This is a story of defiance and subversion.
In 1831, Laura Jane Curtis was born in Freedom, ME. In her 20s, she married and became Laura Curtis Bullard, founded a newspaper and wrote two novels whose heroines defied the social, cultural and professional expectations of women. At thirty, she ended her writing and publishing life for several years before becoming a key figure in the National Women’s Suffrage Association, then focused much of the rest of her life addressing and supporting issues related to women’s rights, women’s suffrage and social reform. She died in 1912, 8 years before the 19th amendment was ratified, granting American women’s right to vote.
Almost 30 years later, Diana Nyad, Bullard’s great grand-niece, was born. Like the real-life Laura and the fictional characters she created, Nyad was also known for defying and rejecting the social, cultural and professional expectations of women. In her 20s, she had exploded into international consciousness by shattering multiple world records in swimming held by both women and men and for making her first attempt to swim from Havana to Key West. At 30, she retired from the competitive swimming world, refocusing her energy on sports broadcasting and journalism, writing her 4 books, co-creating a business to help women reach their health and fitness goals, and becoming an internationally sought speaker whose story is both compelling and inspiring.
Another thirty years later, she began preparing to once again attempt her unfinished goal of swimming from Havana to Key West. This is where her story becomes truly subversive. Because at this point, she’s in her 60s. And by 60, she was supposed to have already made peace with the fact that she had become an invisible woman in our society. She wasn’t supposed to want to see anyone of her age or gender on movie screens, (periodic exceptions made for Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep), or in advertisements (unless they are demonstrating a product that can erase signs of aging) or in the sports arena, except in special categories. She was supposed to be considering the effects of Botox more than box jellyfish. Her satisfaction was not supposed to come from what objectively astounding and athletic feats her body could perform. Unless, of course, they were impressive “for her age.”
Though not as easily categorized, Diana Nyad’s acts of cultural resistance are no less defiant than those of her great grand-aunt, the Suffragettes and the countless others who have fought for more equal perceptions and treatment of women. Her refusal to be another invisible woman “of a certain age,” as well as her refusal to leave an important personal goal unmet, is admirable and, yes, fantastically subversive.