Dreams for Our Daughters began as an idea hatched by Nebraska mom Bonnie A. Coffey to give women an opportunity to share their dreams for the girls and young women of the world. Unable to rid herself of the idea (it wouldn't budge), she set about inviting a wide variety of women ¿ from senators to CEOs to stay-at-home moms ¿ to participate in it. The result is her 232-page book Dreams for Our Daughters, published in October 2000 with a commentary by Mary Pipher, author of the bestseller Reviving Ophelia.
Included in the book is Grand Rapids resident Karen Libman, theatre professor in the GVSU School of Communications. Libman, who has a pre-teen daughter, wrote in the book that she had trouble coming up with a dream for her daughter: I have LOTS of dreams for my daughter. But how could I isolate just one or two? she wrote.
In her 3 1/2-page essay, however, Libman touched on many aspects of her experiences as a mother: how she fervently hoped that her first child would be a girl (and it was!); her own small steps toward promoting gender equality; and how she and her husband, Mitch Kachun, merged their last names to give their two children a new surname, Kachman, from both parents.
The dreams for daughters, written by mothers and childless women alike, were very different from the dreams sold by our consumer culture, noted author Mary Pipher. No one dreamed that their daughters would be rich, beautiful or in possession of expensive products, Pipher wrote. All wanted the same things. They wanted daughters who were brave, strong, free and kind, and who were loved and loving.
Libman said she noticed the same thing when she read the book, which is organized as a collection of essays. The over-aching dream that everyone seems to have for their daughters is the ability to be free and to do what makes them happy, whether it's having a traditional lifestyle or flying a jet, Libman said. In that way my essay fit right in with everyone else's.
Libman's involvement in the book stems from her friendship with Coffey when Libman lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, prior to moving to Grand Rapids.
Dreams for Our Daughters, published by Writer's Showcase Press, is available locally at GVSU bookstores and online at Amazon.com for $14.95.
