The Virago Newsletter for January 8th, 2021
The Newsletter by WOMEN about WOMEN and for WOMEN
Hello Virago Readers and Writers,
What a week we’ve already had in 2021, and not in a good way. I suppose many were like me, peeled to their screens last Wednesday, watching the news unfold at the Capitol. I’m holding my breath and waiting for January 20th and transfer of power in the United States Administration. I pray that our current leadership will lay low until then.
On a lighter note, I wanted to let y’all know I have fun writing these newsletters; the process forces me to research women’s history and pay attention to news events. The newsletter also helps me stay more in touch with the writers of The Virago. Reading every published article helps to understand the writer. Listening to their voice as they write, I empathize, celebrate, and learn about many womens lives and what they’ve gone through in life.
I hope you as the reader enjoy the articles here as much as I do. Our writers are so talented and full of life experience.
Here’s to you, Virago writers! May you have a prosperous New Year!
Women in the news:
- Women White House staffers Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, Betsy DeVos, secretary of education, Stephanie Grisham, First Lady’s chief of staff, Sara Matthews, White House deputy press secretary, and Rickie Niceta, White House social secretary, have all announced they are stepping down after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in an attempt to disturb a peaceful transfer of power.
- The #metoo movement has changed workplace employment laws in the U.S. over the past two years. You can read more about that here.
- Iran has also made moves to outlaw sexual violence and harrassment of women. With an emerging #metoo movement and public horror over “honor killings,”, #metoo has spurred a bill, but it will have to pass through a conservative parliament. Read more here.
Historical Woman of the Week: Tarana Burke
Talking about #metoo….
Tarana Burke is an American activist from The Bronx, New York who started the Me Too movement. In 2006, Burke began using metoo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade later, in 2017 #MeToo became a viral hashtag appropriated by Alyssa Milano when women began using it to tweet about the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations. The phrase and hashtag quickly developed into a broad-based, and eventually international movement.
Time named Burke, among a group of other prominent activists dubbed “the silence breakers”, as the Time Person of the Year for 2017. Burke presents at public speaking events across the country and is currently Senior Director at Girls for Gender Equity in Brooklyn.
This Week’s Writer Spotlight: Shruthi Sundaram
Shruthi is a “Writer, foodie and an avid reader…passionate about bringing up issues of women and giving the world a different perspective.” She writes about accepting herself and finding purpose in life. Her writings about body image, gratitude, growing into adulthood, and the many changes that come with all of it. Her writing is relatable. I recommend her reads. Here are a few below:
It is About Time You Stop Calling Her a Tomboy “I have been called a tomboy all my life. I hate wearing makeup and feel stuffed and caked when I do so. I hate wearing traditional clothes, which girls usually wear in India, because they don’t have pockets. Why? I have no idea. Do the designers think girls do not have anything to carry?”
2021: The Year That Will Test Me as a Writer “Starting to write was a beautiful experience for me. It helped me to get out of my depression since I got to share my frustrations, thoughts and happiness through my words. I also got to meet my writing sisters at the time, and their encouragement made me even more confident with my writing.”
A Thank You Letter to My High School Math Teacher “Every time you patted my back for solving a particularly difficult problem, I used to feel so proud! My chest used to swell with pride (felt like I won the Nobel prize or something) every time my team performed the best.”
Thank you, Shruthi, for being a part of The Virago!
Here’s your chance to catch up on the articles for this week:
Lynda Wallis
Hello, 2021! Welcome “Today, both my children are healthy, and happily living with the loves of their lives. They have learned how to better care for themselves and their partners. They have navigated the insanity of 2020 with their partners and have come out stronger together.”
Helena Pedersen
If You Want Emotional Freedom, You Have to Face Your Fears “When you really dig deep on this stuff a lot of emotions come to the surface that you feel at risk of drowning in. You may even feel physically sick. I spent the morning retching over the toilet bowl after writing it all out.”
Samantha Blake
Why the Power of a Woman is Truly More Than You Know “A woman’s power comes from within, when she finally realizes her strength and resilience and passion and voice. It’s in you, that power. Find it. Believe in it. Then, embrace it.”
Kara Summers
2021 Will Be the Year for Us Women “In the absence of local support we learned that we are still not alone, women around the world came together and helped each other. In 2021 we will continue to connect, reach out and share our experiences.”
Katarzyna Orłow
You Look Great, Got Someone New? — Yeah, ME! “The beginning of this year was wonderful. How did I spend it? Alone in peace with my kids. And believe me, for some it is such a wonderful state that no fireworks, parties and friends are equally valuable. I devoted this time to catching up with my body and soul.”
Em Unravelling
Why “Babyteeth” on Netflix is a Must-Watch for Every Woman in 2021 “There is so much more to this film than the beauty of it, though. As a woman, I found it utterly harrowing. Somehow, although it’s a deftly lighthearted film with large ribbons of comedy woven through all of it, it manages to strike chords that speak clearly to the fact that it was written and directed by women”
Carrie Wynn
The Different Ways I Tried Changing Myself To Make Men Love Me “Deep in my soul, I knew that I was in a situation that could eventually become life-threatening. I continually tried to push that knowledge to the back of my mind because I was in love. There was a moment during our relationship where I was willing to lose myself completely for someone else.
Glenna Gill
Healing the Heart of a Wounded Child “No matter how weak and timid you think you are now, you will grow up with a tremendous amount of strength from what you’ve been through. You will figure out how to learn from your mistakes and make them better. You’re going to laugh hysterically and weep tragically and see things that will amaze you. People will touch your heart, and you will embrace theirs right back. The world has a way of working things out.”
Shruthi Sundaram
Do You Also Struggle to Mingle with Your Childhood Friends? “It was during that conversation that I realised that, we had become different individuals altogether. Her ideologies and what she wanted from her life were not wrong, and I am no one to judge that for sure. They were just a far cry from my own.”
Kristina Segarra
3 Unhealthy Ways to Express Anger “Growing up, I recall many times when my dad was outraged and furious. If he disagreed with someone, he’d argue with them until he proved his point. If he was in the middle of an argument with someone and that person pushed on his buttons, he would thump on the table with his fist.”
Suman Sandhu
I Hate It When She Calls My Daughter Pretty “Light skin, prettiness and a level of academic success for her daughters was important to my mother and subsequently her own status. Everything was focussed on the opinions of others. And so it has taken me years to start a process of reversing the anxiety of being judged by others rather than just myself.”
I. Trudie Palmer
Do You Know the Three Rules of Love? “We fell into it and now we are falling out. The ride was a beautiful, rough tumble that now has us puking all over ourselves from an upset stomach, a broken heart, our eyes so filled with tears that they can water the Gobi Desert. We cannot believe the us, the beautiful us, the forever us, been wiped away as if it never was.”
Alice Vuong
7 Food-Related Resolutions That Have Nothing To Do With That Extra 10 Lbs “It’s exhausting to feel guilty all the time. Our minds and bodies aren’t meant for us to feel bad about eating a handful of chips or a bowl of Ferrero ice cream. Food should be relished and enjoyed. Obviously this comes with a caveat that to enjoy that cake, you also need to eat your vegetables. But if you’ve eaten your broccoli, then enjoy every bite of that chocolate cake, guilt free.”
Samantha Blake
To Whoever Needs to Hear It — a Woman’s Period Shouldn’t Be Offensive to You “Nature is really quite amazing if you think about it. Women are designed to routinely lose blood from their bodies and go on living, all to prepare for the eventual growth of another human being inside them. Strange, but incredible.”
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