Can modern platforms aid women's search for novelty, equity, opportunity and validity within an established patriarchy? Can empowering a chorus of present-day female voices to own artistry, spoken trauma and thoughts on autonomy through lived female experience, honor, recognize and amplify women's authorship, survivorship and narratives lost to time?
Becca Schall (she/her), Creative Media Producer, Filmmaker, Casting Director
MoPoetry Phillips (she/her), Co-founder, Regal Rhythms Poetry, Founder, Hit the Mic Cincy, President, Arts Equity Collective, Community Engagement Manager, WordPlay Cincy, Poet, Spoken Word Artist Director of WordPlay
Deej Ragusa (she/her), Musician, Songwriter, Sound Healing Practitioner
Torie Wiggins (she/her), Playwright, Actor, Assistant Artistic Director of Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati
Pauletta Hansel - (she/her), Cincinnati Poet Laureate Emeritus
Holly Brians Ragusa (she/her), Author, Speaker, Poet, President Ohio Poetry Association
ABSTRACT: In order to bridge an unjust past to a more equitable future, we must acknowledge that women, inspired by duty, role and creativity alike, called forth the preponderance of oral tradition through storytelling, song, rhyme and recipe and yet, in name and status, their contributions are largely unrecognized throughout thousands of years of history. Building a “platform”, a modern term for access to any form of microphone, is where “Her story” has only recently (by comparison) begun. Whether songwriting, storytelling, authoring or speaking, it is women who are less requested and compensated for telling their lived experience, and still struggle to get the word out as society continues to undervalue their worth and question their stories and motives. Summary, Conclusions, and Audience Takeaways:In 2024, female songwriters make up only 14% of a male dominated industry. Only two of 42 fabled authors and only four of 51 poets surface in a google search. Given the bullhorn or priviledge of print for millennia, men have conveyed the morals, instructions and strategies for interpreting family, war and beauty. History cannot accurately represent women’s silenced past and therefore present day women must rewrite the narrative by contributing heavily and honestly to it. Audience members will be exposed to layers of unlearning and empowered to create content. Envisioning a panel with strong Cincinnati female voices: Poets, Yalie Saweda Kamara, Pauletta Hansel, MoPoetry Phillips and Zeda Stew. Songwriter Deej, and playwright Torie Wiggins.
