tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post8824246858456298696..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: The sisterhood of ma'amPhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-56314292478549972322014-02-16T15:05:51.289-05:002014-02-16T15:05:51.289-05:00When I was an exchange student in Germany, I turne...When I was an exchange student in Germany, I turned 18, and the bank I was using informed me that from now on, they and everyone legally must stop calling me Fraulein and call me Frau. I thought this was absolutely right and awesome and a great solution to a problem. It didn't matter how old I LOOKED; I was FRAU. Respect!! It changed how I saw myself. I felt stronger, formidable.<br /><br />I am now 39 and have become one of those ma'ams who talks to, and who is approached by other ma'ams of all kinds of races, nationalities, socioeconomic groups and even languages. Sometimes Spanish-, Creole- or French- speaking ma'ams approach me in the grocery store, bookstore, park, etc. (I live in NYC) and I sometimes comment, unasked, on the bakery we're in or the movie I see them considering or the lovely scarf they're wearing... I know just what you mean.<br /><br />I'm not a teacher. I think ma'ams just approach each other because we know we can. Or maybe we would approach everyone, but only with other ma'ams do we feel safe and comfortable enough.Glove Slaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16875540891770525708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-76778907198593865822014-02-16T14:16:10.239-05:002014-02-16T14:16:10.239-05:00I think this may be less an issue of becoming a m&...I think this may be less an issue of becoming a m'am and more an issue of how you carry yourself, coming from teaching. I discovered that once I became a librarian, I carried myself in a different way in public. I became... approachable? I find that I am the person people stop on the street for directions, or to talk to randomly in the grocery store, etc. Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05088661115697280067noreply@blogger.com