Bold stories from women empower audience at event

Peeing was a form of protest for one woman.

Her wheelchair was too large to fit… Peeing was a form of protest for one woman.

Her wheelchair was too large to fit through the bathroom stalls on her college campus. So, she peed in the garden instead.

Her story was just one of many recounted at a ‘That Takes Ovaries!’ event sponsored by the Campus Women’s Organization Tuesday night.

At the event, which was held in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room, people read stories of women’s ‘bold and brazen acts’ from a book called ‘That Takes Ovaries!’ The book is sponsored by a non-profit organization bearing the same name that works to empower women worldwide.

Other women’s stories ranged in scale. One story recounted how a woman managed to shame a burglar out of robbing her, despite the fact that she was embarrassed because she wasn’t wearing underwear at the time. Cecilia Wambach, a visiting member from ‘That Takes Ovaries!,’ led the storytelling and discussion that occurred during the event.

‘I’m here to encourage you to go down the road of boldness,’ she said.

Wambach shared a story of a time she thought she was bold. When she was a teenager, she worked her way down through police and a crowd to shake hands with the pope during his first visit to the United States.

Audience members spoke in small groups about their earliest memories of courage, sharing stories with topics ranging from beating up boys on buses to defending friends against religious persecution.

The whole event, said Pitt student Robin Lane, was ‘about taking charge of being bold, promoting female independence and standing up against being walked all over.’

Wambach said the stories are significant because they have the power to motivate women.

‘These stories inspire us to take on our life in a different way,’ said Wambach. ‘If you can think of yourself as extraordinary, if you are waiting for that chance to seize your extraordinariness, then your life is going to be much more satisfying.’

Wambach invited audience members to speak about the importance of leading a bold life and to raise their hands if they had participated in particularly bold acts. Had they left an abusive relationship? Had they ever stood up to bullying? Most of the audience members raised their hands at one time or another.

‘There is so much left for your generation to do — you are the third wave of feminism,’ she said.