[00:00:00] Anna: Hello. Welcome friends. Thank you for being here. I just wanted to take a quick minute to tell you a bit more about the Your Story section of this podcast...
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[00:00:10] Overdub: And now for Your Story, the part where you are invited to reflect on this story, as it relates to your own life. Think about it, write about it, talk about it. And if you wish share with the community...
[00:00:26] Anna: Because when you come across something a thought, a feeling and experience something that you thought was specific only to you, I think something really powerful happens. You realize that you're not alone and you begin to see the bigger systems and forces at play and you become a part of a community. And this community of women is 3.5 billion strong. And we've seen the weight in our collective stories and experiences through movements like MeToo and all of those that came before it. Because in many ways, our voices are the most powerful tools that we have, which is why I want to create a space for all of yours. So every episode I invite authors to ask you as listeners open-ended questions, a bit like an author led book club. And the idea is to begin thinking about how the content relates to your own life, because it's a lot harder to spot these deeply embedded consequences without a bit of self-reflection.
So the opportunity is there for you to simply think about it or write about it or chat with a friend about it. And if you want share with the community. Because again, I think that this is a great way to not only connect and learn from one another, but also just recognize that we are not alone in our experiences.
So what really stuck out to you about the conversation? What has your experience been like? Any "aha" moments or anything that we didn't cover that you would like to add? What have you found works really well to overcoming any of the challenges or barriers that we discuss? What are some positive stories about a time you thought things were going to play out one way, but you were pleasantly surprised that they didn't?
And it doesn't just have to be stories and experiences, but who do you know that is out there doing the work? What organizations should we all know about? What apps can we download to help with one of the issues we are discussing? For example, there's an app called Woman Interrupted, which tracks how many times a woman is interrupted during a conversation or a meeting. And this would be nice to know after listening to the episode on authority, where we learn about how pervasive this phenomenon is and how the problem goes far beyond it just being annoying.
What's a good movie or documentary that follows along this topic. For example, there's a wonderful documentary called Unrest on Netflix, which is about a debilitating auto-immune disease that today impacts 15 to 30 million people globally, the majority of whom are women, and medicine has essentially ignored and continues to perpetuate a narrative about it that says women are just being hysterical and that all of their symptoms are in their heads. Which would be nice to watch after listening to the episode on medicine, where we learn, how women's heads and hysteria have been blamed for their diseases for thousands of years. So anything you want to share really. And then depending on the responses, because this is a new podcast so I am really not sure how it's going to go, but I may release listener led episodes in the future with compilations of all of your wonderful voices.
And as with everything in this podcast, people of all genders, including men, are invited to share. In fact, the more diverse the voices, the more powerful it will be. I may also share responses on social media, so you can send in your usernames and handles if you wish to be tagged. So there are two ways to share, either record audio using the voice memo app or any equivalent way of recording your voice and email it to thestoryofwoman@gmail.com or share through the contact page on the story of woman website or social media
And the other way is to write in if you don't want to record your voice, though if I'm going to be putting together listener led episodes, they are going to sound a lot better with all of your voices instead of just mine. So keep that in mind. And it doesn't matter if you are listening in real time or not feel free to share months or years, if this lasts that long, um, after an episode is released.
And that's about it. I welcome feedback for what you think of the idea or how we might be able to do it better. Thanks so much for being here. Let's update the narrative together and I will leave you with the words of Asha Daya, one of the guests from this first season:
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[00:05:04] Asha: The story of woman is still unfolding. It's not a singular journey and we are all on it together. And each of us has the power to write parts of that journey. We're an army now. So let's all do it and change the world together.
