How Does It Feel to Be In Your Body? – Editor’s Letter and TOC

Working on this issue led me to think a lot about relationships — the relationships we form with our bodies that evolve as we age, and how those changing relationships alter our connection to the world around us.

Sometimes there is an unwelcome third entity in our relationships with our bodies. It could be the government — I am thinking about the women and girls currently risking their lives to protest in Iran and those of us in the U.S. who face increasingly restricted reproductive and gender-affirming care. It could be societal pressure to fit into dominant standards.

Living through the pandemic in my twenties has changed how I relate to my body. I have learned what it feels like to be disassociated from my physical form amid anxiety and isolation.

Contributor Drew Maude-Griffin writes that living in an immunocompromised body during the pandemic has left enormous holes in their sense of community. Poet Gabriela Spears-Rico’s experience with Bell’s palsy leads her to grapple with her ties to Mesoamerican ancestors. Natalie Nation looks to her inner child for inspiration and a sense of “body joy” after struggling with disordered eating.

Susan Raffo writes, “These bodies … are what we have and who we are. Keeping them a disconnected mystery is what trauma, oppression, and the conditioning that numbs and freezes us depend on.”

Of course, this magazine cannot hold the infinite feelings we have in and about our bodies. As you read, you might take a moment to observe where you are in yours.

From the Publisher: We Need Your Support

We are living in a country where reproductive justice, public safety, democracy, and diversity in education and politics are shifting. The unique media mission of Changemakers Alliance (CALL) is to support necessary transformational leadership, especially by women of color and LGBTQ+ people.

The focus of Minnesota Women’s Press storytelling and CALL discussions in 2023 will be on resilience and innovation inspired with mentors, creatives, and entrepreneurs; as well as energy and power created when urban, suburban, and rural people are brought together.

The impact of collaborative conversations was reinforced when I attended an amazing global summit in Washington, D.C., in mid-October. There were 150 people from roughly 50 countries talking together about the universal issues of climate change, political accountability, gender-based violence, and peace-building.

We have identified our magazine themes and CALL conversation topics for 2023 based on community discussions. For greater impact, Minnesota Women’s Press needs to add people to our revenue-generating team. We also need Greater Minnesota-based marketing specialists and reporters.

More than ever, we need you as readers and donors. — Mikki Morrissette