The Woman Crush Weekly, No. 25
When one woman passes the flame of power to another, she does not dim her flame. In fact, she creates more light. And more heat.
Natalie Portman
There is nothing I love more than a famous woman who speaks HER TRUTH. Wait, that’s not true. There is one thing I love more than that, and it is a famous woman who speaks her truth, which is also my truth. Natalie Portman did this recently at the Vanity Fair Power of Women awards, and it was blistering. She started with a super-charged condemnation of Harvey Weinstein (and those that supported him), moved onto complacent men who are not suitably “embarrassed if everyone in your workplace looks like you,” and then rounded it all out with an immortal cry to women to spread positive gossip about each other. I’ve often thought about women lifting each other up as a boat metaphor, but Portman used a torch metaphor — that also included a breastfeeding meataphor — and I am HERE FOR IT.
“(W)e know the message of the mammaries: The more milk you give, the more milk you make. The more love you give, the more love you have. And the same can be said of fire. When you light someone else’s torch with your own, you don’t lose your fire, you just make more light and more heat. Light a woman’s torch. The light will multiply and the heat will intensify for all of us.” — Variety
Rebecca Traister
There are a lot of angry women in America right now. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them. The author Rebecca Traister is certainly angry, an emotion she lets fly in her new book Good and Mad. There’s one question every woman I know wants the answer to, “What do we do with all this anger?” Traister has some suggestions. They’re not revolutionary, nor are they groundbreaking, but sometimes it’s good to see them in print. And if you’d like to hear Traister, she’s been making the podcast rounds and was especially good on Ezra Klein’s show and Call Your Girlfriend. — NPR
Princess Eugenie
Princess Eugenie got married in a very pretty dress in a very royal wedding. Yawn you might say? Yawn not, because Princess Eugenie’s dress mattered. Princess Eugenie had her dress made to showcase her scoliosis scar. And I know this matters, because I have heard from girls and young women (and the mothers of them) that their daughters with scoliosis (a disorder that disproportionally impacts girls) burst into tears when the news of Eugenie’s dress came out. — Quartzy
The Duchess of Sussex
Oh god, I know. I can barely believe I’m including two stories about the British royals either. But, there really is something wonderful about a love story, especially in these shitty times, and I will not be bullied into not caring about Meghan and Harry. I will admit, I cringed internally when Harry announced that the couple were going to try and start a family as quickly as possible. Meghan is 37, and even though I got pregnant at that age, I know that it can be very difficult for some women. I was scared by Harry’s pronouncement and felt such intense relief on the couple’s behalf when the announcement came out. Don’t @ me! — BBC
Samin Nosrat
Apparently this week’s newsletter is just full of things that matter to me. Next up? Food. And here’s what I need to tell you: Samin Nosrat’s new show matters. Nosrat, if you’re unfamiliar, is Persian-American, and a total food dork. She loves food and doesn’t care if you know that which kind of brings us a totally new kind of food show. “To put it bluntly: Most travel food shows are about white male discovery. And most home cooking shows are about white female domesticity. Nosrat gently rejects all of that.” But don’t take the Post’s word for it. Also take The Atlantic’s and The Cut’s (and mine). Watch it, it’s good! — Washington Post
What Power Means to Powerful Women
It’s 2018, and as a woman, I ask myself almost daily, “Do I have any power? And if I do, how am I wielding it?” The last two years have been absolutely brutal to me. As someone who was told from an early age that I could — and should — do and be any person I want to be, the months since Trump’s election have felt like one long condemnation of the many difficult choices I have made over the course of my life. But throughout all this misery, I have come to recognize something which Hanna Rosin says more eloquently than I ever could, “There must be a way to have power, and be communal, to take other people along.” A rising tide lifts all boats. When you pass the torch you create more fire, more heat. This special report from New York Magazine is absolutely essential reading. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
The Woman Crush Weekly is the newsletter of the Pallas Network. Our goal is to highlight the amazing women around the world changing the game. If you feel so motivated, please send along your favorite stories about women changing the world. My inbox is always open: ann@pallasnetwork.com xo — Ann
Originally sent as The Woman Crush Weekly, № 25
