The Louis Bay 2nd Library celebrated Women’s History Month with a one-woman show, Good Lessons from Bad Women, performed by Dorothy Leeds on March 9, 2013.

Leeds, performing artist and a bestselling author/speaker, staged a show about the value of accepting yourself.  She did so by introducing women in history who have been given bad reputations, and inviting them to tell their tales of self-acceptance.

When asked how she developed the idea for the show, Leeds responded, “[A] couple of years ago, I woke up with the title, Good Lessons from Bad Women, in my head. Now wouldn’t you want to know what that meant?” To find out, she started to research “bad women” in history and chose seven who had bad reputations, but still had lessons to teach about acceptance.

To begin the show, Leeds introduced the audience to Eleanor Roosevelt, a good girl who was ideal in her mother’s eye. The former first lady became one of the reasons Leeds came to admire the bad women; Leed’s mother saw Eleanor Roosevelt as a perfect woman, but she strived to be different, to be rebellious.

Leeds then brought her audience through the journey of “bad women.” Beginning with the original sinner, Eve, Leeds transformed herself into a woman without much company who, out of boredom, ate the forbidden apple that the snake claimed to be “delicious and only 100 calories.”

Later on the audience got to meet more “bad women”: Mrs. Machine Gun Kelly, who motivated her husband to become a criminal; Emperor Wu, who was the first woman to rule the Chinese empire; Elizabeth Freeman, who became a free black woman; Mae West, who was a famous stage performer; and Anne Bonney, who was a female pirate. Leeds acted out all of these women who found power and acceptance through their bad reputations.

Leeds concluded by going back to Eleanor Roosevelt and reliving her true tale. Leeds showed the audience the Roosevelt was the outcast of her family because she was not beautiful, and how she found love in her husband and then lost it when he cheated on her.

Leeds told the audience how she, herself, realized the line between good and bad not to be so black and white. She came to terms with accepting herself and encouraged the audience to do the same. The performer ended by summing up her story saying, “We each make an epic journey to stand in our own shoes.” By this, Leeds told all of the women in the audience that they need to be who they are, even if society doesn’t approve, to be happy with themselves.

The library continued celebrating Women’s History month by having a makeup and hair styling session on March 13.