A Rallying Cry

Two months ago I subscribed to two weighty magazines because their offers of reduced rates seduced me. Now both dense magazines arrive within days of one another.

On the positive side -- every article is written in depth. Pages and pages of depth. I placed the magazines on the dining room table and I try and read an article with my breakfast cereal. This morning I read a long article about Oppenheimer. I missed the sports section of my local newspaper.

Then I noted that most of the articles were written by men. In fact twenty-seven writers were listed and only one woman wrote an article.

Should I write the magazine a letter requesting the return of my money-- prorated for the issue I received?

I checked out my other magazine and found a fairly equal division of men and women writers. In fact when I looked at several other magazines in the house they all had managed to find male and female writers.

Despite the preponderance of too many words in each article, I couldn't release myself from the notion that I had to read the articles. Knowing what I know I am taking a political stance-- as they used to say forty years ago- the personal is political.

With that feminist rallying cry I freed myself from the task of reading any more issues. Some days you need to take a stand.