Tender Power [antikvár]

Prologue Thus far women have been the mere echoes of men. Our laws and constitutions, our creeds and codes, and the customs of social life are all of masculine origin. The true woman is as yet a dream of the future. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, at the age of 72., speaking to the International Council of Women, 1888 And so we leave home, we leave the apron and. . .put on. . . tailored executive suits . . And now we take ourselves in hand, tailoring ourselves to the specifications of this world we are so eager to enter. We strip our bodies of flesh, our hearts of the overflow of feeling, our language of exuberant and dramatic imprécisions. We cut back the flight of our fancy, make our thoughts rigorous and subject it (this marvelous rushing intuitive leaping capacity of ours) to measures of demonstration and proof, trying not to talk with our hands, trying hard to subdue our voices, getting our bursts of laughter under control. Kim Chemin, The Hungry Self Two women, one yearning for power, the other for tender; separated by a century but connecting with the same thought: Women, echoing men, cannot speak in whole, authentic voices. We will have our power and we will have our tender, but until we have both, the true woman is indeed a dream of the future. It is the instinctive knowledge of warmth, empathy, nurture, connection to others, intuition, and cooperation that has been women's special strength throughout the âges. These are the tender traits. It is the intellectual and economic freedom, the clout to lead, make money, make decisions, say no, say yes, change the world, rouse the government that have been women's proud attainments throughout the last two decades. These are the power moves. Together they are glorious.