In Your Face Women: The End of the Beginning

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The End of the Beginning

A year ago today, I started a book project as a blog for which I promised to write a short introduction to an in-your-face woman every day for a year. 2012 happened to be a leap year, so here we are, 366 days later, and I never missed a single post. I delivered 366 stories of in-your-face women to you, my Faithful Readers, and from what I can gather from the stats and your comments and emails, for the most part, you enjoyed them greatly.

While I busily wrote my daily posts, my university public radio station started recording me reading some of them, which went so well, they ultimately archived them on the Public Radio Exchange for use by any public radio station in the world, routing their listeners back to my blog. Then, in the fall, I heard from one of the most prestigious girls' college preparatory schools in the nation that they might want me to come spend some time on their campus as an artist-in-residence. There's been some talk of subsequent spin-off projects in the not-so-distant future. And now, I'm going to scout out a few agents and see if any would like to represent me on this hobbit journey called publication and its aftermath.

So where does this blog go from here? I cannot possibly continue to write daily posts as I have for the past year. The plan was just to use this blog to complete the first volume of In-Your-Face Women (the book) consisting of 366 mini-bios in alphabetical order -- one for every day for a year -- so that women and girls (and anyone else who chooses to read them) could get a whole new perspective on the women of the world since time began. I followed the plan and finished step one. And frankly, it was pretty tough. Especially considering that I have a full time job with major responsibilities and some of the bios took hours to research and write.

In any case, other steps lie before me now related to In-Your-Face Women and other projects. And I am excited to move forward, but I don't what to just walk away from this blog. So, I've decided to post stories about more in-your-face women. Just not so often. I'm thinking one a week (maybe on Sundays?). And not in any particular order. You could suggest women you think I should check out. I could write occasional other pieces, listing their titles on the right hand side of the blog posts, starting out with an open letter to Diana Nyad, the sixty-three-old in-your-face woman who tried to swim from Cuba to Florida last August.

Regardless, I'm open to input at this point, so feel free to comment on this post or email me directly. And I will see you around the corner, I suspect. I'll be the in-your-face woman with the gleam in her eye coming at you when you least expect it.
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NOTE: The graphic above is Somnium Sacrum (Sacred Dream), a giclee print by Steven Graber. She looks over my shoulder while I write this blog.

10 comments:

TaraJanuary 11, 2013 at 5:35 PM
I just discovered this as I was writing a post about Kitty O'Neil. Your article came up in a search engine and I'm so impressed. I'm obviously late to the party, but I'd love for you to keep going.
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bint alshamsaMarch 10, 2013 at 11:20 AM
I had no idea that you had a blog, Rebecca! Well, at least this means I have hundreds of posts that I can read and ponder. I hope that you do continue to introduce and celebrate in-your-face women, because the world always needs more of it.
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check the Russian lotto ticketMay 31, 2013 at 8:29 PM
Face Thank you for letting me know, Tara. I fully intend to.
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Rebecca HensleyJune 12, 2013 at 4:41 PM
Oh, dear. It appears I'm being nudged to get back to posting In-Your-Face Women. Unfortunately, I have several projects to which I'm already committed this summer. But perhaps I could begin posting here again this fall. Would weekly posts be better than nothing?
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cheryl bJune 11, 2015 at 8:32 AM
was just sent this link and now have to find a chunk of time to read this but what an undertaking...bravo! will share with my pals and maybe, just maybe, some Republicans sill see this and leave us alone! Think you have done plenty for the world but when inspiration strikes add another chapter....
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Rebecca HensleyFebruary 7, 2016 at 1:53 PM
I really thought this would get itself published as a paperback gift book by now. Obviously, it has not. That's disappointing, though I expect it to happen at some point, regardless. Nevertheless, the 138,809 pageviews Blogger documents assures me that this is valuable in and of itself. It is in-your-face women doing what they do, changing the world while they simultaneously keep it running. ;^)
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ImagesgramJanuary 23, 2019 at 9:12 AM
Very nice blog post, I really appreciate it
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"Exceptional women appear at certain moments in history and are moved by special forces. Men view these women as supernatural beings and their deeds as miracles. Indeed, women are bright stars whose light penetrates dark clouds. They rise in times of trouble when the wills of men are tried. In moments of danger, when women emerge by their side, men utter no protest. Yet women's great acts and endless sacrifices do not change men's views of women. Through their arrogance, men refuse to see the capabilities of women. Faced with contradiction they prefer to raise women above the ordinary human plane instead of placing them on a level equal to their own. Men have singled out women of outstanding merit and put them on a pedestal to avoid recognizing the capabilities of all women." ~ Huda Sha'arawi (1879-1947)

Quotes by In Your Face Women

"The dogma of woman's complete historical subjection to men must be rated as one of the most fantastic myths ever created by the human mind." ~ Historian Mary Ritter Beard
"Humanity has two parts, men and women, and we ought to be walking hand in hand; instead there is antagonism, and it will last as long as the ‘stronger’ half controls, or thinks it controls, the ‘weaker’ half." ~ Louise Michel (1830-1905)
"All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks and permit us to stand upright on that ground which God destined us to occupy." ~ Sarah Grimke (1792-1873)
“My own sex, I hope, will excuse me if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone.” ~ Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
"There is a world-old controversy that crops up whenever women attempt to enter a new field. Is a woman fit for that work? It would seem that a woman's success in any particular field would prove her fitness for that work, without regard to theories to the contrary." ~ Ruth Law (1918)
"If you ask me what office women should fill, I reply, 'Any...Let them be sea captains, if you will. I do not doubt that there are women well fitted for such an office.'" ~ Margaret Fuller (circa 1845)
"There are very few jobs that actually require a penis or a vagina. All others should be open to everybody." ~ Lawyer & Civil Rights Activist Florynce Kennedy
"A girl should be two things: who and what she wants." ~ Coco Chanel
"The Glass Ceiling isn't actually made of glass...it's a very thick layer of men." ~ Political Advisor Author Ann Lewis
"I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies, and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
"I'll feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there." ~ Political Activist Maureen Reagan
"Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House as the President's spouse. I wish him well." ~ Barbara Bush
"I have a brain and a uterus. I use them both." ~ Politician Pat Schroeder
"Speaking generally, the women had not only no voice in the management of the country, but she had no control over her property, earned or inherited; no control of her own children; no control even of her own person. If that is not a condition of slavery, it bears a close resemblance to it." ~ Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“The condition of our sex is so deplorable that it is our duty even to break the law in order to call attention to the reasons why we do so.” ~ Emmeline Pankhurst (1908)
“You can bind my body, tie my hands, govern my actions: you are the strongest, and society adds to your power; but with my will, sir, you can do nothing.” ~ Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin (“George Sand”) (1831)
“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.” ~ Author & Journalist Rebecca West (1913)
“It occurred to me when I was thirteen and wearing white gloves and Mary Janes and going to dancing school, that no one should have to dance backward all their lives.” ~ Corporate Board Member & Environmental Consultant Jill Ruckelshaus
"Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius. And it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. And when it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, I’m already better than them…" ~ Actress & Cultural Icon Marilyn Monroe
"I'm tough. I'm ambitious. And I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay." ~ Singer "Madonna" Ciccone
“Why do people say, ‘Grow some balls’? Balls are weak and sensitive! If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding!” ~ Actress Betty White
"If you're going to make an error, make a doozy. And don't be afraid to hit the ball." ~ Star Tennis Player Billie Jean King
"I see no reason why a woman can't throw as effectively as a man. There are a lot of statements about anatomical differences, but there is not much documented evidence. Maybe we're really talking about poorly skilled people. People with poor athletic skills tend to throw poorly." ~ Linda Zwiren, Director of the Human Performance Laboratory, Hofstra University, 1976
"If it's true that men are better than women because they're stronger, why aren't our sumo wrestlers in the government?" ~ Japanese Political Activist (1800's) Kishida Toshiko
"If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." ~ Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
"Why is it men are permitted to be obsessed about their work, but women are only permitted to be obsessed about men?" ~ Singer Barbara Streisand
"Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry." ~ Author & Publisher Gloria Steinem
"We are the women men warned us about." ~ Civil Rights & Anti-War Activist Robin Morgan
"Get it right: I'm not a humanitarian. I'm a hell-raiser." ~ Labor & Community Organizer "Mother" Jones
“Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.” ~ Writer Dorothy L. Sayres
"Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay, I make the goddam rules." ~ Opera diva Maria Callas