Susan Gayle Abod is an American

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

activist and musician. She is the sister of fellow activist and musician, Jennifer Abod. Susan Abod has a degree in

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

, and also studied at the

Old Town School of Folk Music The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists. Founded by Folk musicians Frank Hamilton and Win Stracke, and Dawn Greening, the School opened in th ...

in Chicago. Abod was a member of the

Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band and the New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band (1969–1973) sought to challenge the genre of rock music by installing women's voices and feminist-type lyrics into the musical canon. "We loved to dance ...

, serving as lead singer, songwriter and bass player. She would become a music concert promoter, having attended events such as the Champaign Women's Music Festival, after which she went on to produce women's only music concerts in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-area. She would serve as the

music engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

for

Casse Culver Karen Sue "Casse" Culver (March 7, 1944 – December 4, 2019) was an American folk singer and songwriter in the women's music genre. Early life and education Culver was born in Bethesda, Maryland, the daughter of Ronald H. Culver and Thyra Marjo ...

's ''3 Gypsies'' album in 1976 and two albums by Willie Tyson: ''Debutante'' (1977) and Tyson's self-titled album (1979). She also performed with Betsy Rose. She'd perform with Tyson and Robin Flowers at the

Michigan Womyn's Festival The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, was a feminist women's music festival held annually from 1976 to 2015 in Oceana County, Michigan, on privately owned woodland near Hart Township referred to as "The ...

, and would tour the United States. By 1982 she had completed a solo tour of Europe, where she sang in women's crisis centers, bookstores, shelters and nightclubs focused around women. In the early 1980s she moved to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

. Abod would eventually be diagnosed with

Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating long-term medical condition. People with ME/CFS experience lengthy flare-ups of the illness following relatively minor physical or mental activity. This is known as ...

and told she had

multiple chemical sensitivity Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also known as idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI), is an unrecognized and controversial diagnosis characterized by chronic symptoms attributed to exposure to low levels of commonly used chemicals. Symp ...

, an unrecognized controversial diagnosis characterized by chronic symptoms attributed to exposure to low levels of commonly used chemicals, in 1986. Despite health struggles, she continued to make music. She'd go on to create an hour-long documentary about her and other women's illnesses, titled "Funny You Don't Look Sick: Autobiography of an Illness". The documentary was completed in three years and the premier was held at the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

in 1995. In 2004, she produced and recorded a solo CD of her original music, for which was nominated for an Outmusic award for Best Female Debut CD. She lives and works in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label= Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “S ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abod, Susan 1951 births Feminist musicians DePaul University alumni Musicians from Santa Fe, New Mexico Living people