Blog entries

Motherhood bliss? Think again

Lauretta Zucchetti — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0100

The other day I came across my neighbor at a coffee shop. I hadn't seen her in a while and I noticed how different she looked. Her eyes were no longer swollen, and for once she had no dark bags under them.

"How are you?" I asked her.

"I am much better, thank y...

No Female Warriors Needed

Lauretta Zucchetti — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Last night my sixteen-year-old daughter came home sobbing. "I...I..." she kept trying to say something but the words wouldn't come out. Eventually, she told me that her feelings had gotten hurt during her Varsity team soccer tryouts.

"Did you perform badly?" I inquired. ...

When the children leave home...

Lauretta Zucchetti — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0100

“This is not about feminism, but the way feminism was taken in by this society. You want to work? Well, you'll work and raise the children and do everything in the house. No one could be expected - woman or man - to work 80, 90 hours a week. It's not human and it's just not bearable.” By, Marilyn French
...

Women, Equality and History

Lauretta Zucchetti — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Are women equal to men today? If this question were to be asked of any of my friends they would undoubtedly say: Yes! Women (at least in the Western cultures), are finally equal to men in their freedom to choose, to attend the schools they want, to participate in sports, to vote and to pursue many more forms of independent living. And yet, if we look carefully, we can see how our gender is still consi...

Men and Patriarchy

Lauretta Zucchetti — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:00:00 +0100

"The Industrial Revolution, in its need for office and factory workers, pulled fathers away from their sons and, moreover, placed the sons in compulsory schools where the teachers are mostly women." By, Robert Bly author of Iron John

Literally speaking, ...

Women and the need to drink

Lauretta Zucchetti — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Women and the need to drink

The other day my friend complained that her mom drinks too much. “She is not allowed in this house unless she stops. My kids cannot see this!” she shouted. I felt for her. After all, having grown up myself with a mother who started her day with a shot of grappa in her espresso and ended it with Jack Dani...

A Woman's Journey

Lauretta Zucchetti — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:00:00 +0100

If you are a middle aged American woman living in the suburbs and you haven’t seen the movie Revolutionary Road, I suggest that you do.

It depicts the story of a married woman trapped in the mind-numbing, ordinary life of a suburban house-wife and full time mother, her struggle to reclaim her identity, and her relationship with a husband...

Women, Career and Purpose

Lauretta Zucchetti — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:00:00 +0100

I face many years ahead without the task of raising my child and find that there is no model to accommodate whom I have become and what I have to offer. I don't want to be only a wife, I don't want to rejoin the corporate world which will leave me scarred and without a life outside the office, I don't want to hear a thirty-something tell me how to manage a project. I have do...

Women and Patriarchy

Lauretta Zucchetti — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:00:00 +0100

My attention was caught by an article that appeared on the current issue of MS magazine; in it, the author, Carmen D. Siering, describes Bella, the protagonist of the much acclaimed movie Twilight, as “a blank slate, with few thoughts or actions that don’t center on Edward.” She continues by saying that, where Bella is “infan...

Women and Identity

Lauretta Zucchetti — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Nancy Mairs, author of "Voice Lessons" wrote: "How do I invent an identity for myself in a society which prefers to behave as though I do not exist?"

I couldn't agree more. This morning, while walking my dog ...

Women and Connection

Lauretta Zucchetti — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Do we judge others from what we see on the outside? Are we afraid of reaching out to someone unless they make the first attempt? Do we believe that others have it all figured out and we don't?

Chances are that we do.

Betty Friedan, author of “The Feminine Mystique” wrote that, a...