk-takers and heroines in our day-to-day lives. Then we, creating ripples ourselves, inspire them in return with our own daring deeds. That takes balls are words of praise reserved for a man who has done something bold: a guy we might respect for his ability to push the boundaries or break the rules, a boy with chutzpah. Well, move over, gentlemen, it's time for the ladies! Some women need ovaries simply to survive in this harsh world. Others need them in order to flourish. But wherever an individual may fall on that spectrum, it is almost certain she will need to be a Woman of Ovaries if she wants to right wrongs, fight the injustices that still plague our communities, and gain her own freedom. Freedom, after all, isn't simply about rejecting conditioning; in the end, it's about dismantling the sexist institutions that promote the conditioning. We gotta be risk-takers to do that. Of course all stories are welcome here, whether they are about hell-raising social change or hell-raising fun. Either act can be a life-altering experience if a girl is tossing aside the rules of how a female is "supposed" to behave. Although
some of the ovarian acts described here may seem too risky
to you (and, in retrospect, they may seem that way to some of the
people who did them), remember that the deeds were originally done
with a sassy sense of valor and adventure. Of course some were
also done out of panic and blind instinct, and some yielded unsuccessful
results. The aim is not to showcase perfect women doing perfect,
selfless acts--though we'll witness some of those here, too.
The goal is to showcase real women. Sometimes we make
smart, calculated decisions; sometimes we take foolhardy chances.
Either way, that takes ovaries! |