Women of the Wild West

Dear Educators,

Our GNN article this week features a seriously renegade woman named Mary Fields, who defied stereotypes as she charged across the countryside in her stagecoach, delivering mail. As humans we are all blessed with talents and interests that are intrinsic to us. It doesn’t matter where we’ve come from or what we look like, what makes us “us” is special and unique. Our challenge in life entails learning about ourselves so deeply we can carve a path that fits us best. To do that sometimes requires admitting that we don’t fit the traditional mold our society wants to cast us in.

The content this week highlights people who, like Mary Fields, harnessed their true selves in the face of judgement and even ridicule. The more of these stories we can share with our students, the more they can find the courage to express their true selves and create the life that brings them joy!

Mary was certainly anything but a shrinking violet: gun-toting, tobacco-smoking, liquor-drinking, with a penchant for swearing and arguing. Unsurprisingly, the nuns she once lived with kicked her out. Their path clearly wasn't hers. 

Tough and entrepreneurial, she eventually found her calling as a stagecoach-driving mail carrier. She faced fighting and shooting bandits, thieves, and even wolves!

Learn more about this extraordinary woman in this GNN Jr article, designed for students in grades 3-6.

Why is it so hard to change stereotypes? It could have to do with how our brains store and recall information. Neurobiologists have found that there are physical associations in our brain’s anterior temporal lobe that show the biological root of our bias. Is that a terminal diagnosis? Not at all! Neuroplasticity gives humans the ability to rewire these connections. Research is being conducted to analyze behavioral interventions that might help us build a better society, brain first.