Strong wimmen

It is a bit of a cliché, but I am here because of strong women.  My mother, grandmothers, and great grandmothers, specifically.  And I am fortunate to work in an environment with many strong women.  I don’t have to think about including them or balancing committees or being sure their input is added – because they are there first.  I have not done a tally, but I am willing to bet that most businesses in the Short North is either owned or co-owned by a woman.  OK, now I HAVE done a tally and, especially in galleries and retail, women are more than pulling their weight.

In the beginning of my tenure in the Short North there was Marjorie and Yasue and Debbie and Carolyn and Dotte and Eva.  Then there was Spangler, Roberta, Beth, Nancy, Johanna, Libby, Vickie, Sherrie, Anna, Ruth, Judy, Zoe, Spirit, Melaine and so many, many more.

Now there is Carmen, Liz, Gina, Diesha, Barb, Misty, Chris (several Chris-es in fact), a Kris or two, Lisa, Sylvia, Suzy, more Judys, Marianne, Mary (again – several), Maren, Jeni, Gendala, Christina… well you get the idea.

What is it about the Short North?  Is it the lack of a glass ceiling, since here we can make our own way and build what we imagine?  Is it safety in numbers?  Or perhaps it is just that creativity is encouraged.  Vision is encouraged.  Or maybe it is just the adventure of it.

We are pioneer women. Following in the footsteps of women in bonnets and sashes and heels and gloves. We are not dainty. We are not retiring. We are feisty. We are no nonsense. We are ambitious. We are bitchy. If we were men, we would be forceful. We see things that we want to be better – and we make them better. The ones who only complain and never do don’t last long here. This is a neighborhood of dirty fingernails. Of put up or shut up. Of visions and reality. Of imagining big things and seeing them happen.

It really has nothing to do with being women. That is the beauty of it. Here we are shop owners, restauranteurs, entrepreneurs, artists, actors, writers, developers, rabble rousers, politicians, gallery owners, landlords, realtors, and so on and so on.  No “ette” or “ress”needed. We are just one of the faces of the Short North.

I am a little embarrassed to even notice that there are so many vital women here.  I should be gender blind.  Then, recently, I was on an important committee – and out of representatives from all over the Short North I was the only woman.  I have to say it felt a little weird.  The committee was dealing with serious infrastructure issues that will be affecting the neighborhood – and the city – for decades.  It was not a gender issue by any stretch.  But it was also not a men’s club, so where were the women?  This is a rarity, though.

Women are tightly woven into the fabric of the neighborhood, both business and residential.  I think it is safe to say we hold up our half of the arches.  Well, maybe a little more than our half.  Because this IS the Short North.