Anna Quindlen is one of my favorite authors. I have read almost everything she has written, her book, “Loud and Clear”, sat next to my bed for several years. I know that Quindlen is a bit too liberal for many, Brian can’t stand her, but for me her writing embodies many of the conflicting thoughts I have- how do you balance home and family? when do women cross the line between assertive and inappropriate- and how do we find that balance? How can you be sweet and loving and still successful outside the home? She addresses all of these concerns from the standpoint of a Pulitzer Prize winning author, a world renowned columnist, a strong Catholic, a Democrat, and more importantly a wife and mother. I was introduced to Anna Quindlen by my 12th grade English teacher. At the time I was planning to go to college and lead a strictly professional life, I think her hope was Quindlen’s writings would mellow me, and initially they just added fuel to the fire. I was infuriated that she was so content to sit at home and make PB&Js. Over time my priorities have shifted (thank goodness) and the other side looks much more appealing than it once did. I am no longer infuriated by her insinuation that her role as wife and mother were more meaningful and rewarding than her professional career has ever been. My priorities have changed, and while I do hope to enjoy a successful professional career it is no longer my top priority (well no graduating is right now). To me, Quindlen is inspiring, not only for women, but for families, and children. In my opinion we all could use a little more Anna Quindlen in our lives, enjoy.
“Of all the things to admire about Abraham Lincoln, one of the most human and touching is his way with his wife. When he learned the presidential election results in the Springfield telegraph office in 1860, he ran home crying, “Mary, Mary, we are elected!”
But never fear, gentlemen; castration was really not the point of feminism, and we women are too busy eviscerating one another to take you on.
If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.
When an actress takes off her clothes onscreen but a nursing mother is told to leave, what message do we send about the roles of women? In some ways we're as committed to the old madonna-whore dichotomy as ever. And the madonna stays home, feeding the baby behind the blinds, a vestige of those days when for a lady to venture out was a flagrant act of public exposure.
Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. That's what I have to say. The second is only a part of the first.
Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle.
New York City has finally hired women to pick up the garbage, which makes sense to me, since, as I've discovered, a good bit of being a woman consists of picking up garbage.
“I was having breakfast with a fiend the other day, and I mentioned that I forget everything these days. I think the issue came up because I’d just forgotten the name of teenage son, whom I’ve known since he was three. I didn’t feel that bad since that morning I’d forgotten my own home phone number. And I didn’t feel that bad because she is one of us. You know what I Mean. All of us here today are one of us. We share many of the same great educational backgrounds and jobs, privileged existences and lucky children. We wear Black. We exercise on the treadmill. We run into one another on the street or in the bookstores. I wind up talking a lot to big groups of women lie us. One of my small securities is knowing that if I forget my reading glasses, there will probably be at least a dozen people in he audience who have the same magnificent number I have bought at a drugstores like mine. All the 2.0s- could you raise your hands? Thank you. See. Us.
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