Item Information
Title
"With the Women," Column by Nancy Smith, Daily Tar Heel, March 1, 1969
Description
Poem "With the Women," Column by Nancy Smith, Daily Tar Heel, March 1, 1969. Performed by Aubree Dixon.
Creator
PlayMaker’s Repertory Company in collaboration with the University Archives at Louis Round Wilson Library
Date
2021
Language
English
Identifier
https://exhibits.lib.unc.edu/items/show/7585
Transcription
With the Women
Column by Nancy Smith
Daily Tar Heel
March 1, 1969
With the Women
In the beginning we were all "small,
fragile and precious." Then some of us
grew up and were called mature,
independent and capable. Others of us
grew up and we were still called small,
fragile and precious.
. . . And we had to be protected and
we had to sign out if we wanted to go
somewhere and we couldn't go anywhere
is we forgot to sign out. . .
. . . And we had to be taken care of
and over a thousand of us lost our lives
yearly at the hands of quack
abortionists. . .
. . . And we had to be provided for by
the others so we weren't allowed to have
the same jobs at the same rate of pay as
the others. . .
. . . And we were called nutrient so we
nurtured 24 hours a day in the only
industrialized nation in the world which
has no public day care system. . .
And they said we never had it so
good because we didn't have to work and most of us went on working 90 hours a
week cooking, cleaning and
babysitting. . .
And we weren't supposed to excel
or compete with others so we didn't and
our minds got stale and we learned to rely
on what was left our bodies. . .
... And if our minds weren't ours, at
least our bodies were, and then we found
out they weren't, that the others made
harsh laws about sex, contraception and
pregnancy. . .
. . . And we were called passive so we
learned to be silent. . .
. . And we were called emotional so
we took tranquilizers and spent
thousands of dollars annually on
psychiatrists and we wondered why we
were unfulfilled and inferior...
. . . And they said don't complain
because nobody has it perfect in this
society and they said it to a black man
too and he said, "Move over, baby, I’ve
got a vision."
1:41: 101 secs