In spoken Chinese, everything is gender neutral. There is no she or he. The more I think about this now, the more I like this about the language. Man or woman? Does it matter? A person. –Weike Wang
What She Said, March 28: Weike Wang
Diane Masiello
Diane Masiello is a part-time writer and a full-time mom, wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law. Like many who are currently part of the “sandwich generation,” – those who still have kids at home but are also taking care of aging parents—she is also trying to find the time to carve out some space for her own passions. In her earlier life she earned a Ph.D. in Education from New York University, and worked as an Instructor of English, then Assistant Professor of English at the University of Tampa. In 2003 she left academia to raise her two daughters—the longest, hardest job she’s ever held, and the most rewarding. During her time in academia she edited and contributed to a variety of academic publications, but her greatest joy was the publication of her first short fantasy story, “The Sunspot,” in CrossTime Science Fiction Anthology Vol. II. She has her own blog, “Afternoons with Coffee Spoons,” which started as a mommy blog but ended when she realized her daughters had become old enough that writing about them without their permission seemed invasive. She has just completed her first young adult fantasy novel, Keeper, and is starting on the maze-like road toward publication. She is thrilled to be a part of The Gloria Sirens and looks forward to the conversations her blog posts may inspire.
What She Said, March 27: Rachel Khong
A long time ago I stopped wondering why there were so many crazy people. What surprises me now is that there are so many sane ones. –Rachel Khong
What She Said, March 26: Lisa See
In our country we call this type of mother love teng ai. My son has told me that in men’s writing it is composed of two characters. The first means pain; the second means love. That is a mother’s love. –Lisa See
What She Said, March 25: Gail Tsukiyama
It is not an act of bravery to try to save your own village. It is an instinct to protect what you possess. Bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose. –Gail Tsukiyama
What She Said, March 24: Celeste Ng
Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground and start over. After burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way. –Celeste Ng
What She Said, March 23: Bharati Mukherjee
We do things when it is our time to do them. They do not occur to us until it is time; they cannot be resisted, once their time has come. It’s a question of time, not motive. –Bharati Mukherjee
What She Said, March 22: Kaui Hart Hemmings
Why is it so hard to articulate love yet so easy to express disappointment? –Kaui Hart Hemmings
What She Said, February 12: Joan Jett
Rock and roll by its nature is sexual. So girls playing rock and roll is saying to the world, “We own our sexuality.” I think that pop music is sort of about “You can do what you want to me” energy, while rock and roll is “I’m going to do what I want to you” kind of energy.” –Joan Jett
What She Said, February 11: Betty Buckley
The work that must be done for each woman to reconnect with her psyche and to give herself a chance to live her own life is essentially the same. The realization of the equality of all races, the equality of all beings is essential. Feminism–the word–can give us a handle, a rallying point, a common ground, and help us build a bridge. Why not claim the gift of the word as a place to begin? The pure connecting factor is that those of us who describe ourselves as feminists want equal rights for all people. . . . If we’re for one another, we’re feminists. The rest is semantics. –Betty Buckley
What She Said, February 10: Judy Garland
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. –Judy Garland
