AN OUTSPOKEN WOMAN

Alayne, you’re very glib, my friend’s uncle stated with a drunken slur back when I was in eighth grade. He had staggered in to a room full of thirteen year old girls who had taken over his bedroom for a sleepover and he was not happy.

He quickly (and appropriately) determined that I was the self appointed spokesperson to keep his drunken self away from our innocence. He threw the word glib at me, hoping to seem intellectually superior to a gaggle of thirteen year olds who had likely never seen a drunken uncle in their sheltered lives until that very moment.

None of us even knew what the word glib meant, but our posse back then learned quickly. And we also learned that only half of the definition applied.

GLIB: fluent and voluble but insincere and shallow. We recognized our power at our young age. FLUENT AND VOLUBLE- YES! Insincere and shallow? Hell no.

I learned early in my life that my voice had power. Some people would define my voice as direct to a fault. A voice with no filter at times. But there has never been an insincere bone in my body. I am pure truth and sincerity and I don’t have a speck of malice, especially when I am fighting for a cause I believe in.

Outspoken, honest and direct. Qualities we admire in men and often consider differently in a woman. Add Jewish Woman to the equation and it is often a recipe for a stereotype that makes my skin crawl.

My voice is one of passion. I am a life enthusiast, a community activist, and I choose how…