Our mental health columnist, Nora Hille, participated in the 2022 competition “Unspoken Speeches by Outraged Women,” whose title is derived from the writer Christine Brückner (see below for more on this author). A total of 98 speeches were submitted, all of which are of social and personal significance. The organizers—the Brückner-Kühner Foundation, S. Fischer Theater und Medien Publishing House, in cooperation with the Archive of the German Women’s Movement, the City of Kassel, and Hessischer Rundfunk, were so impressed by the submissions that they are making not only the six winning speeches but all of the speeches available on YouTube—thereby turning all the participating, indignant women into winners.
Since Nora Hille writes about mental health at FemalExperts and, as a person affected, is committed to anti-stigma work (i.e. equal rights for mentally ill people in our society, among others at Mutmachleute e.V.), it was quickly clear to her what her speech should be about. The title of her 10-minute speech, which you can listen to on YouTube here, is “I’m not amused – plea for a stigma-free society” and shows our Nora from a very passionate and committed side. It’s worth taking a look!
Christine Brückner
During her lifetime (1921-1996), Christine Brückner was one of the most popular authors in Germany. She had enormous success with her book “Wenn du geredettest, Desdemona. Unhaltene Reden ungehaltener Frauen”. These are monologues that Brückner has put into the mouths of famous women from literature and history: from Clytemnestra and Sappho to Katharina von Bora, Desdemona, and Effi Briest to Eva Braun, Gudrun Ensslin, and an unborn woman. Sometimes angry, sometimes committed, sometimes putting her finger in the wound, always full of power – just “unruly” Brückner gives these women a voice.
More about the project “Unspoken Speeches by Indignant Women”:
https://ungehalten.net/zum-projekt/
About the author
Nora Hille was born in 1975, is happily married and has two children. She studied history, literature and media studies, worked in communications/public relations for 12 years and has now retired for health reasons. Today she writes articles on the topics of mental health and mental illness as a sufferer and experience expert. She also writes literary essays, poems (preferably haikus) and short prose. She regularly publishes her mental health column here at FemalExperts Magazine and is Editor of eXperimenta - the magazine for literature, art and society. Anti-stigma work is close to her heart: she is an encourager at Mutmachleute e.V. and is committed to Anti-Stigma-Texts against the stigmatization (exclusion) of the mentally ill in our society for more togetherness, tolerance and equality. In autumn 2023 her book "When Light Defeats Darkness" will be published by Palomaa Publishing. A book of encouragement about how to live a good and rich life despite bipolar illness - and the enormous challenge that this means every day for the inner balance of those affected.
