Listen to Your Mother, or, the Mommy Wars Can Suck It
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I'm tired of hearing about “The Mommy Wars.” I'm tired of this battle between women that perpetuated on a regular basis by the media (cough cough TIME cough cough) to gain page views and sell magazines. I'm not going to participate, because I think it's garbage.
Also, there's no such thing.
I am incredibly blessed to be a part of several communities of women that prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that women can be and are compassionate, loving, supportive human beings, even to each other. I am a part of a fabulous group of women bloggers who are local to me; the support and lifting up I've experienced within that group gives me chills. More recently, the #iwillrockthis group, talking each other up, giving support to each other as we all work towards our healthier selves. In short, women are awesome!
Last night, I got to witness yet another amazing community; the cast of Listen to Your Mother, San Francisco.
The show's concept is simple enough; their tagline is “Giving Mother's Day a Microphone” A cast of 12 women (OK, in our case it was 11 women and 1 guy) read pieces they're written about… gasp!… motherhood. The good parts, the bad parts, the funny parts, the sad parts. I haven't sent my son off to college, lost my mother, dealt with a broken bone, gotten whuppings from my mom's friends, breastfed or had lesbian grandmas, but still, there's a common thread in every story, that speaks directly to my heart, as both a person, and definitely as a mom.
It didn't matter if you were an AP Mama, a corporate badass mom, a stay-at-home-mommy or an empty nester… we were all just mothers, sharing words, tears and laughter. For that hour and a half, it was magic.
I am lucky enough to count three of the performers among my friends; Nichole, Sherri and Melissa are members of my local blogging group, and incredible women, though each in their very own ways. My heart is bursting with pride for them, and I am honored to have been in the audience last night to support them (and take pictures, of course! :))
I had a wonderful time, and again, I thank all of the cast members for sharing themselves with all of us. Every single one of you touched me. And thank you.
Here's to hoping I make it to the stage in 2013!
I will never be able to find the words to thank you for your support, Lizz.
It meant the world to me that you were able to be a part of the experience.
I truly don’t know how I got so lucky to have such amazing friends.
You are amazing and yes…you MUST go for it in 2013. xoxo
I am running out of ways to express how much I admire and adore you, my friend. So I’ll just say, again, that it was an honor to be there. <3
Is there a place we can read what they read? I am very curious!
They’re on their various blogs, but I believe videos will be on YouTube eventually…
So glad you were there! I love this!!
Kirsten, Thank you SO much for bringing LTYM to San Francisco! I loved every minute of it!
So good to see you there! And good luck with the Dualthon. You’ll rock it!
What an awesome wrapup, and wonderful photos!!! (if you took more, I’d love to see them)
Thank you so much for coming, your support for your three pals, and for the rest of the cast, was like a warm hug last night.
cheers,
kim
Kim, thank you so much! I actually gave Nichole a link to all of my shots on Flickr; if you didn’t get it through her, let me know and I can pass it along again.
Thank YOU for what I’m sure were endless hours of work in bringing this amazing thing to San Francisco!
This is awesome Lizz! What amazing pictures you took. And…you said it all so perfectly…”we were all just mothers, sharing words, tears, and laughter”. Thank You.
It was fabulous to finally get to meet you, my dear, and thank you for your sweet words here! <3
Oh, Lizz…you have me in tears! You nailed it totally…we are all in this same ship, why fight it? The pictures are amazing, and I especially love the red shoes and tu-tu shot. So thankful for your friendship in the audience, for the massive hug ahead of the show, and for your support.
I loved this post…super special!
You’re the best, Sherri, thank you. And *you* calling *me* an amazing writer? Sigh.
BTW: My co-worker might be in love with you, after I introduced her to your blog… 🙂
What a wonderful tribute — to your friends and supporters, to mothers, and to women in general. Focussed and sure, your love, pride, and support shine through.
Thank you so much for your sweet words! I often feel like I don’t tell them enough how much I adore them!
I have GOT to go see one of these shows next year. I agree – I know more people who want to support one another than anything else, but the media would have you believe otherwise.
Even if it’s a bit of a hike for you, get a hotel if you must, but it’s totally worth every bit of effort to get there!
What a wonderful night. Thank you so much for sharing this piece about some of the great things Moms and Mom Bloggers are doing in the world to dispel the unfair myths about us all. We are relatively new to the blogosphere (since January) but the community here is pretty noteworthy and rivals the one we have IRL in terms of support and encouragement. Great piece, Erin
Thank you so much, and I LOVE your blog title! Fabulous!
Great post! Enough with the Mommy Wars! Motherhood is hard enough. I wish there were something like this in my town. Sounds very inspirational. And I hope you get to speak next year. 🙂
Keep an eye on the website, Ashely! There are LTYM shows all over the country!
Nice post in celebration of women and motherhood. Nice to know of this event. The mommy wars is just another avenue used to divided and conquer and distract us from the events occurring they don’t want us to focus on, like the lack of available jobs, the rich getting richer, our “consumer” culture. Nice not to rise to the bait, as you say.
Ooh, Stephanie! I like the way you think! XOXO
I noticed you in the audience – you are lovely! Thanks for coming and writing such a kind, thoughtful response. This was an amazing experience and I’m so glad it added to the positive discourse on mothering – we need it now more than ever!
Lizz, thanks so much for coming out and supporting us and for taking such fabulous photos! You know I will always treature mine. And yes, you need to audition next year. It really was a magical experience and I would highly recommend it to any writer. I was just happy to have auditioned. Honestly, that was enough for me. The performance was the cherry on the top.
I agree that women do support each other – I sing in two Sweet Adeline choruses and it is a fabulous organization where we continuously give each other support. When you first join you do it for the singing but after a very short time you realize you gain so much more than vocal rewards! At our annual contest we genuinely cheer for each other – the arena is really filled with love which we demonstrate with our tunnel of love as performers exit the stage. You are able to join the team as a leader, be on the costume committee, run the shows and events – so many wonderful opportunities to grow as a person and all along the way you are totally supported by the other great women in your chorus! Hurray for women supporting each other!