That Takes Ovaries!

Last updated
That Takes Ovaries!: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts
That Takes Ovaries!.jpg
AuthorRivka Solomon
Cover artistDana Spaeth
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Three Rivers Press
Publication date
2002
Publication placeUnited States
Pages230
ISBN 0-609-80659-9

That Takes Ovaries!: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts is a collection of non-fiction female empowerment stories compiled and edited by Rivka Solomon. [1] Its themes range from women in athletics, polyamory, and handicap bathroom advocacy to immigration challenges, combating sexual violence through artivism, workplace sexism, and more. [1] The book was adapted into two plays—one for women, and one for girls, [2] and became an organization by the same name, which administers events and trainings concerning female leadership and empowerment. [3] Harvard University's Schlesinger Library Experimental Archives Project holds records of the book and its events from 2002 to 2010. [4] By 2013, the book was in its sixth printing. [5]

Contents

History

Compilation

Solomon spent four and a half years collecting and editing the book's entries. [6] Her initial motivation in creating the tome was that she "just thought it would be fun," but under the guiding principle that "courage is infectious," she also "wanted to celebrate female risk takers in a wide range of activities" and "wanted to affirm women and girls who are already risk takers in their lives." Additionally, she "wanted to encourage others, readers who might not live their lives that way, to take the bold new step of being a risk taker." [6]

Select stagings, open mics, and academic research

In 2003, the Asian American Theatre Revue produced the stage adaptation of That Takes Ovaries! at The Culture Project in New York City. [7] The same year, Washington D.C.'s Horizons Theatre, the longest-running women's theatre in the United States, [8] staged a four-week run of the play. [6]

In 2005, the Davis Square Theatre in Boston staged the That Takes Ovaries! play. [9]

In 2006, the year of the book's reissue, Hecate's Australian Women's Book Review published "Having a Pair: Ovaries and Oratory," a journalistic piece on the book's impact, citing the 300 open mic events that took place over the course of a mere four years, spawned by the book's publication. [10] The paper further cited more That Takes Ovaries! open mic fundraisers that would soon be taking place in countries as diverse as Italy, Australia, and India, with various entities benefiting from the fundraising efforts, including "local women's groups and international causes, with a particular emphasis on [combating] female genital mutilation and separately, sex slavery." [10] The same year, on International Women's Day, the University of Jadavpur in West Bengal, Kolkata, India, in association with the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society and the Thoughtshop Foundation, hosted a That Takes Ovaries! event. [11] Also in 2006, Foothill College staged a That Takes Ovaries! event for the opening ceremonies of the college's Women's History Month activities. [12]

In 2009, the Women's and Gender Equity Center of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire sponsored a That Takes Ovaries! event. [13]

In 2010, the Women's Studies Program, Honors Program, Women's Center, College of Arts and Sciences, Ethnic Studies, Organization for Women's Issues, and Residence Life organization at Bowling Green State University sponsored a That Takes Ovaries! event. [14] [15] The same year, Philadelphia University and Thomas Jefferson University, in partnership with the Women's Resource Committee and the Campus Activities Board, hosted a That Takes Ovaries! event. [16] In March 2010, the University of Nebraska Medical Center staged a That Takes Ovaries! reading. [17]

In November 2011, the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Chapman University, in association with the university's student government association; Department of Peace Studies; Department of Sociology; and dean of students, housing, and residence life sponsored a That Takes Ovaries! event. [18] Also in 2011, the play version of the book was put on at Hollywood's Stella Adler Theatre, in benefit of the Los Angeles Women's Theater Project. [19] The same year, Grand Valley State University staged the That Takes Ovaries! play. [20]

In 2012, the book was used as the foundation for “Courage Is Contagious": The Use of 'That Takes Ovaries!' Drama Therapy to Empower Women and Girls, a Missouri State University Master's thesis by Autumn Ivy Nelson. [21] The same year, Grand Valley State University hosted a That Takes Ovaries! event. [22] [23] The same year, Kentucky's Elizabethtown Community & Technical College staged a That Takes Ovaries! event. [24] In April 2012, the University of Indianapolis hosted a That Takes Ovaries! open mic. [25]

In 2013, the University of Massachusetts Graduate Women's Network circulated a call for women's stories to be published in a sequel to That Takes Ovaries! titled That Takes Ovaries II: More Bold Females, More Brazen Acts. [26] The same year, the University of Alaska Anchorage in association with the Department of Women's Studies hosted a That Takes Ovaries! event. [27]

In 2014, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University published "Deconstructing That Takes Ovaries," a paper on the archival methods behind preserving the work and the movement it spawned. [28]

In 2016, St. Cloud State University in Minnesota staged a That Takes Ovaries! event through their women's center. [29]

In November 2019, That Take Ovaries! was cited in “Bringing the World to the Classroom”: Cultural Studies and Experiential Learning, a cultural studies work by Basak Durgun. [30]

In February 2020, the podcast Wine About Birth hosted their first live recording in the lineage of That Takes Ovaries! [31]

Contributing authors

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovary</span> Female reproductive organ that produces egg cells

The ovary is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endocrine glands, secreting various hormones that play a role in the menstrual cycle and fertility. The ovary progresses through many stages beginning in the prenatal period through menopause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radcliffe College</span> Womens college in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1878–1999)

Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard College. The college was named for the early Harvard benefactor Anne Mowlson and was one of the Seven Sisters colleges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Valley State University</span> Public university in Allendale, Michigan, US

Grand Valley State University is a public university in Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on 1,322 acres (5.35 km2) approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Grand Rapids. The university also features campuses in Grand Rapids and Holland and regional centers in Battle Creek, Detroit, Muskegon, and Traverse City.

The Seven Sisters are a group of seven private liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Wellesley College are still women's colleges. Vassar College became coeducational in 1969 and Radcliffe College was absorbed in 1999 by Harvard College and now offers programs in advanced study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Radcliffe Institute</span> Division of Harvard University

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, and professions. It came into being in 1999 as the successor institution to the former Radcliffe College, originally a women's college connected with Harvard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Central College</span> Private college in Naperville, Illinois, US

North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has 73 undergraduate majors of study, 17 minors, 25 graduate programs, and 4 certificate programs offered by four undergraduate colleges/schools and one School of Graduate and Professional Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Bunch</span> American author and activist

Charlotte Anne Bunch is an American feminist author and organizer in women's rights and human rights movements. Bunch is currently the founding director and senior scholar at the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is also a distinguished professor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radcliffe Choral Society</span> Choral ensemble

The Radcliffe Choral Society(RCS) is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard Glee Club and the mixed-voice Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, it is one of the Harvard Choruses. All three groups are led by Harvard Director of Choral Activities Andrew Clark. The RCS Resident Conductor is Elizabeth Eschen. RCS tours domestically every year and travels internationally every four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Against Sexism</span>

Rock Against Sexism (RAS) was a political and cultural movement dedicated to promoting women in music, and challenging sexism in the rock music community, pop culture and in the world at large. It was primarily a part of the punk rock music and arts scene.

Joani Blank was an American sex educator, entrepreneur, author, videographer, cohousing enthusiast, philanthropist, and inventor in the field of sexuality. She used publishing, her sex store, and other endeavors to promote sex-positive feminism. Her papers are part of the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell University Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Production Workshop</span>

Production Workshop (PW) is a student-run theater at Brown University. Founded in 1960, it is the only entirely student-run theater on campus. PW stages 7 full-scale productions each year in its main black box theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara Betts</span> American poet

Tara Betts is the author of three full-length poetry collections: Refuse to Disappear, which was published in June 2022 with The Word Works, Break the Habit, which was published in October 2016 with Trio House Press, and her debut collection Arc & Hue on the Willow Books imprint of Aquarius Press. In 2010, Essence Magazine named her as one of their "40 Favorite Poets".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imani Perry</span> American interdisciplinary scholar (born 1972)

Imani Perry is an American interdisciplinary scholar of race, law, literature, and African American culture. She is currently the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, a Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and a columnist for The Atlantic. Perry won the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction for South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation. In October 2023, she was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Whitney Chadwick is an American art historian and educator, who has published on contemporary art, modernism, Surrealism, and gender and sexuality. Her book Women, Art and Society was first published by Thames and Hudson in 1990 and revised in 1997; it is now in its fifth edition. Chadwick is Professor Emerita at San Francisco State University from the School of Art.

Caroline A. Jones, is an American art historian, author, curator, and critic. She teaches and serves within the History Theory Criticism Section of the Department of Architecture at MIT School of Architecture and Planning, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Ackmann</span> American author and journalist (born 1951)

Martha Ackmann is a journalist and author. Her books include The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight (2003), Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone (2010), and These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson (2020). Ackmann's essays and columns have appeared in publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and Paris Review. She is a frequent commentator for New England Public Radio.

<i>Hear Word!</i> Stage play by Ifeoma Fafunwa

Hear Word! or Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True is a play by Ifeoma Fafunwa. It is a collection of monologues, songs and dance based on true-life stories of Nigerian women’s struggle for equality, safety, and access to opportunities and leadership. The play has been seen by over 120,000 live audience members and positively reviewed by the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

Sheritta A. Strong is an American adult psychiatrist and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Strong is a leader in education and advocacy at UNMC, is the co-director of Medical Student Education in the Department of Psychiatry as well as the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Inclusion at UNMC. As a psychiatrist, Strong focuses her clinical attention on treating patients with chronic and persistent mental illness. She is also dedicated to reducing barriers to healthcare access for marginalized populations and she mentors underrepresented scientists and physicians to increase their retention in healthcare. In 2018, Strong was awarded the Nancy C.A. Roeske, M.D., Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Medical Student Education by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and in 2020 Strong became a Distinguished Fellow of the APA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Phi Lambda</span> American Asian-interest collegiate sorority

Delta Phi Lambda is a 501(c)(7) nonprofit Asian-interest sorority in the United States. It was founded at the University of Georgia in 1998. The organization is a co-founder and member of the National Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Panhellenic Association (NAPA). Its campus chapters are members of their local Multicultural Greek Councils (MGCs).

Ifeoma Fáfúnwá is a theatre director, playwright, artist, and activist, living and working in Lagos, Nigeria. Her creative activism targets inequality and the empowerment of women, youth and girls. She is the founder and creative director of iOpenEye Africa Foundation; a Nigerian non-profit organization, focused on using performance art to drive social change.

References

  1. 1 2 "About the book That Takes Ovaries and the book's back cover | That Takes Ovaries". www.thattakesovaries.org.
  2. "Play synopsis for two That Takes Ovaries plays | That Takes Ovaries". www.thattakesovaries.org.
  3. "That Takes Ovaries mission, objectives & history | That Takes Ovaries". www.thattakesovaries.org.
  4. "Records of That Takes Ovaries, 2002-2010 (MC 746)". Flickr.
  5. moniqueღ, jianda (August 10, 2013). "That Takes Ovaries". Medium.
  6. 1 2 3 "That Takes Ovaries". 10 August 2013.
  7. "Calendar 3rd quarter 2003". www.aatrevue.com.
  8. "Leslie Jacobson | Global Women's Institute | the George Washington University".
  9. "That Takes Ovaries (Closed May 08, 2005)". TheaterMania.
  10. 1 2 Hartogh, Evelyn (2006). "Having a Pair: Ovaries and Oratory". Hecate's Australian Women's Book Review. 18 (2). ProQuest   203474412.
  11. "Timeout 28-02-2006". www.telegraphindia.com.
  12. "Info" (PDF). foothill.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  13. "'That Takes Ovaries' showcases bold, daring women".
  14. Pena, Susana (2010). "Women's Studies Newsletter 01-2010". scholarworks.bgsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  15. talbert, christine. "Dramatic readings encourage women to act bold, courageous". BG Falcon Media.
  16. "'That Takes Ovaries' Production April 6 | Jefferson Today".
  17. "UNMC to recognize 'bold and gutsy' women | UNMC". www.unmc.edu. 9 March 2010.
  18. Laura Silva. "That Takes Ovaries: Bold Women and Their Brazen Acts, Nov. 15 - Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences". Blogs.chapman.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  19. ""That Takes Ovaries"–A Play for the Bold and Brazen – Ms. Magazine". msmagazine.com. 26 August 2011.
  20. Ringger, Lauren. "Now {that} takes ovaries…".
  21. Nelson, Autumn (May 1, 2012). ""Courage Is Contagious": The Use of That Takes Ovaries Drama Therapy to Empower Women and Girls". MSU Graduate Theses.
  22. "Pushing Boundaries: An Ovarian Gathering - Photo Gallery Import 7/10/15 - Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity - Grand Valley State University". www.gvsu.edu.
  23. "Women's Center hosts 'That Takes Ovaries!' sneak peek". www.gvsu.edu.
  24. "News Archive | ECTC". elizabethtown.kctcs.edu.
  25. Belakovich, Kaley. "Diversity lecture promotes empowerment". The Reflector.
  26. "That Takes Ovaries II: More Bold Females, More Brazen – GSS Graduate Women's Network".
  27. Mauigoa, Nita. "'That Takes Ovaries': A tribute to strong women | The Northern Light".
  28. "Deconstructing That Takes Ovaries". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. September 29, 2014.
  29. "SCSU Women's Center presents 'That Takes Ovaries'". St. Cloud Times.
  30. Durgun, Basak (2019). "'Bringing the World to the Classroom': Cultural Studies and Experiential Learning". Cultural Studies in the Classroom and Beyond. pp. 155–165. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-25393-6_9. ISBN   978-3-030-25392-9. S2CID   214566411.
  31. "Wine About Birth Live Recording- That Takes Ovaries!". Eventbrite.