GRAY IN L.A.

OUR DAILY SEXISM I'm really glad that the #MeToo movement has also brought awareness to something that is going on as long as I can remember: casual, annoying, boring, paternalistic, arrogant DAILY SEXISM . Except that it can seem so deceptively minor, even subtle, that the untrained female ears and eyes didn't pick up on it when we were much younger - because we had gotten used to it.   I don't know about you - but I'm quite aware of it now, more than ever - and I've just about had it. Maybe you too? Let's learn how to fight back. Here's a classic case that happened to me the other day. I'm riding the bus down Hollywood Blvd., which is in itself a slow freak-show - left and right are large groups of Asian tourists in little white hats staring at impersonators like Spiderman, Minnie Mouse, and Edward Scissorhands.  A man in his late thirties with the aura (and the body) of a muscled tough guy who's looking for trouble...

Letter from a former Street Fighting Girl These are combustible times. There were already 2 huge Women's Marches recently and now we witnessed the heart wrenching and powerful #MarchForYourLives event all over America.  "Welcome to the Revolution!" said the young woman, Emma Gonzalez, who initiated the movement, in a clear voice at the Washington rally. It was music to my ears. Having been a young woman in the late sixties I had a strong sense of deja vu. I saw today's faces - beautiful young faces with tears in their eyes, with hope and anger in their hearts and heard the outrage in their voices. They reminded me of our faces then. The urgency and the passion were electrifying. I realized that anguish and the wild will to force change , no matter the risks and the costs, look the same all over the world in all generations . I choked quite a few times. I don't know whether young people ever think about...

Turning my Back on Ageism I'm an old feminist, meaning I discovered my identity, my talents and my own importance in my own life when I was very young . It also dawned on me that therefore I would have to take responsibility for everything I do and say. In fact I wanted to! It was another important step towards victory and true independence. I didn't want help or sympathy, not approval or admiration from anybody. I wanted to be my own project , hand-crafted by me alone. Quite a lofty concept without a guarantee for success. Luckily, I was a young woman in the 60s and 70s - so, time was on my side. Liberation and emancipation were in the air - and most women I knew threw themselves into that new battle with passion and a fair amount of fearlessness. Freedom beckoned, we were in love with it. We fought, we won some, we lost some, but we insisted; we grew impatient , yet we kept on questioning patriarchy and power structures, and also took a close look at ourselves ! ...