Women’s Eye Reflections for the New Year–#2

More ideas and wisdom from the 2010 EYE Interviews to reflect on for the New Year…

Cheryl Dorsey—

“I’ve always walked between two worlds–the inner city and the hallowed halls of Harvard;  my black and white friends;  Wall Street and the social entrepreneurs I give money to.  I try to bring strange bedfellows together to make things better for family and community.”   Photo: Tony Deifill

Amy Ernst—

“It’s chaos in every direction; I truly don’t know how these incredible women wake up every day and keep fighting to survive.  I can say I’m helping them, but in truth, despite being in the midst of such suffering and pain, they’re renewing my faith in the strength and spirit of humanity.”



Rebecca Traister—

“…when most women I know cry, it’s out of anger, frustration or exhaustion…It’s a way of expressing fury, and the reason that fury comes out in tears I’m sure has a lot to do with the way we’ve long been conditioned not to express our fury in other ways –not to yell or throw things.”



Angie Chau—

“Write and keep at it; as you never want to stop growing as a human being, never stop growing as a writer. Be patient with yourself. ..If a girl who arrived in this country with no English can prevail, so can you.”





Susan Burton—

“I never thought I would have ended up at Harvard or a ‘Top Ten Hero’ or have built an organization like ‘A New Way of Life.’  I just wanted to help.  I wanted at end of the day to have done something good.”

Interview: Rebecca Traister On Why “Big Girls Don’t Cry” —— The 2008 Election

Rebecca Traister’s new book “Big Girls Don’t Cry” gives extraordinary insight into the presidential campaign of 2008 and an election she says that “changed everything for American women.”

This journalist and writer about politics and gender for Salon uses her coverage of the election as a jumping off point for her analysis of  what happened during that history making year.

A reader emailed that she wanted Rebecca to be interviewed for this website.  “Rebecca gave a lot of thought to the warp-speed with which women have transformed–and been transformed by–the political arena,” wrote my friend.

“…there is nothing wrong with wanting a woman to interrupt the history of white male presidential power. That’s actually a progressive impulse…”
Rebecca Traister

The more I read the book, the more questions I had for Rebecca about this transformative election and her non-teary title.  She answered them all…