Ms.
I saw Gloria Steinem speak today. I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know that much about her, other than that she started Ms. magazine and is one of the founders of the modern feminist movement. I was impressed to learn of her work with the gay community and victims of domestic violence. She spoke at a fundraiser for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Services' 30th Anniversary, and I was also very pleasantly surprised that she didn't just give a canned speech about herself. She talked almost exclusively about the many facets of the domestic violence issue in a very casual, unrehearsed way, and only discussed more general political issues near the end.
She concluded with a nice metaphor about butterflies. She said that caterpillars have what are called "imaginal cells" that get put to use once the transformation to becoming a butterfly begins. However, until that time, the caterpillar's system fights these cells. Eventually, though, the caterpillar loses the battle, and the imaginal cells break down the caterpillar's body and use it as the building blocks to become a butterfly. She stated that all of the people working for change on the issue of domestic violence (and others) are like these imaginal cells. I'm not doing a good job of relating this, but I guess I was very taken with the notion of imaginal cells. But of course, me being me, I then felt sorry for the literal caterpillars.
She concluded with a nice metaphor about butterflies. She said that caterpillars have what are called "imaginal cells" that get put to use once the transformation to becoming a butterfly begins. However, until that time, the caterpillar's system fights these cells. Eventually, though, the caterpillar loses the battle, and the imaginal cells break down the caterpillar's body and use it as the building blocks to become a butterfly. She stated that all of the people working for change on the issue of domestic violence (and others) are like these imaginal cells. I'm not doing a good job of relating this, but I guess I was very taken with the notion of imaginal cells. But of course, me being me, I then felt sorry for the literal caterpillars.