We were in route to The Ohio Reformatory for Women when we noticed a beautiful rainbow. Rainbows are stunning to me. I think that particular rainbow was a sign that an extraordinary day was ahead of us. On August 29th, I had the honor to participate in The Big Table. Sponsored by The Columbus Foundation, the mission is to help strengthen the community by building a …Read More >
The InStepp Blog: Our Perspective
Visit the InStepp Blog often to get our perspective on issues and local events. Our bloggers continually scan the internet looking for news, ideas and other information of potential interest to our readers.
The Warriors of the Kingdom of Dahomey
In the West African country of Benin, one will find the in existence the Kingdom Dahomey (1625-1894), a kingdom in which an all-female army fought for county and king was present. These women, known as the Dahomey Amazons and referred to as Mino by historians, began as royal guards for Queen Hangbe. She would be overthrown by her younger brother and her existence as head …Read More >
Finding My Field
Growing up, I found myself surrounded by two types of people: those who encouraged me to break the boundaries and those who told me I could not. I followed my passion into the STEM field. While studying and in school, I found myself surrounded by people who were like me. Many of them were strong and passionate women ready to take on a career in a male dominated field. …Read More >
Women vs the Medical Field
As a woman, there are a lot of times where medical professionals talk down your concerns. When I was 16 years old, and I told the doctor about the severe pain I was having in my stomach, I was told there was nothing wrong with me. After two years of the pain, a doctor told me I might have endometriosis, and there was nothing he could do for that. I believed him. After all, …Read More >
Weeding Out My Worries
Last month I started to feel a lump in my throat and immediately worry consumed my mind. I kept my concern to myself for a few days and the lump never seemed to go away. Then I made a mistake in reading my symptoms online which frightened me so much that I started having panic attacks and depression. Eventually I lost sleep and was down to only 100 lbs. I needed some …Read More >
The Gender Divide
Why is the world divided into genders? Who decided that dresses were for women and pants were for men? When most people think about gender, they think of certain ways that each gender is supposed to express themselves. It is becoming more normal for those lines to blur which is great but that is mainly in the bigger cities. In my small town, it is still seen as abnormal, …Read More >