"Dismissed" by Annette L. Brown
–Darlin’, that’s a championship team.
As I regard his 60-something stride, the scream fighting to escape my throat dissolves into a plan.
Annette L. Brown is a mother, wife, and retired teacher, who lives on an almond farm in Central California where she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is grateful for the support of The Taste Life Twice Writers and The Light Makers’ Society and for simply having time to write. Annette has pieces reflecting her love of nature, family, beauty, and humor in several publications including Cathexis Northwest Press, Last Stanza Poetry, Flash Fiction Magazine, Every Day Fiction, and other PSP Project anthologies.
Author’s Talk
Annette L. Brown
I was born in 1960. For women old enough to be aware of what was happening then and in the next 20 years, it must have felt like they were flying on an airplane being built midair. So much was changing.
When I was 3, the Equal Pay Act passed, ostensibly granting women comparable pay to men—an ongoing effort, women currently earning $0.84 for every man’s $1.00, less for women with pigment. When I was 4, the Civil Rights Act passed, banning discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or sex, thereby granting women access to schools, jobs and more. When I was 5, married couples were given access to birth control pills—12 when single women were granted that access and the independence offered therein. Also when I was 12, Title IX became federal law—especially important to me, a girl from a lower-middle class family who afforded college via an athletic scholarship. When I was 13, Roe v. Wade passed, a 7-2 Supreme Court decision granting women access to essential health care and choice. When I was 14, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed, allowing women to obtain bank accounts and credit cards without a male co-signer. During those years, changes happened as I needed them, so that I never felt the lack.
The Dobbs decision and other threats on women’s rights in our current political climate reminded me of that time in Mr. Olivaris’ office when I was treated as “less than” by a man who thought he knew what was best for the situation. Unacceptable. As I left his office that day, I formulated plan B, which worked. But I also formulated plans C (go to the board of directors), D (letters to the editor), and E (complaint to the federal agency overseeing Title IX). I would not capitulate.
I have enjoyed the benefits of my birth’s good timing and of being raised by a father who treated me like I could do anything, so I never considered a man’s gender tantamount to built-in superiority, and only on a few occasions do I remember dealing with those who did—never as openly and blatantly as Mr. Olivaris. It almost feels like fantasy when I read my own story. It’s not. It’s the reality of being dismissed—and an example of why every person must find workarounds (even if it feels foolhardy) when others work to block the path.
