True to Ourselves: A Celebration of Women Making a Difference - Hardcover

Neuman, Nancy M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787941751 ISBN 13: 9780787941758

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 1998

Synopsis

League of Women Voters of the United States

A celebration of passionate, heroic women who represent theexpanding power and influence of women in American public life. Inthis dynamic collection, twenty-two extraordinary leaders shareinspiring personal stories that reflect the universal desire toeffect change in the world. Representing the nation's ethnicdiversity, these outstanding women demonstrate that everyone cantruly make a difference.

True to Ourselves presents a remarkable mix of women who haveconfronted tough choices, challenges, and tests of their owncharacter with determination and conviction. From polar explorerAnn Bancroft and Smith College president Ruth J. Simmons to secondlady Tipper Gore, activist Sarah Brady, and politicians CarolMoseley-Braun, Polly B. Baca, and Patsy T. Mink, the contributorsdescribe lives enriched by family, career, and their own commitmentto the larger public good. They reveal turning points thatcompelled them to change their lives and share their concerns aboutthe unfinished business of building an equal and inclusive society.Their stories and examples will inspire readers to face challengesin their own lives and fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

About this title

Review:

"The true measure of a woman is in her day-to-day commitment to something larger than herself," writes editor Nancy Neuman in the opening pages of True to Ourselves. By that yardstick, the women sharing hard-won achievements here stand tall. CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa introduces readers to an ex-gang member who once heard himself describe his aspirations and violent acts in her documentary on gangs. That moment changed his life. "I heard myself say that I was going to amount to something, and I believed me," he says.

Ignoring derision and the likelihood of failure, Ann Bancroft became the first woman known to sled to the North Pole and later crossed Antarctica with an all-female team. Republican activist Mary Dent Swift stubbornly hewed to her values to champion the E.R.A. and found a Republican coalition upholding abortion rights, despite vehement opposition from much of her own political party. And the late Congresswoman Bella Abzug, a feminist known for wild hats and abrasive opinions, has a juicy role in Carmen Delgado Votaw's ambivalent depiction of how former President Jimmy Carter pulled the plug on the National Advisory Committee for Women because of "confrontational" tactics. True to Ourselves is bracing and inspiring (although somewhat overearnest), reminding us that no woman leaves a mark in this world without trailblazers to emulate, critics to goad her, and supporters to urge her on. --Francesca Coltrera

About the Author:

NANCY M. NEUMAN is a lecturer and writer on women in politics and public policy. A former national president of the League of Women Voters, she is the editor of A Voice of Our Own (1996) and author of The League of Women Voters in Perspective 1920-1995 (1994). She has been a distinguished visiting professor at Washington and Jefferson College, Bucknell University, and Pomona College.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0787941751
• ISBN 13: 9780787941758
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 230