When I visited her, she had a renter who owned a Great Dane that looked much like mine.  The two of them joined us for tea.  There was a handyman putzing around her house fixing antique chandeliers, and horses whinnying for their afternoon carrots in the barn. Every time the conversation turned, I learned something new about her.  She is an activist for more causes than most people even know about.  She once had an acting career (voice-overs among other things).  She practice law and she has a collection of mementoes from the days when women were fighting for an Equal Rights Amendment (which we never got), and that she is a fantastic cook (she copies recipes she has tried in restaurants without even asking for the recipes).  She is also very funny.

Because she has also written a book that I feel is important for all women called “Beauty Bites Beast” and because of all of the above, I thought MyShelf.com readers might like to meet her, too.

Ellen: My column is a platform for left-leaning, progressive women who have been around the block a few times. I think it is important. I don’t even really consider it to be my column as much as I consider it to be our column. Most women who think the way that I do don’t have a column!  The views of women who think the way I do often get buried or ignored.
 That I think of it as our column is empowering.  It gives me courage to say things that I might hold back if it was just Ellen-as-an-Individual.

Carolyn: What is your all-time favorite column?

Ellen:  I have a lot of favorite columns! But I guess my all-time favorite is one I wrote about gays in the military. Basically, it’s a sarcastic advice column, telling men in the military how to deal with unwanted sexual interest. I figure since I’ve been dealing with that all my life, I have some tips to pass on to these men who are so concerned that a gay man is going to come on to them. It was very funny to see the tired lines, the “have-a-sense-of-humor” counsel that women have been hearing for years going to uptight straight guys in uniform.

Carolyn: That is very funny.  In fact, I remember reading it.  Turning something back on its original source like that is not only funny but also, memorable.  You book, “Beauty Bites Beast: Awakening the Warrior Within Women and Girls,” was copyrighted in 1998 and has been selling strong ever since.  I can guess, but to what do you attribute this?

Ellen:  I believe continued sales are the result of my big mouth. I believe in my book with all my heart so I am constantly promoting it. I hear that it changed people’s lives all the time.  That feeds my desire to promote it. My appearance on Dateline NBC helped, of course, although it didn’t spike the sales immediately. Maybe it is successful because it’s a funny book about a serious topic. That is sure to help the word-of-mouth sales.

Carolyn:  Retired Los Angeles Police Department Captain Robert Martin recommends Beauty for "any man who wants to end violence against women."  I absolutely love this, because at first glance one would suppose that your readers would be primarily women.  I just know you can comment on this!

Ellen: Gavin de Becker and Robert Martin are big fans of my book. They are my allies in ending violence against women and kids. And yes, my readers are primarily women. But since I teach university classes, I’ve been able to get a gauge on how men react to it. I teach a Gender, Sexuality and Pop Culture class where half of my students are men. I assign “Beauty Bites Beast” because it’s a perfect text for the subject matter of the class. I have been moved to tears by the men who have come up to me after reading BBB who say things like, “I had no idea that life was like this for women,” or “I will never speak to my wife in the same way again,” or  “I’m giving my sister/mother/wife/daughter a copy of BBB.” These comments are from men who are very macho, who often have Spanish as their first language and who are firmly entrenched in a male-dominated culture.  I am proud to say that I’m doing my part to lovingly drive a stake into the heart of an entrenched patriarchal mode of seeing the world!

Carolyn:  As a writer who was brought up on fairy tales, I love your book's chapter titles like "Sleeping Beauties Awake" and "Veiled Villainies."  They capture the imagination like a fairy tale and--at the same time--hint at exploding myths.  Why did you choose to write a book using this technique?

Ellen: I used fairy tale imagery because I was raised on fairytales, too and they played a lot of havoc in my expectations of how life should be. I thought a knight would be there to save me. I learned that to be beautiful and good was supposed to save me in any circumstance. Oh, the lessons we were read while tucked in our little beds. Of course, men are simply flesh, blood and spirit like women are but we didn’t know that until we actually interacted with them. How disappointing to find out they were no more heroes than we were. How unfair to expect so much from men! Then in the area of protecting ourselves, I realized that we need to be our own “prince” if we’re going to get anywhere.

Carolyn:  I know from the taglines on your column and the e-mails between us that you teach at California State University.  That has to cut into your writing schedule.  What made you decide to do that?

Ellen: I teach because I love it and it’s a way that I can make money and write about things I care about at the same time.  Teaching enhances my writing career. I’m also a lawyer but won’t practice because most law firms or organizations want to “own” you for at least 50-60 hours a week. Boo. Not good for writing, at all!

Carolyn:  You are also active in many feminist causes.  As a daughter of the 50s I-- unlike many of the women who were raised during those times--do not hesitate to call myself a feminist. That is probably because I know what that term does not mean, as well as what it does mean!  Would you care to share with us what "feminism" means to you?

Ellen: Feminism saved my life. I felt completely lost when Gloria Steinem and Flo Kennedy included Billings, Montana, (where she lived) in their speaking tour. They were hot, funny, good-looking and passionate. I decided then and there that I wanted to be like Gloria Steinem. I have always been proud to be a feminist. My parents were both feminists. Feminism is simply a stand for gender justice. Now, the primarily white male dominated mass media did a real number on feminists and even on the word itself. I have a whole section on the “I’m not a feminist BUT…” phenomenon we’ve seen over the past two decades by well-intentioned but misinformed people. If you are committed to fairness and justice for all people, you’re a feminist, male or female.

Carolyn:  I would also like to hear about some of the causes you so diligently work at.  (Ellen--please break this down into several, more detailed questions and answers if that seems appropriate.)

Ellen: I am devoted to the United Nations Association. I have not spent as much active time as I’d like with them but I see it as a way that people can be involved in international issues. I particularly promote the Model U.N. programs that high schools and universities do through the UNA. I want to see more girls and people of color get into leadership positions. A great way to do that is through the Model U.N. Participants get to learn all about the country they represent, learn how to draft resolutions and deliver them in front of a lot of people. It is really world leadership training that I wish I had when I was young.
I was covered the U.N. World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 for the press and was also a UNA delegate. I also covered the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. These trips were all possible because of the U.N.A. I now can call myself a world citizen without exaggeration. It is incredibly life changing to be at a global conference with others who are also committed to world peace and prosperity.

I’m also passionate about Landmark Education Corporation. They have a curriculum of classes that utterly transform lives, including mine .I was going down a path that would have had me be an old, bitter, disappointed sour puss in no time! I took a 3 day course they call The Forum and I fell back in love with myself. My activism and passion took off again. They helped me to think of life as a work of art; you are the author or painter of it. Sometimes we forget that. The Forum absolutely reminded me in a loving, fun and gentle way. I am an advocate in every way, shape and form for women’s and children’s empowerment. If I hear of program that empowers women and kids, I am prepared to do whatever I can with my column to help out.

Carolyn: A while ago we talked about your first novel.  Is it still in process?  Would you care to share a bit about it?

Ellen: Yeah.  It’s called “Almost Perfect Daughter.” There are big segments of it that I love and other segments that stink, frankly. I’m not sure what to do about it. Some days I think, “Oh, I’ll just scrap it and start over.” Other days, I think, “I’ll just get in there and unravel the rows that don’t work.” So far, I haven’t done a darn thing! I figure all writers have something in a closet somewhere that they don’t know what to do with

Carolyn:  One of the things I liked about your book was the "Recommended Reading List" at the back of your book.  That attests to not only your sharing nature but also your interest in educating women to their possibilities.  It is so extensive it is worth the price of “Beauty.”  As I read it, it occurred to me that your book must have taken much research, much time.  Can you tell us about the process?

Ellen: While “Beauty Bites Beast” is not academic nor is it scholarly, it is a result of a lot of research. I’m an avid reader. There was no way that I could have written BBB without standing on the shoulders of a lot of other writers. In my reading though, I was mostly researching to verify how much women’s protecting themselves from violence is “missing” from the current literature. It’s as if the possibility of a woman defending herself doesn’t even exist for most thinkers.
Susan Brownmiller was probably the only feminist author who seriously addressed self-defense in “Against Our Will.” One of the most fascinating parts of my research had to do with phone interviews and surveys. One question that I asked of both men and women was,“Who in your household is responsible for your protection?” All the men answered, “I am.” Only one or two women answered that way. Most of the women said something like, “My husband, my dog, my boyfriend, my father, the neighborhood, the security system.” I might as well have asked, “Who in your household shaves?” The women for the most part didn’t have self-protection on their hard-drive as something that they are responsible for. Perhaps that’s the result of fairy tales which brings us full circle back to an earlier question in this interview.

Carolyn:  Gloria Steinem says that your book "clears the path to natural female strength."  Do you think that is its greatest value?  Are there others?

Ellen: Hmmm. Let’s see. BBB has a lot of great values. It is a serious conversation about women and violence. It deconstructs why so many of us really think that self-protection is not our responsibility. I explore and examine art, science, religion, entertainment, and family to get to the heart of many women’s resignation in the face of violence. It’s no wonder that we feel helpless. The culture has been designed that way. The book itself is a process that ends in encouraging people to take action. Since I’ve heard back from so many readers that they did in fact take action, I guess that’s what I consider its greatest value. It’s one thing to read and think, “Yeah, that’s a great idea,” and then do nothing. But it’s entirely another matter when people actually get off their butts and do something because of something you wrote.

Carolyn:  Ha!  With a little luck, maybe this interview will do the same thing!

I read it.  I gave it to my daughter (who was mugged in full daylight in fresh, newly lighted parking garage at her college).  I recommend it to women and to men who want to know more about women, more about our culture that both sexes have molded and/or allowed to be molded over eons of time.

This is a book that teaches self-defense and assertiveness and…well, you get the idea. It is mostly a book that helps women understand why we are “beauties” that must “bite” the beast and how that can be changed to benefit us all.

The author is well equipped to give advice. She received her J.D. degree at a time when women attending her Loyola Law School were in a small minority.  She is a self-defense advocate and instructor.  She is an actress, a producer, and a director.  She rails—humorously—against injustices each week as a columnist for the “Pasadena Weekly” and she is a professor of Communication Studies at California State University at Los Angeles.  Communication is, in fact, the crown that “Beauty” wears that covers all of these pursuits.  Beauty Bites Beast is the culmination of Snortland’s abilities and need to communicate in an area that—even after several decades of progress—still has room for a whole lot of improvement.

Oh! You should also know:  It is absolutely entertaining—from beginning to end.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the acclaimed This is the Place and  Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered.