Dear Followers, I don’t know about you, but after emotionally dealing with our electoral politics, BREXIT, the situation in Dallas, and the massacre in Nice, I’m in the mood for something that is relatively removed from world events. And even though anything that affects women anywhere in the world is “political,” today I’d like to focus on a groundbreaking event in the “lightweight” world of fashion. Last week it became public knowledge … [Read more...]
233: The Self-Empowered Woman: Sybilla Masters
May 25, 2016 By
Dear Followers, Two months ago, I was really inspired by the Microsoft commercial about female inventors. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8DBwchocvs. My latest blog will introduce you to the very first American female inventor… The first recorded mention of Sybilla Masters is in the records of the New Jersey Colony in 1692. Her parents, William and Sarah Righton, were Quakers who had moved from Bermuda in 1687, and in … [Read more...]
232: The Self-Empowered Woman: Mother Angelica
April 20, 2016 By
Dear Followers, Today, I would like to thank my Dallas pen pal, Joan Faubion, for suggesting that my next blog be about Mother Angelica, who died this past Easter Sunday. The more I researched her life story, the more obvious it became that she was indeed a Self-Empowered Woman. Rita Antoinette Rizzo was born on April 20th, 1923 in Canton, Ohio, and died on March 27th, 2016. She was the only child of John and Mae Helen (Gianfrancesco) … [Read more...]
231: The Self-Empowered Woman: Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun
March 12, 2016 By
Dear Followers, I love sharing stories of unlikely Self-Empowered Women, and I just learned about a remarkably talented woman who is currently being honored at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun was born in Paris on April 16th 1755. Her father was a portraitist and a fan painter, and he gave Louise Elisabeth her first childish art lessons because he recognized her early talent (4: Supportive Someone). But when she … [Read more...]
230: The Self-Empowered Woman: Inventions by Women
January 23, 2016 By
Dear Followers, In honor of THE 17 TRAITS OF SELF-EMPOWERED WOMEN, here’s a list of important contributions made by (relatively un-applauded) females. How lucky we all are to benefit from their brainpower! The Car Heater: We all owe our thanks to Margaret A. Wilcox who invented the car heater in 1893! (She also invented a combined clothes and dishwasher). Monopoly: This popular board game was designed by Elizabeth Magie in … [Read more...]
229: The Self-Empowered Woman: Sandi Toksvig and WE
December 1, 2015 By
Dear Followers, Years ago, I was an Associate Editor at a glossy magazine for people with all sorts of varying disabilities called “WE.” I loved the publication because it was so inclusive, and strove to help readers regardless of their physical challenge. Today, the moniker WE (at least here in the U.S.) stands for a female-centric TV station. But in Britain, WE stands for the Women’s Equality Party, which is hoping to defeat both the … [Read more...]
228: The Self-Empowered Woman: Women In Hollywood
October 24, 2015 By
Dear Followers, As moviegoers, we like to think that conditions have never been better for women in the film industry. Unfortunately, gender bias is alive and well in Hollywood, as well as on our TV and movie screens. In fact, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is currently responding to a request from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding the tendency of major studios, networks and talent agencies to hire men over … [Read more...]
227: The Self-Empowered Woman: Mother Teresa
September 5, 2015 By
Dear Followers, Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, I was unable to make a Facebook posting for Mother Teresa’s birthday on August 26th. So, for my penance, I have decided to create a Self-Empowered Woman blog for today (September 5th, 2015), which is the 18th anniversary of her death. At the time, the world was in mourning for Princess Diana, whose funeral took place on September 6th, 1997. Mother Teresa (whose birthname was Anjeze … [Read more...]
226: The Self-Empowered Woman: Zainab Bangura
August 20, 2015 By
Dear Followers: Today I would like to introduce you to an amazing woman who works at the United Nations as part of the effort to help abused women around the world. When Zainab Bangura was a little girl in Sierra Leone, her father wanted to marry her off when she was only twelve years old. Because her mother refused to agree, her father walked out on the family. As a result, her mother supported herself and her daughter by selling whatever she … [Read more...]
