November 30, 2020

Happy Last Day of November, and a happy birthday to beloved BOSLady co-founder Alexandra!

We are just about a week away from our last meeting of 2020 so grab your Dare to Lead and get reading for next Tuesday, December 8th. Last year at this time, BOSLady met at the Women Take the Floor exhibit at the MFA. How differently we may view some of these pieces in light of the past year's events. If you're curious, take a virtual tour of the gallery here.

The Weekly Three

1. Something about the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade: Did you know that last year Yayoi Kusama became the first female artist commissioned to create a float for the parade? You may recognize her name from the Infinity Mirror Room or from Daily RItuals: Women at Work, which we read this past summer.

Also notable in the parade was Olay's Women in STEM float to remind viewers of their goal to #SolveTheSTEMGap, a "10-year commitment to double the number of women in STEM, and triple the number of multicultural women in STEM".

2. Something about 9 to 5: While we were watching Dolly Parton perform during the parade, my mom asked me if I had heard of 9 to 5, either the movie or title song. If you were watching Elizabeth Warren announce her presidential run, you've heard it.

In the early 1970s, Karen Nussbaum and fellow women in the workplace formed an advocacy and support group that they called 9to5. When Jane Fonda, whom Nussbaum knew through the anti war effort, heard about the group, it gave her the idea for the wildly successful "revenge fantasy for women who felt overworked, underpaid and disrespected". The themes are still relevant enough that last year a cover was commissioned by This American Life.

3. Something about "maintenance and care" vs. "productivity": These past few months, one of my goals has been to change the way I link my productivity to my worth. In How to do Nothing, Jenny Odell points out that our culture's "very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new" and that "we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way", self-care included. The standard of constant production is contradictory to nature, where "things that grow unchecked are often considered parasitic or cancerous". Constant productivity as our culture defines it is unsustainable and unnatural. Odell argues that one must step back from what she calls the attention economy, all of the outside noise, and create space for oneself. In that space, you can identify yourself and your needs. This holiday season won't bring on the busyness and bustle that it has in years past, but I do think that as we go into December, it's a good idea to bring these ideas up. Another way to package it: "if you don't create time for your wellness, you will be forced to take time for your illness". Thank you for your time, Amber