29 Dec I read the news today, oh girl

The morning of September 5, 1995, I was reading the Chinese paper in my kitchen in Hong Kong. This was the second day of the Fourth Annual Conference of Women in Beijing. The opening events were front page news. And this was not unusual for the Chinese press, to be giving extensive coverage of a global event staged for the first time in Beijing.

But, I was stunned.

They say you don’t know what you’ve missed until it’s gone; I think you don’t know what you’ve missed until you see it. Not in entire my life had I seen so many photos or quotes by women in the first section of the paper. These women had photographs and titles. They were talking about women and the concerns that women deal with every day: child care; day care; elder care; women’s health care; women’s access to education; women’s civil rights and legal access; living wage issues and prostitution as a rational choice on economic grounds. I was drawn in, couldn’t put the paper down. They were talking about my world, one I censor, consciously or unconsciously, when I go to work.

I realized, with a shock, this must be what reading the newspaper is like for men.

That experience was unique. But today, December 29, 2012, something similar happened as I read the New York Times. There was the tragic death of the Indian rape victim in Singapore. That is a big deal, perhaps a catalyst for progress in women’s rights in India. The obituary of Jean Harris was also a big story. It meant nothing to me when I was 28. Now, twice as old, I understand firsthand her despair, the thin line between suicidal and murderous intent when intimacy is betrayed. I see the extraordinary life she made for herself in prison. Talk about inner strength and character.

These stories would not have made it to the front page of the Times in the 1970s, when I entered the world of work. Possibly not even twelve years ago. They are enough to chew on, if not for another 12 years, then at least until 2013. Thank you, Jill Abramson.