blog of poet, leah umansky

Being a woman in the 21^st century is sometimes a conundrum but as writers, we can help one another. As an English teacher, I’m surprised by the amount of teenage girls who declare themselves: Feminists. It makes me proud, not only to be their teacher, but to also be a Feminist myself. When I grew up, in the 80’s and 90’s, I don’t think I saw being a Feminist as something “cool.” I think I was afraid of it. Afraid of saying it aloud. It was a secret that I carried inside me, along with my heroines. The more I read about strong women, the more I turned a light on for them inside my heart at night when I went to sleep. Soon, there were floating votives everywhere…

Here are two poems with a feminist edge: one is by Rachel McKibbens and one is a poem of my…