discrimination

Women’s March 2018: and so we rise

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It’s been just a year since the Women’s March in January, 2017.  During that year  I decided to run for office, knocked on doors, crafted policy statements, and was elected to local office.  That’s my story.  Behind other doors lay other stories:  of sexual assault, harassment, mansplaining and diminishment, and every shape and form of bad behavior, policy, and pattern that necessitated the need for a woman’s march.   We lived through the MeToo movement, and now Time’s Up.  Through it all we relived our past and present pain, and wanted to believe that this year would be the one when it would end.   Continue reading →

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Harry Potter world: where diversity is strength

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In December we went to Orlando to see Larry’s family.  We did something we had never done before:  visited a theme park.  We took an extra day and decided to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I’m a big fan of Harry Potter.  I’ve read all the books and own the DVDs.  We watched some of them to prepare for our expedition.  I have to say here that I generally avoid overly commercial forms of entertainment.   For Harry Potter world, however, I made an exception. Continue reading →

Now on the American menu: hate as the new normal

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A softball dugout In Wellsville, N.Y. spray painted with a swastika.   Photo from The Huffington Post’s US edition.

I have been struggling with this post for a week now.  It has been written and rewritten a dozen times.  I am torn between expressing the anger and disappointment I’m feeling and a contrary pull to wait and see.  In the end the need to speak out won in my internal battle.  Some of my readers will agree with me, while others will not.  This is not a political missive.  It’s a call for decency and tolerance.

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Women and the workplace: the journey to full equality

/ marlainpa / 2 Comments

Anyone who has been watching or reading the news knows that there has been a lot of talk this year about sexism and assault of women.  One event that is likely seared in many women’s minds was the light sentence meted out this year to the Stanford University student after being found guilty of sexual assault.   Most women have experienced some kind of harassment from men, sexual or otherwise.  We endure it, we tell our friends about it, sometimes we report it, and often it feels like the system is unfairly tilted against us.    I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what it’s like to experience harassment.  First I’d like to share my own story with you.

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