I made "Sigh" for Linda Hirshman, a feminist philosopher whose work caught my eye last winter when The American Prospect published an excerpt from her book, Get to Work. Her article, "Homeward Bound," criticized the tendency of elite women to "opt-out" of the working world in order to devote more time and energy to their families. She wrote that women owed it to themselves, their families, and other women to get to work and stay at work, even while raising children. In doing so, she lambasted "choice feminism," arguing that is not legitimate for women to stay home, especially when the women in question are "elite," with skills and ideas that would be valuable in the marketplace or government.
Linda Hirshman’s article resonated with me in part because I’m the daughter of a stay-at-home mother who ultimately regretted her decision to leave the workforce. When my mother died at age 54 from cancer, I was haunted by the idea of all that she had not contributed. Now, when I see talented women selling themselves short, I think of her regret.
The lack of women in positions of power has always bothered me, but I’ve been shy about expressing my anger. It often feels unreasonable to complain about the failures of feminism when I have been on the receiving end of so many of the movement’s benefits. I’m often told to "be patient" and to remember how far women have come in a relatively short time. I’m sympathetic to this point of view, there is virtue in patience, and yet...
I’m tired of waiting! This is why I admire Linda Hirshman: she’s impatient and angry, and unafraid to say so. She welcomes debate, disagreement, and conflict among women, something the feminist movement has shied away from, but certainly needs. I encourage everyone to listen to her speak on this podcast from WNYC’s "The Brian Lehrer Show." During this segment, she takes several calls from offended "opt-out" mothers. I was impressed by her defense of her ideas, and also by the empathy she showed to her callers.
The idea to reframe Allen Ginsberg’s "Howl" as a feminist work came out of the blue. Initially, I was struck by the memory of the first line of the poem—I thought it was interesting, how easily the word ‘madness’ could be replaced by ‘marriage.’ Curious, I printed out a copy of the poem and began to change Ginsberg’s words by crossing them out and putting my own words in the margins. The project evolved from there, and after several weeks of experimenting with white-out and DIY fonts, I finally decided to publish the poem as a simple pamphlet, using my own handwriting. The digital version of "Sigh" is smaller than the paper version, which measures 7 x 8.5 inches (a piece of legal paper folded in half).
Printed copies of "Sigh" will soon be available through this website. If you’d like pre-order your copy, please e-mail me at hannah DOT gersen AT gmail DOT com with your name and mailing address.