For generations, the women in my family have built elaborate and beautiful cages in which they dance, sing and love. They marry, raise children and excel in careers behind bars they reinforce with their own laughter. Each wire of the cage is carefully welded to create the ideal woman. First wire, good daughter; second wire, obedient wife; third, selfless mother. These roles define the cage that is passed down like a hope chest or quilt from mother to daughter. Each girl in succession squeezing herself into the unyielding confines of this gilded...more
