Tina Turner, The Queen of Rock and Roll, passed away a few weeks ago on May 24th.
Her iconic music videos are inextricably linked to my pre-teen memories. (“What’s Love Got To Do With It” and “Private Dancer” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero” and “Better Be Good to Me”)
When I played some of her videos for my students - they had not heard of her - one student said that I dress like her. I am not sure if it was meant to be a compliment but I took it as such.
She was one of my childhood role models. She was so fierce and talented strutting across my TV screen as I tried to squeeze in as many music videos as possible. I feel lucky to have grown up in the 1980s, MTV’s heyday.
10-year-old me had no idea at the time but when Tina Turner staged her now legendary comeback in 1984, she was 44 years old.
In conventional societal standards, she was “past her prime” and yet there she was going toe-to-toe with the younger music stars of the day.
As I shared in a post for the #SheDidThat Daily Women’s History series I wrote for Lifetime.com, Turner’s ”1984 Grammy-winning album, ‘Private Dancer,’ … went on to sell 20 million copies worldwide. Thanks to her signature raspy R&B vocals and iconic image, Turner ‘s music videos were MTV staples.”
All of this got me thinking about the whole concept of being past one’s prime.
Tina Turner proved a woman in her forties could not just relaunch her career but also revolutionize the entire music industry. Yet, even in 2023, women still have to contend with an array of backwards benchmarks related to “womanhood”…
As someone who has remained unmarried and child-free into my forties, I experience comments about my age and marital/motherhood status all the time. Even from students when they try to pry into my personal life to hijack the lesson. Even though I am public about my beliefs and career online, I do try to create a wall around my personal life. However, when students asked if I was married and had kids this year, I chose to be forthcoming with them.
My rationale was that I want to model for them that there is not one way to live a life. I want to contribute to breaking down this backwards notion that a woman is “past her prime” at a certain age. I actually have never felt better about myself and I am also in peak physical condition.
In reality, it is a small minority that are actively pushing against efforts to make EVERYONE feel included and accepted in society. They are passing laws to make people even more “othered” than they already feel. It is so despicable to make gatekeeping acceptance as the main tenet of your political platform.
As a result, I think it is more crucial than ever for adults to unabashedly own who they are and where they are at in their lives when young people ask. Obviously teachers should not be oversharing with students and boundaries are essential. However, I also want young people to know that there is not one way to live a life. We should model it for them.
When I sit with my students, especially at our feminist club, the Feminist Eagles, I am especially aware of the importance of sharing the wide array of paths that people can take in life.
Even though regressive Republican forces are trying to restrict our progress in this area, the younger generations are not going to accept it. We need to counteract these destructive actions by sharing all the exciting ways to approach life for young people as they enter adulthood. It is an honor to get to play that role in their lives.
Some Updates:
I am now a co-host of the Grifty Podcast. You can listen to our most recent episode here:
I had the honor of interviewing Heather McGhee for our PBS NewsHour Classroom Educator Voice Series. You can watch the whole episode here:
In addition, we had Jeremy Ney, creator of this project (see below), on another PBS NewsHour Classroom episode and we discussed what teachers need to know about inequality in the U.S.
Also, a few weeks ago I had the honor of interviewing my friend and activist Fred Guttenberg about his new book, American Carnage: Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence, at the Barnes and Noble in Tribeca, New York City. It was an informative and inspiring event. Thank you to all who attended!
Thank you for reading my Substack. As always, I don’t charge for my content but if you want to support me, here’s my LinkTree.
Hope that you're "breathing easy" in smoke-covered NYC!