Barbara Deming
Full Name and Common Aliases
Barbara Deming was a renowned American writer, activist, and art critic.
Birth and Death Dates
Born on November 5, 1917, in Boston, Massachusetts, Barbara Deming passed away on March 16, 1984, at the age of 66.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Deming's nationality was American, and her profession spanned multiple fields: writer, activist, art critic, and film editor.
Early Life and Background
Growing up in a family that valued social justice and education, Deming developed a strong sense of empathy and compassion for others. Her father, William S. Deming, was a prominent figure in Boston's Quaker community, which instilled in Barbara the importance of individual responsibility towards creating positive change.
Deming attended Smith College, where she began to explore her passion for writing and social activism. She was particularly drawn to the works of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, whose existentialist ideas resonated deeply with her own philosophical views on human freedom and moral obligation.
Major Accomplishments
Throughout her life, Deming achieved numerous milestones that showcased her dedication to creative expression and social activism:
As a writer, she published several critically acclaimed novels and essays that explored themes of love, relationships, and personal growth.
Her influential book, Abe's Woman (1968), delves into the complexities of identity, morality, and human connection through a fictional account of Abraham Lincoln's life.
As an art critic, Deming wrote for various publications, including the influential magazine Art News, where she championed innovative artists and pushed against traditional boundaries in the art world.
Her activism was closely tied to her writing, as she used her platform to advocate for social justice causes, such as women's rights, civil rights, and anti-war efforts.
Notable Works or Actions
Some of Deming's notable works include:
Abe's Woman (1968) - a novel that explores the complexities of identity, morality, and human connection through a fictional account of Abraham Lincoln's life.
Loving Each Other: Seven Twelve-Month Experiments in Free Marriage and Alternative Sex (1972) - a collection of essays that examines alternative forms of relationships and love.
* Her numerous articles and reviews published in various art and literary magazines, including Art News, which showcased her expertise as an art critic.
Impact and Legacy
Deming's impact on the literary world and beyond cannot be overstated. Her commitment to exploring complex themes and pushing boundaries has inspired countless readers and writers. As a writer, she remains celebrated for her thought-provoking novels and essays that challenge readers to confront their own values and biases.
Quotes by Barbara Deming
We learn best to listen to our own voices if we are listening at the same time to other women - whose stories, for all our differences, turn out, if we listen well, to be our stories also.
To resort to power one need not be violent, and to speak to conscience one need not be meek. The most effective action both resorts to power and engages conscience.
The free man must be born before freedom can be won, and the brotherly man must be born before full brotherhood can be won. It will come into being only if we build it out of our very muscle and bone – by trying to act it out.
A great many of us must move from words to acts – from words of dissent to acts of disobedience.
Of course it can be said of jails, too, that they try – by punishing the troublesome – to deter others. No doubt, in certain instances this deterrence actually works. But generally speaking it fails conspicuously.
Think first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one’s fears.
After the revolution, let us hope, prisons simply would not exist – if by prisons we mean places that could be experienced by the men and women in them at all as every place that goes by that name now is bound to be experienced.
I learned always to trust my own deep sense of what I should do, and not just obediently trust the judgment of others – even others better than I am.
The point is to change one’s life. The point is not to give some vent to the emotions that have been destroying one; the point is so to act that one can master them now.
Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds the thought of victory and the thought of punishing the enemy coincide.