10 Things We’re Thankful For: #3 Women Who Empower Us
With Thanksgiving only days away, we thought we’d share a few of the things we’re thankful for. We’ll be posting one each day — in no particular order – and would love to hear what you’re thankful for, too.
#3 Women Who Empower Us
Award-winning photographer Rosanne Olson, whose This Is Who I Am celebrates “our beauty in all 
shapes and sizes.” This gorgeous book features women young and old in all their naked glory, proudly showing off their bodies and sharing their stories. It is a stunning tribute to who we are and a reminder to appreciate our physical selves – scars, cellulite and all.
Barbara Hannah Grufferman, who has compiled the definitive guide to The Best of Everything After 50. 
Featuring advice from experts like Patricia Wexler, Jane Bryant Quinn and Julie Morgenstern, the book proves that hitting the half-century mark is not the end of life as you know it — it’s the beginning of a new adventure, and Barbara is definitely the guide you want on your journey.
Author Amy Ferris, whose Marrying George Clooney is a brutally honest, hilarious, heartbreaking, gut-
wrenching must-read. Every woman who comes in contact with Amy wants to be her BFF — she is a cheerleader extraordinaire for her sisterhood. We heart Amy Ferris.
Leave a comment below, and you’ll be automatically entered to win one of the books mentioned here.
Dear StyleSubstanceSoul!!
I am so honored and grateful to have been included in this list! My book has been substantially elevated just by being in the same group as the other two.
Thank you, thank you, thank you and I wish you all–and your families–a very Happy, Healthy and Heart-filled Thanksgiving!!
Love,
Barbara
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Elizabeth Kipp, Barbara H Grufferman. Barbara H Grufferman said: 10 Things We’re Thankful For: #3 Women Who Empower Us http://t.co/BIvUCm7 via @AddThis YAY!!! I'M ONE OF 3 WOMEN WHO ARE LISTED IN THIS!! [...]
Hello StyleSubstancSoul,
I, too, feel honored to be on your list. My hope is that every woman will come to see the beautiful gift of the body. And that we will come to celebrate the beauty in each one of us–as each and every one of us has something beautiful worthy of deep appreciation. Right now, at this moment!
Love,
Rosanne Olson
I have to choose two women for my comments on how I am empowered … my mother and my mother-in-law. They are both dealing with tremendous adversity, yet remain positive and look for the good in life all the time. My mother Sherri is only 69, yet she has advanced Parkinson’s Disease. She lives in assisted living and her mobility & speech are dramatically limited. She recently had to put down her dog, a beautiful Alaskan Eskimo who was her best friend for over 13 years. Despite everything, shehas many friends, does lovely photography and has created a garden club that keeps her active and involved. My mother-in-law Betty is 80 and has inoperable lung cancer (and no, she never smoked!). She has decided to accept all the chemotherapy she can in order to extend her life and although she is often tired now and deals constantly with the negative consequences of chemo, her tumors have shrunk enough that she has at least another year or more with us. I am traveling around the country right now, and whenever I talk to Sherri or Betty, they are upbeat, positive, and encouraging of my adventures. Amazing!!!
thank you thank you!
oh my goddess. what a wonderful treat to be included in this. i am so hopeful that we will all continue to celebrate each other and champion each other and lift each other, and lead by example.
thank you from the bottom of my heart for including me.
i am so frickin’ honored.
amy ferris
Taking part in the book project with Rosanne helped me embody “woman” more than ever. It both helped me expand my definition of what it means to be a woman, and also show me the limitless bounds… a beautiful paradox! It is one of my proudest moments. Every woman should have this book on her shelf. You will fall in love with each face and body in it!
What a wonderful thing, to be reminded of women who stand up for one another.
Amy Ferris and Barbara Grufferman happen to be two of my favorite people. Now I am thrilled to know about Roseanne Olson’s beautiful book.
Thank you for this list.
Rosanne’s book, “This is Who I am” is something I believe every mother should share with her daughter(s) — and I mean that in the broadest sense. Our culture today has instilled some very unrealistic ‘norms’ for beauty in women and Rosanne artistically removes those veils with each stunning portrait in this book. Including the model’s prose is not only revealing, but an added testament that things aren’t always what they seem. Rosanne’s talent to gently and so artistically peal away the layers of such a complicated issue is a fabulous vehicle for a conversation starter with our community of daughters. I would encourage all women to start those conversations!
When I saw Rosanne’s book, This Is Who I Am, I was surprised and thankful for the beautiful photos of real women. This book would be loved by every woman I know. Rosanne is a gifted writer, photographer, singer, harmonica player, woman.
Rosanne’s work is an inspiration to everyone who encounters it. A teacher of beauty without the words.
Her vital way of seeing always has a way of leading others forward, no matter what the subject.
Three cheers.
ams
[...] http://stylesubstancesoul.com/2010/11/10-things-were-thankful-for-3-other-women-who-empower-us/ [...]
I love Rosanne’s book! Now I’ll have to check out the other two.
I recently travelled from Australia to attend a harmonica jam camp in Clarksdale Mississippi. It was such a fabulous experience. Out of the 23 who attended, 7 were women and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to meet them. We shared a very special experience, creating a bond making music, laughing, dancing til the wee small hours, supporting one another. One of the women was Rosanne Olson, author of ‘This is Who I Am’, a wonderful book which dispels the myth about what constitutes the perfect female body and captures so poignantly the strength, courage and beauty of the 54 women photographed in the book.
Kate, maybe we’ll see you in Australia when we’re there on Oprah’s Ultimate Australia Adventure next month!! Thanks so much for writing in from Down Under.
“This is Who I am” by Rosanne Olson is the culmination of years of artfully and sensitively compiling portraits and interviews of women brave and confident enough to publicly share their stories. Spending time with her book is an exercise in appreciating the beauty, grace, and strength of the female body and finding comfort and inspiration in the stories. I highly recommend adding her book to your collection of favorites and giving it as a special gift.
Rosanne’s book is a must read for every daughter, friend, mother and wife. Too fat? Too skinny? Too old? too young? Shatter those ideas and the crazy we make of them with the amazing, beautiful women in Rosanne’s book. They are all beautiful, and all fabulously photographed. My 11 year old read all the essays, cover to cover. This book makes a very special gift for the women you love.
Rosanne’s book changed my life and continues to inspire women to love and respect each other (including our bodies). Being in the book helped me first make peace, then love my body. When spending time with other women in the book, or discussing the book with other women, I have felt nothing but love, acceptence and a special joy about how we are all beautiful in our own unique way!!!
Rosanne’s work is a continuing inspiration. So is every generation of young women, each more free and full-of-it than the last.
Rosanne’s book, This Is Who I Am, is a wonderful exploration of embodied identity that I feel every MAN should read and witness. It can do a great deal for a man’s awareness of the adventure of the body that the woman, or women, in his life go through.
Rosanne Olson’s book, “This Is Who I Am,” is a stupendous achievement of artistic excellence and soulful compassion.
Rosanne’s exquisitely respectful photographs, coupled with the women’s heartfelt stories, left me filled with awe and gratitude for this pioneering work.
As a longtime counselor and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who has worked extensively with other survivors, I was intrigued by the project and Rosanne invited me to be a participant early on.
At that time years ago, I wasn’t quite ready to expose my body and soul to the public in that way. However, I confess that I felt a twinge of regret about that decision once I saw the finished book, which is truly a masterpiece.
Kudos to Rosanne and every woman who participated in this brave and tender book. Well done!