Amelia's Ray of Light
Posted 10-18-2009 at 06:49 AM by LookinForMayberry
DH, Bigun and I recently visited Atchison, KS. It was a return trip for me, having first gone in '97 to gather information for a novel I'd tried (and failed) to write. I was captured by it, and Amelia, then and again. It's a great small town that hides its treasures from casual view. One must get out and walk its streets to be touched by it.
Though the town displays its love of Amelia Earhart, as her birthplace, it has many gifts aside from her lingering presence. It's a place worth making time to visit.
But, back to Amelia.
Her mother was from Atchison, and insisted her daughter be schooled there, staying there with her grandparents. Their home is now her museum. Go, see it; it's worth more than the three bucks.
The foyer leads you to the parlor, where one "meets" Grandmother through her portrait over the piano. We are told that Amelia and her grandmother continually struggled with Amelia's insistence that girls are allowed to do anything boys can do.
Along the self-guided tour, one sees the juxtaposition of Amelia and her grandmother, throughout. The Victorian decor and furnishings sport photographs and memories that describe Amelia's life. A story of glory, ending tragically. Still, Amelia forged a way and achieved what she sought -- proving a woman can do what a man can do. Though she died young (40), her life was not wasted.
And yet, still today, women have yet to achieve what Amelia claimed for her sex. Still, we live in the shadows, under-paid, under-valued, under-achieving.
Born 59 years after Amelia, my mother taught me to be a good wife and mother. My school advisers taught me that "as a young woman" I should pursue accounting, or become a secretary. Oh Amelia, where was your Ray of Light, then?
Born 105 years after Amelia, my youngest niece has the advantage of playing softball, and ballet. For gifts she receives dolls, and clothes. I don't think she's been introduced to Amelia.
While Amelia and others with her strength have shown us the truth of their convictions, we STILL raise our children according to their sex. Girls are raised to be mothers, the most limiting career in the history of human kind. Rather than pursue THEIR talents, they are encouraged to raise talented children.
If girls are encouraged to be mothers, and boys are encouraged to be what they can be, we are blocking the light that Amelia's life and death displayed.
I hope that families will take their children to see the movie about Amelia, and take some time to tell them about how Amelia grew up in a dark, Victorian home with well-meaning, loving family, and fought her way to fly off to meet her destiny -- showing us the way to the Light.
Though the town displays its love of Amelia Earhart, as her birthplace, it has many gifts aside from her lingering presence. It's a place worth making time to visit.
But, back to Amelia.
Her mother was from Atchison, and insisted her daughter be schooled there, staying there with her grandparents. Their home is now her museum. Go, see it; it's worth more than the three bucks.
The foyer leads you to the parlor, where one "meets" Grandmother through her portrait over the piano. We are told that Amelia and her grandmother continually struggled with Amelia's insistence that girls are allowed to do anything boys can do.
Along the self-guided tour, one sees the juxtaposition of Amelia and her grandmother, throughout. The Victorian decor and furnishings sport photographs and memories that describe Amelia's life. A story of glory, ending tragically. Still, Amelia forged a way and achieved what she sought -- proving a woman can do what a man can do. Though she died young (40), her life was not wasted.
And yet, still today, women have yet to achieve what Amelia claimed for her sex. Still, we live in the shadows, under-paid, under-valued, under-achieving.
Born 59 years after Amelia, my mother taught me to be a good wife and mother. My school advisers taught me that "as a young woman" I should pursue accounting, or become a secretary. Oh Amelia, where was your Ray of Light, then?
Born 105 years after Amelia, my youngest niece has the advantage of playing softball, and ballet. For gifts she receives dolls, and clothes. I don't think she's been introduced to Amelia.
While Amelia and others with her strength have shown us the truth of their convictions, we STILL raise our children according to their sex. Girls are raised to be mothers, the most limiting career in the history of human kind. Rather than pursue THEIR talents, they are encouraged to raise talented children.
If girls are encouraged to be mothers, and boys are encouraged to be what they can be, we are blocking the light that Amelia's life and death displayed.
I hope that families will take their children to see the movie about Amelia, and take some time to tell them about how Amelia grew up in a dark, Victorian home with well-meaning, loving family, and fought her way to fly off to meet her destiny -- showing us the way to the Light.
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Another sad commentary is that while most girls may be raised to be mothers, far too few boys are raised to be fathers. Strong--and present--father figures are important and all to often lacking. So, girls raised to be mothers raise their daughters the same way because it's all they know. And the daughters become mothers much to early, and the fathers are elsewhere.Posted 10-21-2009 at 10:22 PM by leorah
