Zonta Club of Grand Rapids
PO Box 3185
Grand Rapids, MI 49501-3185
www.zontagr.org
Zonta NewZ
Helping improve the legal, political, economic, health, education and
professional status of women and girls locally and internationally.
BOARD
President:
Vicki VandenBerg
V O L U M E
V ,
I S S U E
V I
A P R I L
2 0 1 3
The Poetry of Women's Work
Vice-President:
Beth Bialik
Posted: 04/10/2013 3:44 pm, WNN, Dr. Peggy Drexler
Treasurer:
Shannon Reichelderfer
Secretary:
Gini Gordon
Directors:
Darcie Clapp
Lisa Rios
Committee Chairs:
Membership - Cindy
Service - Kate
Advocacy - Darcie
Ways and Means-Allison
PR - Darcie
UN - Vicki
ATNOZ - Maggie
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
The Poetry of
1
Women’s Work
Committee
Reports
2
President’s
Message
3
Committee
Reports Cont.
3
2012-2013
Zonta Annual
Calendar &
Invisible War
4
Cont.—Poetry
of Women’s
work from pg 1
5
The bed and desk both want me.
The windows, the view, the idea of Paris.
With my minutes, I chip away at the idiom,
an unmarked pebble in a fast current.
-- Rachel Zucker, from "After Baby After Baby"
I've never liked the term "working mother." To me, it implies that I'm some kind of subcategory, and not a full
member of the club. The label also combines a bit of
praise for a superhuman effort with a whiff of disapproval
for the fact that balancing work and family means someone is getting shortchanged. "Working father," meanwhile? You don't hear it.
For as long as I can remember, I wanted success as a researcher. I wanted to be in all the
best journals. I wanted to discover great things and write books about what I learned. I never even thought about being a mother. But then early in my 30s, motherhood was all I
thought about. Unlike today, that was the age when most women reached their go/no-go
decision on having children. This was not a conscious choice. It was an emotional, even
physical need. Every tick of my biological clock sounded like a rifle shot.
We had a son. And much later in life a baby girl. And that whole world-class research
thing? It's still here, and as insistent as ever. But what made my emotional struggle especially difficult was that my life wasn't. My husband did quite well quite early. Basically, I didn't
have to do much I didn't want to. The idea of stretching ligaments to embrace both work
and domesticity, I know, must leave many without my options asking: "Are you nuts?"
Maybe. But I'm certainly not alone. We've been at this whole women and work thing for
several decades now, with an ongoing public debate over which option -- working or not -makes mothers happier. And in the early months of 2013, we've found ourselves here once
again. Commentary on the subject has ignited the pages of cultural magazines, not to mention the media's renewed discussion of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Whether it's the "feminist housewife" profiled in a recent New York cover story, or the woman rising to corporate leadership discussed in Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, the ideal
role of women in the modern world continues to be a subject of popular contention. Meanwhile, in homes and offices and laboratories and classrooms, wherever we exercise our
life's calling -- or callings -- we share more similarities than the debate over "a woman's
place today" suggests.
What a better time than this, National Poetry Month, to enter another sort of discussion: the
common space poems create for reflection -- on the challenges we face, the choices we
make, and the invaluable importance of all women do.
PAGE
2
Service and Advocacy Committee
Rapids Opportunities for Women what a great partner for ZONTA. The race organizers were fabulous to work with, the volunteers
were steller, and Zonta got to share
their name with the public. WIN
WIN for all.
Girls Learning Day is May 16, 35:30pm in Grand Haven. We are
currently investigating transportation
options and soliciting participants.
Talk to Helen Samples to sign up
participants.
April 18th is the Gazelle Girl Half Marathon—In looking back, a great time was
had in support the more than 2,000 runners that participated in the the first Gazelle's Girl's Half-Marathon. There were
other volunteers that didn't make the
picture and we thank you all! At that
Membership News
ZONTA
time however, it was VERY, VERY
cold and wet. And thank you to Maggie
and MaryEllen for the delicious lunch
they brought us!
The runners were so thankful of our support. And the proceeds will benefit
Girl's on the Run, YWCA, and Grand
We are planning on hosting our first
annual girls only STEM fair on Saturday,
April 12, 2014 at Davenport University.
Flyers are currently being designed by
Lori Wilson, and should be available by
soon. We will be seeking exhibitors and
participants for the event in the upcoming
months.
Please invite prospects to our upcoming Winey Wednesday:
NEWZ
VOLUME
V,
ISSUE
VI
PAGE
3
President’s Message
So, once again, Zonta is nearing the
end of another year. At our April
meeting we were blessed to usher in
a new board that will be inducted at
our June meeting. Thank you to
those that graciously accepted the
call to step up into a board position.
Barb Schram, Area 2 Director,
spoke at the meeting and reminded
us all that part of the responsibility
of being a Zontian is to accept the
call when asked to do so. Every
member brings their own talents and
flair to any position bringing innovation and newness to the group.
Denise Spaulding also added to that
idea in speaking about her time as
president of the club and the support
and help she received. She encouraged all of us to assist those in
board positions with the benefit
of lightening the load for all and
making accepting those positions
less daunting. And, always remember the ultimate goal is to
advance the status of woman
which is the common interest of
all our members. The goal is the
dreamy part – it’s the work in
attaining the goal that can seem
heavy at times. As women, let’s
not forget to support each other.
So, jump in when and where you
can – it’s vital to the functioning
of our group.
My term as president will be up
in June. I will end by saying it
has been a pleasure to represent
this club. I hand over the gauntlet to Lisa with gratitude and
blessings as she brings her
wacky and talented personality
to this position! Looking forward to the coming year.
“I’ve got a women’s ability to
stick to a job and get on with it
when everyone else walks off
and leaves it.”
—Margaret Thatcher
October 13,1925-April 8, 2013
UN/Zonta International Committee
Dear Zontians,
Zonta International Foundation is participating in The RaiseForWomen Challenge. The Challenge is a fundraising initiative to help women-focused nonprofits gain resources and recognition. The challenge begins on 24 April and
ends on 6 June 2013.
The charity that raises the most money during the Challenge period will get a US$25,000 grant from the Skoll
Foundation. Second place gets US$15,000 and third gets US$10,000. We want to raise as much money as possible for
Zonta so we can win the $25,000 grant.
We think we have a good chance of winning, but we need every Zontian's help. Any donation makes a difference, no matter how small.
To help now, please click this link: http://www.crowdrise.com/ZontaRoseChallenge and give whatever you can.
If you want to go one step further, visit the page above and click 'Create Your Fundraiser.' In seconds, you'll
have your own fundraiser that you can share with all of your family and friends to raise even more money to support
Zonta's service and advocacy programs around the world.
Thanks so much for your support.
Bonnie Wolinski
Development Manager
Zonta International Foundation
2013-2014 Zonta Calendar Year
APRIL
29th-May 2nd—Poker Fundraiser, TJ’s Charity Cardroom
MAY
15th—Winey Wednesday, 6:30-8:30, Lisa R.’s house
16th—Girls Learning Day GVSU boat trip, 3-5:30pm
JUNE
13th—Business Meeting, University Club 5:30pm
JULY
19th—Summer Party, 4pm, Bonnie’s house
AUGUST
23rd-25th—Poker Fundraiser, TJ’s Charity Cardroom
SEPTEMBER
12th—Business Meeting, University Club 5:30pm
30th-Oct 1st—Poker Fundraiser, TJ’s Charity Cardroom
OCTOBER
10th—Halloween ATNOZ at MaryEllen’s
The 2012 film The Invisible War, written and directed by Kirby Dick, is the first in-depth documentary to expose the crisis of sexual assault
in the U.S. military. Provocative and gut-wrenching, it has won several festival awards and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best
Documentary Feature. Most viewers will be shocked, and then outraged, by the experiences of the veterans portrayed in the film. They
should be outraged: approximately 19,300 acts of sexual assault are committed annually against service members, the overwhelming majority by fellow troops.
The most chilling phrase in The Invisible War, Kirby Dick’s documentary about the ongoing, institutionalized, taxpayer-funded rape of military
service people by fellow members of the military, appears onscreen at the film’s beginning:
All statistics in this film are from U.S. governments studies.
With over 20% of all women in the military reporting they had been sexually assaulted, and over 86% of rapes going unreported, it is beyond mindboggling, horrifying or reprehensible that the US Government is aware of these crimes and yet has allowed them to continue by fostering a climate
for decades where the majority of perpetrators are not prosecuted or significantly punished, and the victims are left with their lives destroyed.
Equally as horrifying: Rape of military service men and women by their fellows is legally considered to be an occupational hazard according to the
courts which dismissed a lawsuit by military servicewomen who had been sexually assaulted. These women’s stories, along with those of servicemen who were raped, provide a horrific insight into the endemic, abusive, violent, predatory mature of military rapists on US soil, from isolated
bases in Alaska to the prestigious Marine Barracks in Washington D.C.
The Poetry of Women’s Work—Continued from Page 1
"We tried, beyond work, at work, to keep what we loved," wrote Sandra MacPherson in her poem "Resigning
from a Job in the Defense Industry." These words, published in 1970, still sum up the struggle at the center of
the work-life tug-of-war. While the message is firm in its realism, it's also affirmative. With clear eyes, and a
bit of absurdist humor, poetry can provide solace in the storm. Take Brenda Hillman's "Time Problem," part of
a longer meditation on time, family, and busyness:
My girl came to the study
and said Help me;
I told her I had a time problem
which meant:
I would die for you but I don't have ten minutes.
Numbers hung in the math book
like motel coathangers. The Lean
Cuisine was burning
like an ancient city...
Here we are, juggling priorities with immense sensitivity to the sacrifices we make with every decision, the
micro-worlds it seems we compromise with every choice -- in the workplace, too. Elizabeth Willis tackles the
problem with similar wit in "January":
My office alerts me
I have only so much time
Prosperity is just around
that hairpin turn
In this way the poem
lays its hand against your head
Its words are using you
to power-down the view
In times of self-doubt--after all, we're living in an era of "hairpin turns": career changes, a tumultuous economy, and technology advancing at a dizzying pace--poetry can provide a space for recalling the fundamentals of
our choices. Crystal Williams writes in "God Is Good":
Today my accomplishments crouch in the corner
not jabbering happily or raising their hands,
but with their grubby heads down murmuring something dull.
But then there's a turn:
Maybe this is the good life, this sudden uncertainty.
Maybe this is the woman all women once were.
Whatever we choose to do, or find ourselves doing, poetry can remind us to be present and do that thing well.
Julia Alvarez considers her mother's command of the domestic realm in "Woman's Work":
Who says a woman's work isn't high art?
She'd challenge as she scrubbed the bathroom tiles.
Keep house as if the address were your heart.
Ultimately, this art form that can sometimes elude us can also, in quiet moments, validate us deeply, and reveal
the power in our shared connections. "We're fighting against our acculturation that tells us when we write
about our lives, it's trivial. We write out of fury at being relegated to having our lives called 'trivial,'" says the
poet Daphne Gottlieb in the anthology Woman Poets on Mentorship: Efforts and Affections. "And we help
each other get our words out there, because one voice alone won't move the world forward, but nations of
women together might."
Ultimately, in my own life, I accepted the fact that motherhood was not the choice. Work was. And if I wanted
that choice, I would have to embrace the chaos, even if that meant occasionally showing up to lecture medical
students wearing two different shoes. This is how I came to be content in the way you are when your choices,
your words, are your own, and they take you to a place you accept and understand.
Wherever you focus your efforts, or "lean in," to borrow Sandburg's phrase, what are your words?