Cover of Loving Frank: A Novel

Why are we still talkin’ ‘bout this? Mal – Firefly

“Q: So, why do you write these strong female characters?
A: Because you’re still asking me that question.” – Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So? Why ARE we still talking about this?

I love synchronicity. The other day I was at my local favorite new and used bookstore and I started just a simple conversation about favorite novels with one of the customers. Suddenly she said “Here, you have to read this.” It was “Loving Frank” by Nancy Horan.

Loving Frank is based on the true story of Mamah Borthwick Cheney,the woman who fell in love with and had an illicit and very scandalous love affair with famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  This isn’t only about her affair, but about her struggle for women ’s rights and her participation in the suffragette movement in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

That’s right. 1890’s , MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO!

Mamah Borthwick was a translator for Swedish feminist Ellen Key who believed that the “Woman Movement” (as it was called then) was about more than just “getting the vote” and that American women were being too short sighted in their focus. I have to say, with two hundred years hindsight that I think she was right and we are seeing the consequences of that short sightedness today.

Over the years, “feminism” has gotten a bad rap. I’m not exactly sure why this is, but I can theorize that perhaps it has become synonymous with “man hating”. Yes, there are radicals in every movement, religiously or otherwise. Feminism is a misnomer.

Loving Frank - 10/365 (Photo credit: Andreanna Moya Photography)

It is a misnomer because it’s not just about women’s rights but HUMAN rights. I shake my head when I hear or see women saying “I’m not a feminist, I’m for equality.”  True feminism IS ABOUT EQUALITY, and somewhere we’ve lost sight of that. True feminism isn’t about a POWER OVER paradigm, it’s about POWER WITH.

On April 28 we march…. Again….  Why are we still talkin’ ‘bout this? http://unitewomen.org/unite/

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