Suitable for a wide range of ages and settings, both religious and secular, this collection will be a welcome addition to the library of any adult who hopes to reach children through the medium of good story. Reviewed by Fred Small Unitarian Universalist minister the Rev. Tom Owen-Towle and communications professor January Riddle propose in this book that men and women negotiate a truce in the gender war. Using the fishbowl format, in which each group converses while observed but not interrupted by the other, women and then men speak to what they fear and what they like in the other gender. Although they quote Emma Gold-man's famous demand for a dancing revolution, the authors could be lighter on their feet. When Owen-Towle and Riddle assign collective guilt, their heretofore sturdy bridge grows shaky.
Stories soften hearts and change minds better than theories.
When women and men can speak truth as we have lived it pain and persistence, courage in the face of withering fire compassion transcends difference. The chasm is crossed. Edited by Dorothy May Emerson, June Edwards, and Helene Knox. This prodigious collection comprises writings by more than 50 reform-minded women, all closely identified with the religious traditions that later merged to become Unitarian Universalist. Penned between 1776 and 1936, these prophetic writings show what can happen when females ignore their brothers' censorious comments and heed the dictates of conscience, justice, and progress.