THE PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

Goddess of All Things - Preclassical Mediterranean Myth
Traditional Tunes - Bagpipe
Beauty and Pleasure - Hassidic Teaching Story
Greatest Pleasure - ©Jennifer Armstrong
Two Buckets - Zen and Christian Teaching Story
Self Blessing - ©Galway Kinnell
Bodi Was A Fat - Author unknown
Go on a Diet - ©Jennifer Armstrong
Four Wet Pigs - ©Greg Brown
Sit Down Square Dance - Fiddle
Bless Me Barbie - ©Susan Ellenton
"She's A Real Doll" - Toronto Sun Article, 1999
Benny Miller - ©Bob Blue
Two Disciples - Bhuddist Teaching Story
I Saw Her As - Author unknown
How The Souls Came Into The Bodies - Sufi Creation Story
How Could Anyone -©Libby Roderick
 
 

LINKS
(All three of these sites have excellent links lists)
www.adiosbarbie.com
www.something-fishy.org
www.mirro-mirror.org
 
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

*Real Gorgeous by Kaz Cooke
© 1996 by W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.

*Stick Figure by Lori Gottlieb
© 2000 Published by Simon and Schuster

Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.
© 1994 Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons

The Body Project by Joan Jacob Brumberg
© 1997 Published by Random House

Real Boys by William Pollack, Ph.D
© 1998 Published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC

Body Wars by Margo Maine, Ph.D.
© 2000 Published by Gurze Books

*These two books were my absolute favorites
 
 

HOW THIS SHOW CAME TO BE WRITTEN

It was the Summer of 2002. I was happily at home in Maine planning my Fall Tour to the Midwest and the Southeast when I made a fateful call to Tom Gladstone in Sewannee, TN.

"Hi Tom, it's Jennifer. I'll be out your way in October and since I've come to St Andrews every year since 1998 I wondered if you'd like to have me come tell stories and conduct workshops again this year."

"Good to hear from you Jennifer. You know what we need? We need a show like your one-woman show WomanSong that uses personal stories, music, humor and truth, to confront issues with body image and eating disorders. Every year it's worse. As a tenth grade teacher I feel we're facing an epidemic."

"Tom! Humor and eating disorders? Oh, great." (Yes, I admit I was a bit sarcastic and cynical at first.) "I don't know."

"Think about it."

Well, I thought about it. The next day I called Tom back and said, "Okay. Book the show. I'll write it." I began jotting down my thoughts and memories and making lists of songs and teaching stories. I did web searches, ransacked the library and book stores and books and notes piled up all over the house. It's been quite a project and continues to lead me into difficult territory. It's an important piece of work to have entrusted to my care and I'm grateful for this opportunity.