Get Out Your TugBoat In 1971, Erica Jong interviewed the legendary Anais Nin, who was then in her sixties. Jong asked Nin why she allowed her publisher to cut the sex out of her diaries. “Women who write about sex are never taken seriously as writers,” said Nin. “That’s exactly why we must do it,” said Jong. That year I was a freshman, studying writing at a top liberal arts college. My writing teachers were
An Open Letter to the New York Times Dear New York Times: I now live several states away and read your paper on a screen. Still, the daily experience of reading the Times brings me back to the 1970s: to mornings in Brooklyn with a poppyseed bagel in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Ever since, throughout the events of my lifetime, public and private, the Times has been my trusted companion. And
Work Sucks for Women Too. Regardless of Our Age. Years ago I worked with a woman who won nine million dollars in the California state lottery. The lottery folks suggested she take a monthly payout but she said no thanks, she wanted it all. After taxes she got just over three million dollars. This woman – let’s call her Claire – was the administrative assistant in the Marketing department. I didn’t know her, but my
Vote With Your Feet on Abortion Leverage our Post-Menopausal Freedom after the Dobbs Ruling If, like me, you’re a woman way past menopause, you don’t have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy derailing or threatening your life. Other things might throw us: an off-calendar heart attack or unexpected cancer. But for those who have long parted ways with our uteri, the Dobbs decision is an insult, not an existential threat. That gives us leverage. We
The Romance Revolution Is the romance novel a tool of the patriarchy? Or exactly the opposite? That depends… Origins of the Romance Novel In the early twentieth century, novels for women provided messages of purity and refinement. Publishers were reluctant to run afoul of purity associations run by prominent men of the time. But then came the first “best-sellers:” So-called “sex novels” that focused on women’s sexual desires and pleasures. The success of novels like May
7 Things I Learned from Dating and Writing Carolyn Lee Arnold’s new book, Fifty Dates After Fifty, has been called a “frolicking, racy memoir.” As a fifty-something woman, Carolyn learned that you must kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince—so the key is to enjoy the frogs along the way. And it turns out that first dates are a lot like first drafts. Many thanks, Carolyn, for your vibrant wisdom on both fronts!
