Sharing Our Gifts

How Fourth Wave is warming and informing our world

Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

I don’t really believe in astrology, but I still read my horoscope now and then. My preferred astrologer is Rob Bresny via his Free Will Astrology site because he’s profound. I often get horoscopes from him that I feel like quoting. As an Aquarius, here’s my latest:

I estimate this horoscope is worth $22,225. It has been made possible by my many years of disciplined meditations, extensive reading of holy texts, and an ever-growing devotion to astrology and my readers. But here’s the fun part: You can read these words for free! No cost at all! I will, however, ask you to do something for me in return. First, give your gifts joyously and generously in the coming weeks, holding nothing back. Second, don’t be in the least concerned about whether you will receive benefits in return for your gifts. Find the sweet spot where you love bestowing blessings for no other reason except this one: You are expressing your gratitude for the miraculous life you have been given.

It’s a fitting sentiment for the season, and for this newsletter, in which I’ll be bestowing the gifts of love, anger, and insight that have been offered from our bright and burgeoning cast of contributing writers. It’s been two months since our last newsletter, so there are many, MANY gifts. (No wonder I can never seem to get off my computer!)

I hope you’ll find time to open and savor a few.

Here’s what we’ve published on Fourth Wave since the last newsletter:

From StartledEgg
** A Man Trying to Talk About Rape
* Dear Slut

From Sweet Honeylu
* Women Are Dying
* Just A Little Respect
* You Killed My Father’s Business
* Going Back Across the River Jordan: Maya’s Homecoming
* Guess Who Came to Dinner?
** Ida B. Wells: My Tears Shall Fall
* Maya Angelou’s Wake Up Call
* Leslie Cockburn: The New American Killing Fields

From Suma Narayan
* Etymology: Roots, Shoots And Leaves
* Censure
* To One Drunk On Popularity
* The Gift of Silence
** The Weight of a Woman’s Hair

From Seconde Nimenya
* How to Lose an Accent in 10 Days
* Hello World! My Train Ride Across Europe
* Integrity Cannot Pay Your Mortgage
* When I First Visited Seattle:
* Diverse Women and The Me Too Movement
** Diverse Women and The Me Too Movement — Part Two
* The Boomers Built The Economy, And Now They Can’t Afford to Retire In It
* Evolving, The FDH Way: Feel, Deal and Heal — Part One
* Evolving, The FDH Way: Feel, Deal, and Heal — Part Two
** Thoughts Can Make You or Break You
* Forgiveness and You
** What A Roofing Salesman Taught Me About Stereotypes and Bias
** First World Problems
** LIFE STORIED: The Dilemma of Telling Your Side of Story
* Getting Around With Less Stuff
* Women Don’t Hate Patriarchy

From Sharon Hammons
* I Didn’t Believe It, Then I Tried It!
* These Remedies Are Great for Both Body and Soul

From Vena Moore
* Can We Stop Spouting The Lie That Men Are Protectors?
** Sex Isn’t A Requirement For Single Women
* The Thin Line Between Love and Hate

From Yong Yee Chong
* Home is Not a Place

From Jackie Rogers
* Losing my cell, Losing My Mind
** The Bad Girls Home Redux
** Seventh Grade & The Boy in the Jean Jacket

From Amanda Fisher-Katz-Keohane
* The Effects of Representation in Children’s Literature

From Bella DePaulo
** The Age of Friendship
* Advocating for Single People
* How Couples End Up Ditching the People Who Were Once Their Friends
* Here’s Why It Is So Expensive to Be Single in the U.S.
* 5 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started Writing about Single People

From Moymona Begum
* Updates on My Side Hustle Journey
* Having Those Difficult Conversations

From Diana C
* 2023 New York Climate Summit: You Had to Be there for a week of Global Action
* Remembering Virginia Hadsell: Responsible Traveler Advocate

From Aza Y. Alam
* Revolting Misogyny Infects the Young of Every Generation

From Emily Bishop
* Creating a family can be incredibly difficult

From Patsy Fergusson (that’s me!)
* How to Eat Your Feelings
* What if the Manosphere Taught Love Instead of Hate?
* Boosterism in the House!
* Suppressing the Feminine Aspect of Christianity is Destroying Us
* I’m Bored With the Gender Wars
** Why Are We Letting Conservative Bullies Strangle Our Country?
* White Women: Keep Complaining
** White Evangelicals Number Just 14%
** The “Cult of the Fetus” Started in the 1950s
* Boosted! These Stories Got Some of That Good Curator Love
* Wooing the Algorithm
* My Son is Not the Same, But…
* How “Killers of the Flower Moon” Compounds the Injury

From MARLENE RHEIN
** Three Lessons I Learned From the Grief of My Dog Dying

From Maevyn Frey
** Smashing the Stereotype: Women Always Win in Family Court
** He Loves Her So Much…
* Why Do You Have To Make Everything About Gender?
** Parental Alienation: The Junk Science Perverting Custody Decisions
* The True Victims of the Family Court
* My Disability Was Fetishized When I Was a Child

From Elle Beau ❇︎
** Women Need to Fill Their Own Well Before Trying to Fix Anyone Else’s
** The Leaders of Women’s Suffrage Were Abolitionists, Not Racists

From Amanda Barusch
* Say Please

From Nada Chehade
* Creeps Even in Tragedy
** Ghoul Math

From Graciela
* Our Ring Camera Caught An Act of Violence

From Adele Arbi
* Being The Bigger Person Is The Worst Advice Ever

From Lsjaffee (Writer, Educator, Over-Thinker)
* Wet NYC Morning Puts Me to the Test
* Ace Awakening Just As Baby Boomer Becomes Used to Being A Non-Binary Sexagenarian

From Marlene Rosette
* Guys, enough is enough!
** Why Abused Daughters Become Abused Wives
* Civil Rights Activists are Not to Blame for Racism

From Meitzi C
* From Kind Words to Glass Ceilings

From Rachel Palmąka Mace
* Yes, I’m Thinking About the Roman Empire, but Not in the Way you Might Think
* Things Women Do (or Don’t Do) that Spit in the Face of Feminism
* Are ALL Women Feminists by Default?
* Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice: What are Women Made of?

From Evelyn Jean Pine
** A Puppet, a Pauper, a Pirate, A Poet, A Pawn, And a King

From Marlowe Munroe
* Huge Updates on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Joint Strike

From The Next Door Teen
* Redefining Beauty: A Teen’s Journey
* Cultivating Connections: Networking Strategies for Teen Extroverts

From JuneBerry
* No, a Woman Without Children is NOT a Failure
* Beware of Wolves in Non-Binary Clothing…

From Mindy Insights
* Medium’s New Guidelines — From a Wellness Expert’s Point of View
* 15 Glow-Up Affirmations to Transform Your Life

From Zee the snail
** Shout Armita’s name

From Sangeeta Kalsi
** If Straight Men Wanted to be Happy, They’d be Fighting Misogyny, Too
** I Chose Not to “Ruin the Life” of the Man Who Assaulted Me, And I Regret It

From Jade Van Dartel
* “Not Bad” For a Girl
** Gaming Industry to Outraged Men: Accept It or Power Off

From Kaitlyn Maura
* Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

From Selena Routley
* Elle and the Penguin …
** No, Her “Ditsiness” Does Not Mean She’s an “Airhead”
* Patriarchy: The Hubris of the The (Mostly Male) Elite

From Lmoynihan
* Encourage Girls to be Entrepreneurial

From Alan Tabor
** Kevin Phillips — RIP

From Sophia Tell- Stories 🤓📢🤓
* She Was Urged to Shrink Her Feet: Smaller Is Better!

From Dr. Alex Steinberg
* You Might Be Compromising Your Happiness by Buying Into Success Stereotypes
* The 3-Minute Life Hack to Stop Worrying and Start Being Happy Now
* Tips to Embrace Imperfection and Find Grace When Life Gets Tough

From Adele Arbi
* I Survived Having a Sexist Manager in Tech

From Fabrizia Scapinello
* My boyfriend’s name is Teresa

From Naalah
* Aftertaste of Womanhood
* The Vulture’s Sight
* The girl who never loved

From Dawn Fifer
* Finding Self-Acceptance & Chosen Family

From Christyl Rivers, Phd.
* We Have To Be More Grateful To Men And Father Time

From Me and My Muse
** How We Take Back Control Of Black Women’s Femininity
** Notes On Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” Forty Years On: A Deep Dive
* Is The Combahee River Collective’s Fight For Black and Brown Women’s Rights Needed Today?
** The ‘Beauty Standard’ Has Shifted To Black Women
** Why White Feminists Need To Understand Ellen Pence’s 1982 Essay

From Ally Bush
** Terms and Conditions of Womanhood

From Edward Swafford
* Unashamed

From Danielle Watson
* Nerves, Shame and Negative Self-Talk: Podcast Launch

From Sherry Atkinson
* Hear Our Voices: To the 118th United States Congress

From Kathryn Gay
* Reading the Tea Leaves

From Amy Sterling Casil
* Escape From LA Is No Longer A Futuristic Fantasy
** Why Does Homelessness Continue to Grow?

From Umaimah Adan
* Jidenna and the Shapeshifting “Nice Guy”

From @okwywrites
* If I Had To Choose The Worst Thing About Infidelity…

From Rivka Wolf
* Why Tinder Banned Me
* Competition Between Women Hides Stressful Gender Role Expectations

From Daniella Gaskell
* Sexist Comments And Where To Find Them

From Virginia L. Hampton, The Literary Midwife
** Now, We Will Definitely Talk About Slavery and Colonization, and More!

** I put the stories I nominated for a boost in italics. Sadly, I’m only allowed to nominate 20 a month, and this month, I ran through my 20 very fast! If the math doesn’t add up, here’s why: Some nominations were accepted, and some declined. Some stories got boosted without my nomination, and some stories I nominated came from other publications, or were published before this period of time. Also, some of these stories will be nominated in the future! Since I haven’t got enough nominations to suit me, sometimes I must wait to open that gift.