The Chehalem Cultural Center’s staff is largely female, working hard in a variety of positions. A few agreed to share some thoughts for Women’s History Month.
1. What do you like best about living in Oregon?
I love Oregon summers and the lush green vegetation. Moving to Oregon from Los Angeles I was immediately enamored with moss and how it grew on EVERYTHING! While the long, rainy months can be a drag, the green beauty of the summer makes it all worth it!
2. What’s a piece of traditionally “women’s” culture or interests you think everyone should experience? (Movie, music, television, book, skill, hobby, etc)
Menstruating–I think everyone without a uterus should experience what it’s like.
3. What’s something you wish everyone knew about the female experience?
I think that the female experience of ‘mansplaining’ is something that I wish everyone was more aware of. Mansplaining is a pejorative term meaning ” to comment on or explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner”.
Carissa Burkett, Director of Arts Programs
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1. What do you like best about living in Oregon?
I love that in general Oregonians care about each other, including people, the arts, animals, and the environment. I feel community here that I haven’t felt in other places.
2. What’s a piece of traditionally “women’s” culture or interests you think everyone should experience? (Movie, music, television, book, skill, hobby, etc)
I read Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber about 20 years ago and it just blew my mind. I’ve always been a feminist and interested in women’s studies, but I felt angry after reading this book. It’s about early fabric production and women’s role in that. I was angry because I hadn’t learned about any of those topics in school. “Fashion” is derided as a women’s interest, and so many famous designers are men, but for much of history women were in charge of clothing, and making sure their families had protective clothing to wear. I re-read that book every few years and I think everyone should.
3. What’s something you wish everyone knew about the female experience?
I just wish everyone knew that women are people.
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Natasha Luepke, Arts Program Assistant
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1. What do you like best about living in Oregon?
Proximity to mountains, ocean, and the Columbia River is so special to me. I specifically LOVE when I can see Mt St Helens from Portland where I live. I am from Minnesota, originally, and culturally I feel that the Twin Cities are similar to the Portland metro area, but there is nothing like the Oregon landscape. As a gardener, I also really appreciate the longer growing season and I look forward to the fruit tree season every year.
2. What’s a piece of traditionally “women’s” culture or interests you think everyone should experience? (Movie, music, television, book, skill, hobby, etc)
I think a very positive aspect of what is considered a part of women’s culture is the intimacy that female friends share. Sex and the City is actually a great popular example of that! Hopefully the sort of openness and care that are depicted in womens’ friendships can transcend gender binaries someday. The good news is, I think the shift has already begun!
3. What’s something you wish everyone knew about the female experience?
I think many who were raised female in our society have learned and feel an obligation to fill in the gaps, pick up the pieces, care for everyone around them…often without acknowledgement. It can feel as if there is an expectation that women will do much of the emotional labor in relationships, at work, etc. Sometimes this phenomenon is blatant, sometimes it’s unconscious. I see many women and people who were raised female in my world working to unlearn some of this behavior that has been conditioned into them as they realize it no longer serves them. It runs deep!
Madeline Sorenson, Marketing Coordinator