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184 reviews for:
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead--My Life Story
Cecile Richards
4.31 AVERAGE
184 reviews for:
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead--My Life Story
Cecile Richards
4.31 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
Cecile Richards, with Lauren Peterson as her co-writer, is not an especially strong writer, but she has a motivating voice that resonated with me. Cecile is the same age as my brother, two and a half years younger than me, making us contemporaries, yet her awareness of and involvement in social issues made me feel we were raised in different eras. Reading this book I felt younger; she felt older.
I appreciated being reminded of and having my eyes opened to the toils of women for equality under the law. Most striking was my discovery that birth control was illegal until a case was brought before the Supreme Court. From page 190:
It wasn't until the 1960s that a Planned Parenthood employee in Connecticut named Estelle Griswold decided to challenge the archaic laws outlawing birth control. With the help of her medical director, Dr. C. Lee Buxton, she started handing out birth control to women in the hopes of getting arrested. The police obliged, and Estelle fought her case all the way to the US Supreme Court. In 1965, Griswold v. Connecticut legalized birth control for married couples.
Birth control was illegal from the very founding of Planned Parenthood in 1916 by Margaret Sanger, along with Ethel, her sister, and Fania Mindell, a volunteer. In the 1970s, when my now-husband and I met and became a couple, we went to the Syracuse chapter of Planned Parenthood to get birth control. It was those birth control pills that let us safely explore our attraction to one another and grow the intimacy that we share 46 years later. It never occurred to me that birth control was not a "given" for women.
Here I am, almost 50 years later, and it is boggling that STILL the decisions about women's health and bodies is made almost exclusively by males. This is why Cecile's story is so powerful; it is a reminder of where we've been, how far we've come in some areas, how far we still have to go, and the power of jumping in, sticking with it, and maintaining a "keep going" attitude. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I appreciated being reminded of and having my eyes opened to the toils of women for equality under the law. Most striking was my discovery that birth control was illegal until a case was brought before the Supreme Court. From page 190:
It wasn't until the 1960s that a Planned Parenthood employee in Connecticut named Estelle Griswold decided to challenge the archaic laws outlawing birth control. With the help of her medical director, Dr. C. Lee Buxton, she started handing out birth control to women in the hopes of getting arrested. The police obliged, and Estelle fought her case all the way to the US Supreme Court. In 1965, Griswold v. Connecticut legalized birth control for married couples.
Birth control was illegal from the very founding of Planned Parenthood in 1916 by Margaret Sanger, along with Ethel, her sister, and Fania Mindell, a volunteer. In the 1970s, when my now-husband and I met and became a couple, we went to the Syracuse chapter of Planned Parenthood to get birth control. It was those birth control pills that let us safely explore our attraction to one another and grow the intimacy that we share 46 years later. It never occurred to me that birth control was not a "given" for women.
Here I am, almost 50 years later, and it is boggling that STILL the decisions about women's health and bodies is made almost exclusively by males. This is why Cecile's story is so powerful; it is a reminder of where we've been, how far we've come in some areas, how far we still have to go, and the power of jumping in, sticking with it, and maintaining a "keep going" attitude. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
inspiring
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Cecile’s willingness to put her whole heart into everything she does stood out to me. Since my place of work just unionized, I was especially touched and inspired by her experiences organizing and tips on successful organization. I will turn to this again when I need a dose of inspiration.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Cecile Richards is a force and I loved learning from her career and unwavering commitment to seeking justice and equality at all costs!
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced