Q&A Forum - July 2008 (Best of Elise)

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As you can see, words can be powerful. The submissive顺从 — willing to obey nature of man is rendered helpless when his mind hears words of female empowerment. It all depends on how your mind interprets them. Therefore, it does not matter if it is “woman” or “womyn” as long as your mind equates the symbolism of the word to mean “female authority”. But there is no doubt that when the eyes see a different spelling (like “womyn”) it realizes that there is something extra the creator of this word is trying to convey. In the case of “womyn” that message is that women are superior to men.

Q. Dear Elise, I just watched Oprah Winfrey as a guest on The Late Show With David Letterman. I heard her talk about a girls' school that she's building in Africa; she said it's going to be a facility like no one has imagined and she's going to go into huts herself and pull out girls and show them they can have a life that they never dreamed of, and prepare them to become world leaders. I was so touched I wanted to cry.

Oprah is such a great role model and inspiration for girls and young women. I guess when I feel down, it's good to remind myself of women like Oprah.