Read That Takes Ovaries! Online
Authors: Rivka Solomon
Dedicated to girls everywhere,
and to those fighting for the human rights of
women and girls around the globe.
CHAPTER 1
On the Spot: Impulsive, Gutsy Acts
Preaching to the Convicted /
KATHLEEN TARR
Alps-ward Bound /
FREZZIA PRODERO
Hands On, Hands Off /
BOBBI AUSUBEL
Amen for Sneaky Women /
CECELIA WAMBACH
Fat Grrlz Kick Ass /
BETH MISTRETTA
Selling the Berlin Wall /
RIVKA SOLOMON
Educating Bill Clinton /
BONNIE MORRIS
Saving Mommy, or The Night I Lost My Childhood /
D. H. WU
Nothing from Nobody /
TARA BETTS
You Can Take That Law and… /
GWYN McVAY
CHAPTER 2
After Some Thought: Making Life-changing Choices
Divine Perfection /
ANITRA WINDER
Cinderella, Ph.D. /
IRIS STAMMBERGER
Committing to Motherhood /
REBECCA WALKER
Returning Home /
WILMA MANKILLER
Courage at the End /
MIREYA HERRERA
CHAPTER 3
For Ourselves: Taking Charge of Our Bodies and Sexuality
Cupid’s Paintbrush /
AMELIA COPELAND
Loving w/o Limits /
ROBIN RENÉE
Good, Good, Good, Good Vibrations /
JOANI BLANK
Declawing Catcalls /
JULIA ACEVEDO
MTV, Bite Me! /
SABRINA MARGARITA ALCANTARA-TAN
Spreading My Legs for Womankind /
MOLLY KENEFICK
CHAPTER 4
Danger: Risking Life or Limb
Adventures in the Jungle /
DENISE GRANT
Slapshot off the Rink /
AMY CHAMBERS
Not Minding My Own Business /
MARY ANN McCOURT
Impossible Choices: From El Salvador to the United States /
EVA
Triumphs of the Amazon Queen /
KYM TRIPPSMITH
CHAPTER 5
Rebels: Individuals Taking a Stand
Letting Justice Flow /
ALISON KAFER
One Moonshine Night /
JULIA WILLIS
Yay for Hairy Women! /
MICA MIRO
Painting the Town /
SASHA CLAIRE McINNES
Camping with a Ventilator /
CONNIE PANZARINO
A Room of Our Own /
KATHRYN ROBLEE
Davida and Goliath /
JANE COLBY
Taking Up Tools /
ELIZABETH YOUNG
Digging for Dough /
AMY RICHARDS
Remaining Whole Behind Bars /
FAUZIYA KASSINDJA
CHAPTER 6
Doing It Together: Collective Activism
Love Thy Neighbor with Avengeance /
JESSICA BROWN
Synagogue Revolt /
LOOLWA KHAZZOOM
Diary of an Urban Guerilla /
KATHY BRUIN
Civil Disobedience: A Primary School Primer /
DEBRA KOLODNY
Nine Days to Change the World /
TERRI M. MUEHE
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights /
RANA HUSSEINI
CHAPTER 7
“That’s Not Nice!”: Acting On Anger
How to Stop a Thief /
MARY GOING
Eye on the Ball /
KATHLEEN ANTONIA
Mike Meets the Dykes /
JUDITH K. WITHEROW
Charmed, I’m Sure /
AUDREY SCHAEFER
Closing the Nasty Girl /
ELIZABETH O’NEILL
Driven /
CHRISTINE MAXFIELD STONE
That Takes Ovaries! Open Mikes
Female Genital Mutilation, Sex Trafficking, and That Takes Ovaries! Fund-raisers
“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”
—
Katharine Hepburn
“Well-behaved women rarely make history.”
—
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
“If you don’t take risks, you won’t know what is possible.”
—
Unknown
That Takes Ovaries!
is a collection of women’s and girls’ real-life stories written in their own words. From courageous and smart to outrageous and foolhardy, these accounts capture the breadth of gutsy acts. It is a collection that embraces diversity with the voices of everyday females of many ages and cultural backgrounds, and also includes stories from a few better-known individuals and activists.
This book contains more than sixty first-person narratives representing a wide variety of audacious deeds. It includes accounts of women and girls standing up to a gun-toting gangbanger in a fast-food joint, skysurfing out of airplanes, organizing a hundred high-school girls to take on the boys who harass them, jumping off a moving train to see the Alps, defying abuse in prison, diving into the middle of an ice hockey fight, staging a Lesbian Avengers action inside a conservative think tank, earning a living as a sex writer, making a would-be burglar cry, and telling President Clinton what to do—and having him do it! The stories tell how a fourteen-year-old led a revolt in her synagogue, a poor woman rose out of destitution and prostitution, a passerby confronted a crowd of catcalling men, a public health educator founded the country’s first women-oriented sex-toy store, a peacemaker met with guerilla leaders in a war zone, a girl was the first to wear pants to elementary school in the
1960s, a reporter started a mass movement against brutality toward women in the Middle East, a Catholic schoolteacher snuck in to see the Pope … and dozens of other sassy, spirited acts.