Nonviolent Revolution for a Family Friendly US
Redstocking Grandma
- Location
- Baldwin, New York,
- Birthday
- July 17
- Bio
- My name is Mary Joan Koch. The Redstockings were a NYC radical feminist group in the late 60s and early 70s. I have five grandchildren, 5, 3 1/2, 3 1/2, 2, and 1. Becoming a grandma has rekindled my radical feminism. I speak for the children.
MY RECENT POSTS
- Are Children and Elders Better
Off?
March 19, 2010 06:23PM - Is Your Babysitter a Guy
(Repost)
May 07, 2012 05:51PM - 1971, Age 25, Doubts about
Feminism
May 01, 2012 02:11PM - Tossing Pebbles and Making
Ripples
April 30, 2012 07:07PM - How to Cheat on the Mental
Mini-Status Exam
January 06, 2012 04:49PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “I have been so sad all
day. Your post helped me
understand
why. Where the Wild
Th…”
May 08, 2012 05:53PM - “Brunhilde, You are
absolutely right that blanket
statements
about feminism are
u…”
May 04, 2012 03:26AM - “jlsathre,
I
totally agree with you. My
English husband is absolutely
appalled
at U…”
May 02, 2012 12:10PM - “As a childbirth
educator, La Leche League
leader, and mother
of 4, I
ferven…”
May 02, 2012 06:28AM - “I so enjoyed this
excellent, balanced post on a
subject that
evokes
suc…”
May 02, 2012 06:20AM
Mothers, Lawyers, and Politics

My brother's photoshopping prowess (see avatar) is a joy to us. Sadly my mom didn't livel long enough to support Clinton in the primary and Obama in the general election.

She Looked on Tempests and Was Never Shaken
My mom died six years ago. My then 24-year -old daughter Katherine wrote this amazing tribute immediately after her death.

The dark-haired girl in the photograph, wearing her first communion shawl and holding her prayer book, looks to me like she can't possibly… Read full post »
Creative Children Recipe--Try At Your Own Risk
When people compliment me on my four daughters, I laugh: "I know the recipe, but no sane parent would ever follow it."
Our 2-bedroom apartment on the 20th floor, with a terrace 6 feet by 46 feet. We had a wading pool… Read full post »
Cure for Invisibility--Lady in Red



1971, Age 26, Just Before I Started Columbia Law School

1973, 6 months Pregnant. My radiation physicst husband and I were a successful genetic experiment. When we met, he was carrying… Read full post »
Who's Afraid of 65?

The blessing… Read full post »
Do You Read These Writers?
My pebble throwing, ripple creating legacy on OS will be helping new (and older) writers gain the attention and recognition they need to keep writing. New writers are people I have never read, no matter when they joined OS. New writers are people who are unknown to th… Read full post »
Tossing Pebbles and Making Ripples--My OS Legacy

"We drop like pebbles into the ponds of each other's souls, and the orbit of our ripples continues to expand, intersecting with countless others. " Ken Wilbur
Revision: Bobbot has kindly given me permission to include his comment, which expresses my ideas better than Wilbur o… Read full post »
My Little Ponies and Nonsexist Childrearing
English Grandpa of
the YearI believe so strongly in nonsexist childrearing that I don't deny our grandson the sublime joys of his youngest aunt's My Little Pony collection. Twenty-three years ago I was appalled at her obsession. All the Ponies were gifts from rel/…
My Irish Colleens
I am 3/4 Irish, 1/4 German. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I wanted to share some old family pictures.

Great Grandma Bridget Ann Gordon

Great Aunt Margaret, Aunt Agnes, and Grandma Ann Madden Koch

Fanny Murphy, My Grandma Nolan's
Cousin
… Read full post »
When I Whisper, Everyone Listens
Machiavelli, the
WhispererMy almost 3-year-old grandson Michael usually spends Saturdays with us. Last Saturday he fell asleep in his car seat when we were taking our old computers, TVs, tape decks to the e-cycle site that our township offers twice a year. Since he was asleep we… Read full post »
Keeping Your Own Name If You Marry
This post was inspired by Kat C's Last Names and Marriage.

Mary Nolan Koch
Because my dad was a World War II veteran, both my parents are buried at Calverton, a military cemetery, on Eastern Long Island. When I was at Calverton for my aunt's funeral in 2005, a… Read full post »
Silver Princess--My Hair Wars
This is a revision of a previous post with new
pictures.

1950, Already Beauty's Slave

1953, Easter White Gloves Require Curly Hair

Sweet 16 and Never Been Kissed

1972, My Husband Refused to Sleep With a
Photos and Memories

I have always been intrigued by the relationship between our memories and the old photographs we have frequently seen.
The first picture shows me holding court with my young uncles and their friends; I was treated as their little sister. I don't remember… Read full post »
Growing Up in the 50s


Backyard, 1954
Penguins--Catholic Nuns
This blurry picture from 1959 evokes many
vivid memories, whether fond or not I am still puzzling out. From
first grade through high school graduation, I was taught by the
Dominican Sisters of Amityville, Long Island. I never considered
for a moment sending my kids to Catholic scho… Read full post »
Donate to Partners in Health for Haiti
Update on Haitian Relief:
My daughter who works for an International Peace organization across the street from the United Nations, has many UN contacts. She just emailed me this.
"A lot of people I know who are much more knowledgeable than I am about Haiti recommend donating to Partn… Read full post »
Don't You Dare Call Me Granny or Grandma

I expanded this post in include a tutorial, since some comments made it evident I wasn't perfectly clear.
Who Are Redstockings?
"Redstockings" was a name taken in 1969 by one of the founding women's liberation groups of the 1960's to represent the union of two traditi… Read full post »
Growing Book Worms


1951
In my baby book my mom wrote: "A book worm--she loved all books. At 2 years her favorites were Dumbo, Children's Garden of Verses, Alice in Wonderland. Was always eager for Cinderella, Goldilocks, etc." My parents read to us every single night. I left home f/
… Read full post »
Grandma Nolan and Mary Jo, 1947
Great
Grandma Nolan, 1974
One of my most cherished possessions is my grandmother's small 1980 datebook. It lists the birthdays of all her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, their spouses, and her great-grandchildren. All of us could
The Worm Turns--Younger Sibling Retaliates

I had always been fascinated
how early the younger sibling figures out how to revenge herself .
From my journal entry in 1974, when Rosalind was 15 months old and
Emma was 3, just starting nursery school:
"When Emma came home from nursery school, she asked me
"Single Fathers," "Full-Time Fathers," "Daddy Wars"
I have just learned the vital importance of comprehensive tagging.
I have spent the last few days looking for posts on the daddy wars, full-time fathers, single fathers, nonsexist childrearing, misandry, stay-at-home fathers. If I do a general search, I find many posts not on the topic I want t… Read full post »
Why Are Mommy Wars Not Daddy Wars?


Read Diana Ayala's terrific The Mommy Wars: Another Sign Nothing Has Changed . Incredibly and disgracefully, Diana's excellent post, published last October, got two comments and 2 ratings. Sadly, that was Diana's last post. I urg… Read full post »

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