Alison Garwood Jones

Long for yourself

July 28, 2023

A young woman of colour longing for herself by Alison Garwood-Jones

In 1967, she was thinking: air hostess (for the glamour), nurse, or “office girl” — charm and efficiency a must.

In 2023, she is thinking about algorithms, AI, black holes, oncology, stories with blockbuster movie potential, Odyssey translations, power structures, and true crime. She is still being instructed to improve her hair, her voice, her figure, her walk, her kids, her home, etc. … But the joy of applying herself is stronger than the drumbeat of criticism.

Keep going, sisters.

As Sinéad O’Connor said not long ago: “I consider myself a woman of the past, of the ’70s and ’80s. We were raised to long for a man. We weren’t raised to long for ourselves. [I guess my message for younger women is]: Long for yourself.”

Quote: “Sinéad O’Connor: 25 minutes with the most misunderstood woman in music” (2014), CBC.ca. Reposted on July 26, 2023.



 

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