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Publisher's Letter
from IdaHome--May
— From the poem “Vital Voices” by Amanda Gorman
This issue is always a painful joy for me. I’m fond of the “F” word-feminist. As a female boomer, I’ve grappled with its fluid connotations and watched as the “four waves” washed over the years and generations. I grew up with a formidable working mother-a Miss Indiana turned professional modeling agent out of necessity as a single mother feeding two kids in the “Father-knows-best” 1950’s. I learned by example that a woman could run her own company, and at the same time was told to never leave the house without lipstick. I was 10 years old. So, I learned early that being female was going to be complicated.
Then along came feminism with all its promises of political, economic and social equity for the sexes-no lipstick required. I still believe in all those promises and not out of blind optimism, but from a career spent meeting remarkable women who have accomplished the seemingly impossible. Most are anonymous. Many are visible, but unappreciated. Some are surprised by their success. And then, there are born leaders.
Karen Day
Publisher
This issue, THE WONDER WOMEN, has been written during Women’s History Month-March 2021. Kamala Harris is our first female (and first woman of color) VP. Deb Haaland is a 35th generation member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and the third female Secretary of the Interior. Patrisse Cullors is the co-founder of the Black Lives Matters Movement. And yet, on Equal Pay Day 2021, women still go to work and earn 82 cents compared to men every hour. Women of color make 63 cents. Last year, Virginia became the required 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and still, it sits before Congress, 30 years in limbo.
This issue of IdaHome, written mostly by women, proves despite gender discrimination, there are and always have been formidable women who triumph. Especially in Idaho. Did you know Sacajawea was the first woman to vote in recorded US History? Don’t miss the article on Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for US President and own a newspaper. And she was from Idaho! Ever heard of Violetta Lopez? This soprano sang her way through the fields in Rupert with her Mexican parents to the Metropolitan Opera stage. Read how Laurel Sayer rose to be the first and only female CEO in the global mining industry- in Boise. Also included, Muffy Davis wheels herself to the forefront of politics for Idaho citizens, and First Lady Teresa Little explains why it takes a village to make change and tend sheep. And we didn’t forget the men in our writers’ room! David Adler lauds extraordinary women, and Harrison Berry reads between the lines with Virginia Woolf.
The theme of THE WONDER WOMEN issue is simple. If she can see it, she can be it. And if she can’t see it—she can be the first! We see this in Elizabeth Barton, 9, who loves making donuts, but discovered she loved sharing them more. Voila! “Doorbell Donuts” now takes orders in her own front yard. Personally, after a chocolate dozen, I can attest this entrepreneur and her donuts are destined for greatness!
