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Ain't I A Woman? newspapers, June 1970-July 1971
1971-06-04 "Ain't I a Woman?" Page 6
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A PLACE FOR US…. Female culture to me is how women ralte. Because I live with a man, I am constantly aware of the class differences between men and women. Women start out equal, so there is not the constant struggle to equalize things that goes on between man and woman. We also have in common a personal history of learned sensitivity -- “intuition” -- about people and intuitions that doesn’t have to be explained. Being with women, and being open and free about relating to them, is a different world. A refuge. A refuge that becomes threatening as it conflicts with my reality. To let me part in a woman-community grow, I separated my worlds. Any woman who has had to do that knows the results -- disaster. Accepting myself -- and my situation, for I feel I must, has been hard. [drawing of a short haired woman swinging a bat at right] Going to the women’s softball tournament raised my consciousness. More pigshit was rooted out of that dark dank think I call a mind, a memory. There have not been for me, while growing up, female models. In high school I liked athletics; I enjoyed rigorous physical activity. And yet, I shunned concentration of that activity because those young women who were proficient in sports were scary and repulsive: muscular, strong, confident in their bodies. I could not help myself to physical prowess because I was too damn busy asking men to validate me. I remember making a bulletin board in the locker room that was supposed to motivate girls to come out for their intramural sports...and I slapped up giant construction papered figures of school sports heroes MALE HEROES to motivate my friends. My friends. I didn’t know what the hell that meant or what the hell I was doing. My body. Watching you women play softball my body became important. You are teaching me to respect that part of me so denied to me in high school. I have accepted years of toneless masses of flesh. When one of the women made an error during the same I said out loud, without thinking: “THAT’S ME.” And an instant later I realized what that meant and years of rage came up my throat because that was me. That is me, lacking the confidence of body; fearing pain. LOVE POEM At the place where her breasts/ come together/ two thumbs width a channel,/ I ride my hands to anchor/ my eyes and angle./ At the place where her thighs/ come together,/ I said “You smell like ocean,”/ and lay down my tongue/ by the dark tooth edge of sleeping./ “Swim,” she said./ And I did./ I did./ Last month there was a women’s poetry reading that was fantastic. Women from everywhere read -- mostly poetry they, themselves, has written...Women from high school, from “Ain’t I A Woman?”, teachers, friends, women from the university poetry workshop. Hopefully, the poems can be compiled and printed (maybe by a woman’s press!). [a drawing of two girls standing next to each other, looking outside an open window. A poem is to the right of the picture that was written by a woman named Sheri] A girl grows up/ And as she does she wonders,/ What is tomorrow?/ When is tomorrow?/ And the people kill her with their answers and lies./ And dawn breaks/ And tomorrow comes./ Sheri/ Most all of the things we got into were really fine. It was so good to see more and more women getting into things -- getting to know and care about other women. It was good for us to constantly be meeting new people to know and love. But there were some hassles. Some times it seemed that being so deeply involved in each other lives, as we were, was just too much to handle. Female Vocalists Laura Nyro, Carole King, J.D. Taylor, Buffy Ste.- Mark, Janis Joplin, Linda Ronstadt, Chris, Kate Taylor, Celia Wheaton, Fanny, Joan Baez, Melanie, Genya Ravan, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Judy Henske, Aretha Franklin. [hand drawing of girl & boy] Sometimes now I really dance - free always wanted to the music - like crazy hairy drag queen[?] dyke flying[?] [hand drawing of woman's face] FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION
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A PLACE FOR US…. Female culture to me is how women ralte. Because I live with a man, I am constantly aware of the class differences between men and women. Women start out equal, so there is not the constant struggle to equalize things that goes on between man and woman. We also have in common a personal history of learned sensitivity -- “intuition” -- about people and intuitions that doesn’t have to be explained. Being with women, and being open and free about relating to them, is a different world. A refuge. A refuge that becomes threatening as it conflicts with my reality. To let me part in a woman-community grow, I separated my worlds. Any woman who has had to do that knows the results -- disaster. Accepting myself -- and my situation, for I feel I must, has been hard. [drawing of a short haired woman swinging a bat at right] Going to the women’s softball tournament raised my consciousness. More pigshit was rooted out of that dark dank think I call a mind, a memory. There have not been for me, while growing up, female models. In high school I liked athletics; I enjoyed rigorous physical activity. And yet, I shunned concentration of that activity because those young women who were proficient in sports were scary and repulsive: muscular, strong, confident in their bodies. I could not help myself to physical prowess because I was too damn busy asking men to validate me. I remember making a bulletin board in the locker room that was supposed to motivate girls to come out for their intramural sports...and I slapped up giant construction papered figures of school sports heroes MALE HEROES to motivate my friends. My friends. I didn’t know what the hell that meant or what the hell I was doing. My body. Watching you women play softball my body became important. You are teaching me to respect that part of me so denied to me in high school. I have accepted years of toneless masses of flesh. When one of the women made an error during the same I said out loud, without thinking: “THAT’S ME.” And an instant later I realized what that meant and years of rage came up my throat because that was me. That is me, lacking the confidence of body; fearing pain. LOVE POEM At the place where her breasts/ come together/ two thumbs width a channel,/ I ride my hands to anchor/ my eyes and angle./ At the place where her thighs/ come together,/ I said “You smell like ocean,”/ and lay down my tongue/ by the dark tooth edge of sleeping./ “Swim,” she said./ And I did./ I did./ Last month there was a women’s poetry reading that was fantastic. Women from everywhere read -- mostly poetry they, themselves, has written...Women from high school, from “Ain’t I A Woman?”, teachers, friends, women from the university poetry workshop. Hopefully, the poems can be compiled and printed (maybe by a woman’s press!). [a drawing of two girls standing next to each other, looking outside an open window. A poem is to the right of the picture that was written by a woman named Sheri] A girl grows up/ And as she does she wonders,/ What is tomorrow?/ When is tomorrow?/ And the people kill her with their answers and lies./ And dawn breaks/ And tomorrow comes./ Sheri/ Most all of the things we got into were really fine. It was so good to see more and more women getting into things -- getting to know and care about other women. It was good for us to constantly be meeting new people to know and love. But there were some hassles. Some times it seemed that being so deeply involved in each other lives, as we were, was just too much to handle. Female Vocalists Laura Nyro, Carole King, J.D. Taylor, Buffy Ste.- Mark, Janis Joplin, Linda Ronstadt, Chris, Kate Taylor, Celia Wheaton, Fanny, Joan Baez, Melanie, Genya Ravan, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Judy Henske, Aretha Franklin. [hand drawing of girl & boy] Sometimes now I really dance - free always wanted to the music - like crazy hairy drag queen[?] dyke flying[?] [hand drawing of woman's face] FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION FEMALE CULTURE/LESBIAN NATION
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