Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards on "Future Women Presidents"

Tassler Advisor and former Chairman CBS Entertainment writesCecile Richardsamp8217 essay contribution to What I Told My Daughter was prescientamp160 Ms Richards is the President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the daughter of the late great former Governor of Texas Ann Richardsamp160 As Cecile so powerfully states amp8220I come from a long line of strong women My daughter is one of themamp8221 She shares a story of her daughter Hannah who exemplifies one of the recurring themes throughout this collection of essays resilienceWhen Cecile became a parent and sent her children off to school she realized amp8220The world outside wasnamp8217t as feministfriendly as our familyamp8221amp160 It was clear there was a different standard of achievement goals set for boys and girls boys were expected to be leaders girls should be followers Ms Richards never one to sit idly by reached deep into her familyamp8217s matriarchal legacy and became active in creating a club with teams of other mothers to provide leadership experience for young girlsThe girls in her daughteramp8217s group named the club amp8220Future Women Presidentsamp8221What a bittersweet ironyThe deeply personal story Cecile shares is about how her daughter Hannah benefitted from not only being a part of an extraordinary legacy of powerful women but how she embodied the very concept of resilienceamp160 All of Cecileamp8217s children have gone on to stand as passionate and committed supporters of social justiceMediaVillagecom is proud to reprint amp8220Future Women Presidentsamp8221 in its entiretyI come from a long line of strong women My daughter is one of themGrowing up our family was a bit of a matriarchy My fatheramp8217s mother born at the turn of the century was ahead of her time in pushing for civil rights and she helped start the League of Women Voters in Waco Texas My other grandmother was so tough that legend has it she wrung a chickenamp8217s neck from the birthing bed while in labor with my mom just to make sure that my granddad had something for supper Of course the state of Texas was civilized by women who could hunt split logs and live on the frontier They built schools and communities They were amp8220doing it allamp8221 long before it was a topic of daytime TV and my grandmothers were of that moldMy mom Ann Richards was no slouch in the strong woman department She moved from being a 1950s housewife to governor of Texas Even after her passing in 2006 she continues to be the center of the family solar system in many waysWith this background I had plenty of inspiring role models in my youth But I was in for a shock when I began the journey of raising two daughters and a son I quickly realized that the world outside wasnamp8217t as feministfriendly as our familyBy the time the kids were tall enough to reach the candy in the checkout line at the grocery store I realized that staring them in the face were womenamp8217s magazines portraying a bizarre idea of what women grew up to be fashioncrazed and menobsessed supermodels Where were the cover photos of women athletes and astronautsBut it was only after my twins Daniel and Hannah started school that I realized how early their expectations about life were established Their wonderful teacher handed out awards at the end of the year The boys got prizes such as amp8220most likely to invent somethingamp8221 or amp8220most inquisitiveamp8221 while the girls got amp8220most helpful in classamp8221 I wanted Hannah to get amp8220most likely to rule the worldamp8221 I was determined that my daughters would grow up to be selfconfident and fearless along with my sonAs elementary school went on it seemed like the confidencebuilding opportunities for Hannah were few So along with a few other moms and our daughters we created our own groupamp8212one where we wouldnamp8217t have to sell anything or wear uniforms We asked the girls to name it and they decided to call themselves the amp8220Future Women Presidentsamp8221 They designed their own Tshirts and proudly wore them wherever we wentOver the next few years we had great adventures We toured the White House and practiced at the Press Club lectern We camped in the Shenandoah Mountains and learned to start a fire and cook outside We visited the womenamp8217s history museum and learned about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and other adventurous women We designed a mural and volunteered for community service We didnamp8217t have a pinewood derby to compete in but we did the kinds of cool things that the boys were doingAs Hannah grew up and out of the Future Women Presidents she took on the toughest assignment imaginable pitching for her softball team in junior high schoolA terrific softball player Hannahamp8217s favorite position was shortstopamp8212a challenging role and one that avoided the spotlight of the pitcheramp8217s mound But every team needs a pitcher and someone had to step upamp8212so Hannah volunteered along with three of her teammates That meant putting in hours of extra training on the weekends developing the strategy and technique to be a pitcher One by one the others quit until Hannah was the last player standingLearning to pitch turned out to be the easy part More challenging was learning to rise to the occasion when the team the coach and all of the fans and families on the sidelines were counting on Hannah to perform under pressure As she stood on that mound pitching through some tough innings I watched Hannah learn how to handle that pressure with graceamp8212fiercely determined to win but never embarrassed to lose as long as she had left it all on the field There was one memorable weekend that summed up Hannah in a nutshell On Saturday Hannah didnamp8217t pitch particularly well and her team lost to their archrivals The next day undeterred she volunteered to pitch again Her infectious determination led not only to one of her best games but lifted the spirit and confidence of her teammatesPitching was her first real leadership role and Hannah learned an important lesson about going back out on the field even when her team was losing or morale was down Those lonely moments on the mound helped her find and develop her willingness to take on challenges going forward As she worked through high school and then college she threw herself into campus organizing and later community organizing with the confidence worthy of a Future Women Presidents alumnaThe good news is that all three of my kids ended up being strong feminists including Hannahamp8217s twin brother Daniel became the vice president of the reproductive rights group on his college campus and fought to get birth control access at the college health center And my elder daughter Lily can remember every lesson her governor grandmother ever taught her Today she is following that advice with a vengeance Momamp8217s most important piece of wisdom Remember that this is the only life we get and do it nowamp8212no lookbacks no dooversIamp8217m grateful that my kids are now part of the most diverse most progressive generation ever in this country They are passionate and committed to social justice They are fighters for LGBT rights and immigrant rights and environmental justice They all give me hope for our future And Iamp8217m confident that one day they will help elect a future woman presidentCecile Richards is President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Under her leadership Planned Parenthood has expanded its advocacy for womenamp8217s health care and reproductive rights Before joining Planned Parenthood in 2006 she was deputy chief of staff to US Representative Nancy Pelosi Earlier in her career she was a labor organizerNina Tassler is Advisor and former Chairman CBS Entertainment She spent more than a decade as head of entertainment programming for the network where she shepherded such hit series as amp8220CSIamp8221 amp8220NCISamp8221 amp8220The Big Bang Theoryamp8221 amp8220How I Met Your Motheramp8221 amp8220The Good Wifeamp8221 and amp8220Criminal Mindsamp8221 She serves on the Board of Jewish Family Services is a member of the Ambassador Council of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender inamp160Media and serves on the Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences Executive Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Academy Foundation She is a member of the Board of Trustees for Boston University and the Board of the Paley Center for MediaMediaVillagecom in April published an excerpt from another essay in What I Told My Daughter amp8211 amp8220The Perfect Paradoxamp8221 written by authoradvocate Peggy OrensteinExcerpts copyright amp169 2016 by Jerry Levine Inc from What I Told My Daughter by Nina Tassler with Cynthia Littleton published by Atria Books a division of Simon ampamp Schuster IncClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160amp160amp160

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Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards on "Future Women Presidents"

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