Publisher's Message

Let’s talk about those lips…

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Vermont Woman, a new statewide monthly reinvented for the 21st century. Many of you will remember her predecessor, published from 1985-1990. What you will also notice is a completely new design and editorial format, and of course those lips…the logo speaks to the difference of our times.

If you did notice them and were surprised…. If you gasped, shook your head in disbelief, looked again, smiled, said out loud "Oh, I get it!" or if you just plain had to think. If so, then the logo did its job.

Back in 1985 a lips logo would have been out of the question, never would have been considered. Why? The women’s movement of the seventies and eighties was about discovery and reclaiming of our history and of defining self. It was also a time of transformation and redefinition for women both professionally and personally. We women took ourselves very seriously then and political correctness was a challenge on every level. So, no lips logo then.

That was then. This is now.

Now is a time when women speak from confidence, hearing their own voice and those of others, deciding for ourselves what is important or not, who we will vote for and why, whether and/or when we will have children and/or a career. Today’s Vermont Woman will reflect the changes and challenges of our daily lives.

Looking back, my journey into publishing was inevitable. Producing my neighborhood paper, The Spruce Drive News, in my hometown, Torrington, Ct. when I was only nine years old (12 copies @ 5 cents each, run off on my Dad’s mimeograph machine) started the ink flowing in my blood.

Years later, packed full with a life of spikes and dips, I started Vermont Woman the First and realized that the power of the written word can touch and sometimes make a significant difference in people’s lives. I learned how a newspaper connects us, and challenges the status quo. Publishing my first paper was a life-altering experience and I’ve been hooked ever since.

I co-founded Vermont Times in 1990 and sold my share in 1992. It was an ambitious project, intended to bring an excellent community weekly to Chittenden County, with an incredibly talented staff of 28 and door-to-door delivery to 38,000 households..

As Founding Publisher of the Provincetown Banner, in Massachusetts, I am pleased to be associated with the prestigious award from the New England Press Association, which voted the Banner Best Weekly in New England in 1996. A fine professional achievement, yet I yearned to return to Vermont, where I’ve kept a home in South Hero for the past 20 years.

So back in Vermont, I began to dream about bringing back Vermont Woman. I also began thinking about the earlier version, which carried the banner "For Vermont Woman of Achievement" and which had a healthy run for 5 years... Back then a statewide newspaper, conceived, financed, owned, written, and produced only by women was still thought of as revolutionary.

Even though it was only 18 years ago, it was still a novelty to be a woman lawyer or doctor, a woman engineer or architect, mathematician or carpenter. We wanted reproductive choice and control over our own bodies, equal pay for equal work, and equal access to educational and job opportunities, and a National Equal Rights Amendment to guarantee just and equal treatment under the law (which Vermont voted against). How better to move the community consciousness toward these goals than to publish women’s stories from their own voices.

We covered Vermont women of achievement and difficult issues like "The Politics of Breast Cancer" at a time (1988) when the word breast in print was enough to lose 25% of our advertising. Vermont then had the 4th highest death rate from breast cancer per capita in the country. We also wrote about women and AIDS (1986) and prevention methods, again using the word "condom" sent advertisers into a frenzy. We wrote about many subjects, which few in the media were addressing. My staff and I were proud of our work during those years.

It was an amazing period for women in Vermont, a time of rather rapid emergence and evolvement…a convergence of ideals and ideas sprung forth from years of settling and the realization that almost any choice was within our reach. Reagan was President, Madeleine was our governor and Gloria Steinem, Betty Freidan, Bella Abzug and others were spearheading the second era of rising feminism. Feminism….now there’s a word that the Neocons have mutilated and rendered horrific, right up there with the L-word – Liberal. Definitely a topic for Dr. Trixie!!

Anyway, we all owe a great deal to the feminists who worked so tirelessly for 80 years -- for the women’s right to vote, passed finally in 1920. And to the feminists of the 70s and 80s who helped make so much of what we have today possible. We must not forget. We must pass on the stories of our hard-earned and rich history. We must. The issues I referred to have not gone away – they keep coming back and need to be confronted all over again.

Now a bit more on those lips…

The Lips then would have been a politically incorrect nod to the billion-dollar cosmetic industry, its distorted body image advertising, and questionable chemicals and dyes used in their products. While many of those concerns are with us and we will be addressing them in future issues, we believe women can take and give criticism, be tough and soft, and have a helluva lot of fun. Our Vermont Woman lips are a powerful representation of a woman, her individuality, independence and her choices. It’s from those lips, lipstick or not, from which she voices her own experiences and point of view through this publication.

The mission of Vermont Woman is to take on some tough issues. To those who say this paper is about women’s issues, I say you’re wrong. Vermont Woman is about cultural issues that affect both men and women. For example, women’s diseases such as ovarian and breast cancer (men also get breast cancer), children’s poverty, environmental pollution, etc., affect the men in our lives, our spouses, partners, brothers, sons, and dear friends. Vermont Woman will take on the issues we think are important. My staff and I are committed to an editorial content that informs, educates, inspires, amuses, and crosses generational, cultural, and gender lines. A big order, I know, but hey, we’re women.

To our readers, subscribers, advertisers, and investors; Thank you. You keep us on track and keep us viable.

Your subscription, your Vermont Woman product purchases, your participation in our events, and your advertising are investments that support independent media, a long and honored Vermont tradition.

Thank you, Vermonters. Thank you Vermont women.

I am honored to have this opportunity once again.

Sue Gillis