- I've been a longtime follower of the writer Joyce Maynard, & I've written here about the huge impact that her 1973 memoir "Looking Back" (published when she was just 19!) had on me when I first read it age 12. She has a new novel in the works and mentioned on Facebook that she is trying to find a new title for it, since her publishers didn't like the one she had originally chosen. It's the story of a family living through and after divorce (likely based on Maynard's own experiences). Someone helpfully suggested in a comment, "In this post, you talk a lot about the mother. Perhaps your title needs to have MOTHER or MOM in it?" (Capitalization hers.) I read that and practically screamed out loud, "NO!!!" Just... no!!!
- (Maynard does write a lot about mothers, and motherhood. About this novel, she says, "It’s about marriage, and divorce, and the children of that divorce, but at its core this novel is about family. And one family in particular, whose story I follow over the years from 1973 to 2009." So... NO.)
- I noticed on Twitter that the "Wall of Moms" (in several U.S. cities) has changed its name to "Wall of Many." Said a tweet from the Wall of Many Bay Area CA: "Our name has changed, but our focus has not. #BlackLivesMatter always and in all ways. We are not only moms anyway - dads, childless adults, all genders care about Black lives and the right to protest. Let’s get back to work." Bravo!
- (I suspect many people will continue to refer to it as "Wall of Moms" -- but, points to them for acknowledging that it's not just moms who care and are out there protesting.)
- On her Gateway Women blog, Jody Day recently interviewed Australian writer Donna Ward about her new book, "She I Dare Not Name: A Spinster's Meditations on Life." It's a fascinating conversation -- video & transcript available to watch &/or read here!
- Unfortunately, Donna's book is not yet available outside of Australia. If you'd like to read it, be sure to leave a comment on Jody's post mentioning that, to show the publishers there's a demand for it in other parts of the world!
- Love this quote from Jody (near the end): "...I think childlessness is actually another part and singleness is another part of the intersectionality that the Fourth Wave [of feminism] needs to embrace and as yet, isn’t ready to do so. And… it’s interesting how scary, unconsciously scary our lives must be that so many people don’t want to look at them."
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Odds & ends
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Oh yes - haven't we often spoken on our blogs about how our lives are so scary that the infertile don't want to consider them. But yes, this extends to the fact that many people don't want to think about it, not just the ones who are afraid they might end up like us.
ReplyDeleteYay to the Wall of Many!
And good grief, NO to the title with Mom or Mother in it!
Ewwww, title with Mom or Mother. Seems the publisher was trying to pigeonhole, I'm glad it was resisted! HALLELUJAH to the "Wall of Many" and the recognizing of other people in wanting to make a change, not just moms. And yeah... I remember thinking how scary it would be to live a life without children, how terrifying and sad it seemed, but having lighthouse beams ahead from you and Mali in particular helped so much in seeing it can be a wonderful life, not a piteous life. But sheesh people immediately go to either pity, assertions that "it's not too late" (even now! Can't wait to be old enough to be considered "too late!"), or "must be nice" implying selfishness. UGH.
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