Redstocking Grandma
About the Author
Fighting for a Truly Family-Friendly America
Neither Clinton or Obama had my enthusiastic support on the family issues vitally important to me. Universal health care will cure all family problems. We desperately need policies that will make it possible for both men and women to have careers and take care of their children and their elders. Maternity, paternity, and aging parent leave is obviously a priority. The medical and family leave act has to be extended to all businesses and organizations, large and small, and the government will need to be involved in funding that. Read More »
I was born July 17, 1945, the day after Trinity, the first atomic bomb test. My first specific political memory centered around the duck-and - cover, hide-under-our-desk, exercises that were a regular feature of my grade school life from age 5 on. I knew enough about nuclear war to be terrified. We lived one mile away from an air force base, and I used to go out to the backyard, look up at the planes, and try to determine if they were American or Russian. I remember getting a book out of the library on aircraft identification. (I don't remember what I planned to do if I spotted a Russian plane.) When I heard Joseph Stalin died, I remember asking if that meant no one would drop atom bombs on us. This terror continued; I recall my best friend and I fully expected to die during the Cuban Missile Crisis. That fear motivated my intense involvement in the Nuclear Freeze Movement of the early 80s. Read More »
Until Obama became the presumptive nominee, I was a Hillary supporter. I wasn't a fervent supporter; I wavered back and forth between her and Obama. Her support of the war was always profoundly upsetting to me. I was unhappy with her campaign, with the racist remarks of some of her supporters. However, I was unhappy with Obama's vague rhetoric and skeptical of his commitment to the progressive principles and policies most important to me.
I have been a feminist for almost 56 years, since the nun preparing me for Holy Communion when I was 7 explained that the boys went up first, because they could be priests and were closer to God. Having five younger brothers increased my commitment to feminism every day. I was very active in the feminist movement of the late 60s and 70s. I was delighted to have four daughters; I am fiercely proud of the brilliant, dedicated, loving women they have become. As they start to have children, I am deeply discouraged that they face the same dilemmas combining careers and childrearing as I did. Read More »
I have been a feminist for almost 56 years, since the nun preparing me for Holy Communion when I was 7 explained that the boys went up first, because they could be priests and were closer to God. Having five younger brothers increased my commitment to feminism every day. I was very active in the feminist movement of the late 60s and 70s. I was delighted to have four daughters; I am fiercely proud of the brilliant, dedicated, loving women they have become. As they start to have children, I am deeply discouraged that they face the same dilemmas combining careers and childrearing as I did. Read More »
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