Foreword
I would like to invite you into this book, especially if you are one
of those readers who might be, as I was, resistant to its theme. After
all, how can mythological goddesses from a patriarchal past help
us to analyze our current realities or reach an egalitarian future?
Just as we are most likely to buy books recommended by trusted
friends, my inspiration to read this manuscript came from knowing
its author.
I met Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen when she was organizing Psychiat-
rists for ERA, a group of women and men inside the American
Psychiatric Association whose professional experience had led them
to believe that equal treatment under the law was crucial to women’s
mental health. They therefore supported the passage of the Equal
Rights Amendment.
All groups are the result of many energies, but Jean was clearly
an effective and inspired organizer of this one. She not only envi-
sioned such a group and sparked the imagination of her colleagues;
she also followed through on the procedural detail of forging a co-
hesive, national organization out of busy and disparate people. In
that process, she took care to bridge generational, racial, and profes-
sional differences, to research accurate, relevant information, and
to leave even the most resistant adversary with dignity and some
new understanding.
Watching Jean in action left no doubt that she was a practical, ex-
pert organizer in the here and now; a gentle revolutionary whose
healing calm and accepting spirit were testimony
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