Hi Tessa, you are younger than my mom, and I think your mom was a little younger than my grandmother (who raised me) - my mom also married a Jew (my father) and this "was not done" in those days also. I think your mom sounds incredible, and you also, for making things work for yourself and exploring so many different things.

My mother worked in a male-dominated field (animation) and her work was literally stolen from her, and credit literally taken by men who lacked her talent. My dad's mom was a little like your mom - coming to US at only age 13, establishing herself as a pharmacist in NYC and first female pharmacist in CA. My great-grandmother was a female business owner in Riverside, CA and she had to advertise for a male manager to be the official "face" of the business to be successful.

What I'm writing about (and I myself do) is work on a different model of story and discourse. It should not be as hard as it is - what you're describing is "exceptionalism" - i.e. "so what if it is dominated by men" - "I did it," "my family did it,"

it shouldn't be that hard. The stories we are told are the stories of men.

I'm doin' something different.