“Elizabeth was a beautiful princess. She lived in a castle and wore expensive princess clothes. She was going to marry a prince named Ronald.” The intro to the Paper Bag Princess begins like most fairy tales; however, when a Ronald is taken hostage, it takes a dramatic turn. After outsmarting the fire breathing, horse eating, castle destroying dragon and rescuing her betrothed, Princess Elizabeth decides to dance off into the sunset, and not marry Prince Ronald. He was, after all, a bum.
Perhaps it was the name association, but I immediately fell in love with this spunky girl who did her own thing. In retrospect, I find it slightly amusing that my rebellious inspiration was a heroine who simply didn't marry her prince. That said, my heroine did inspire a love for doing what nobody else was doing – becoming the only girl on the soccer team, spending my high school vacation volunteering at an orphanage, killing the curve in my History class, designing my own clothes (in an alternative life, I'm really a contestant on Project Runway).
Stepping out of line to do my own thing. Being Bold, as I've come to call it.
It's not that this wasn't encouraged at home. I grew up, quite literally, under the banner of feminism (a sign on our front door read: Feminism Spoken Here). My mom took me to my first first pro-choice rally at age 9. I believe, however, that it took this simple story to help me really make sense my own values and helped me define who I wanted to be in the world.
Stories have this ability. They cultivate and instill values. Make sense of the most complicated, and sometimes the simplest, areas of our lives.
Our culture and society is built on stories – the heroes myth, religious parables, even every day fairy tales. But there are two kinds of stories: those listed above that most often perpetuate the status quo or those, like the ones featured this year at the Maine Women's Fund, that change the status quo from the inside out. They give possibility to the unimaginable.
In our new series, Making Change Happen, we see women creating powerful social change in all aspects of their lives -- nurturning families, creating public art, building businesses, leading industries. They reinforce our story as one of social change, at micro and macro levels. They help us imagine women as the solution to Maine's problems, rather than a victim to them.
We hope that as we see, read, and experience these stories we'll begin thinking about our own stories. What stories do you have to tell? What story do you have yet to create?
Join us each month as we explore new stories together. Share your story, or a story of your own heroine. Become part of the force making change happen in Maine.
I loved seeing this initiative take shape and I am looking forward to hearing more stories about bold women making change happen in Maine. Keep 'em coming!
Posted by: Meredith S. Bove | September 06, 2008 at 11:08 AM
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Posted by: writing up dissertation | June 17, 2009 at 12:55 AM