political campaigns

NCRW Plenary – Post #3

Kathy Bonk, Communications Consortium Media Center, offered as a sidenote that she hitch-hiked in college and got involved in the Shirley Chisholm campaign! But that’s not what she’s talking about here. Snippets from her comments:

“What’s been very painful for me is that in the past 2 election cycles, the only ‘women’s issue’ that’s up for debate seems to be abortion. It wasn’t always that way. If we’re going to do anything for women, we need to move away from personality and back to issues.”

“’Values voters’ is a code word for evangelicals. But I too am a values voter. We should shift the debate so that we look at feminists—and not just evangelicals—as values voters.”

“We can’t loose ground on abortion. In Colorado, there’s a ‘personhood’ referendum on the ballot—meaning the antis are advocating that personhood starts with conception. But abortion issues can’t be all.”

Note: Bonk was involved in spearheading a public opinion poll called “Moving Forward”, which polled voters on their ideas for an agenda that’s not just about abortion but a broader range of issues. She’s got data, if anyone is interested in following up.

NCRW Plenary – Post #2

Among her many other projects and accomplishments, Barbara Lee, of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, helped the Center for American Women and Politics with a study on women as governors. Snippets from Lee:

“Whether it’s for President or governor, it is the highest glass ceiling of all. Ann Richards once said of media coverage of women: ‘If you’re single, you couldn’t get a man. If you’re divorced, you couldn’t keep a man. If you’re a widow, you’ve killed a man.’ The same holds true with women candidates.

The White House Project was created to create a climate of acceptance for women running for office. Our most recent study asked voters to rate incumbent women governors. Voters rate women govs higher than male counterparts on managing a crisis, problem-solving, and getting things done. Once they’ve seen the women in action, they like them. But the hard part is getting them elected.

Women still face double burdens—they must be viewed as both likeable and capable. Voters tend to meld these qualities for men. Women must prove that they’re qualified whereas men are just assumed to be. Everything about a woman candidate has to be ‘just right’—her hair, her husband, her hemline.”

Headbands, Monica, Cleavage-gate anyone?

NCRW Plenary – Post #1

Ruth Mandel, Eagleton Institute of Politics, is moderating. Snippets from Mandel:

“This year I’ve been reading nonstop about this emotionally, analytically demanding election. When you start your professional career at something called the Center for American Women and Politics at a time when women were fewer than 5 percent of all elected leaders in the country, and then you watch someone run and be taken seriously as a potential presidential nominee by one of the major parties, that, certainly, is coming a distance. But we still have a long distance to go. We’ve started this year at the Center by looking at that number 16 – 16 women in the Senate. That’s not even a quarter. Thirty-seven years after we opened the Center, what does this mean? Sixteen used to be a good number – sweet 16. Not so sweet anymore when we think about that as a level that we’ve seen to arrive at in the political leadership arena after so many years, so much work, so much effort.”

Later, Mandel lists the questions on everyone’s minds:

“What was the impact of gender on HRC’s race? What will HRC do next? What should she do next? What will HRC’s voters do next? What has she achieved beyond this campaign? What’s the legacy of the campaign? Has HRC’s run opened paths for women going into politics? Or has it deterred women from deciding to run, after seeing how she was treated? Why didn’t more young people see HRC’s run as something they wanted to be a part of?”

Ok, I’m in ridiculously good company this weekend. Don’t miss out on the year’s premiere conference for researchers, policy analysts, gender thinkers, women leaders, and activists. The opening plenary this Thursday (4-5:45pm) is free and open to the public:

Stir it Up: Women’s Activism Reframing Political Debates
The possibility of a woman or an African-American presidential candidate has galvanized voters and moved citizens to become more actively engaged in the political process. It has also provided real opportunities to place women’s issues and concerns on the national agenda. Join leading experts, thought leaders, and advocates as they discuss how issues need to be framed so they influence political debates at local, state, and national levels, and strategies for ensuring that women’s voices are heard and their votes counted in the upcoming election.

Featured Speakers:
Ruth Mandel, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University (Moderator)
Kathy Bonk, Communications Consortium Media Center
Kim Gandy, National Organization for Women
Barbara Lee, Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Diana Salas, Women of Color Policy Network at NYU
Marie Wilson, The White House Project

And here’s the list of the rest of the speakers at the conference:

Mimi Abramovitz, Hunter College
Liz Abzug, The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute
Amy Allina, National Women’s Health Network
Patricia Antoniello, Brooklyn College
Veronica I. Arreola, University of Illinois at Chicago
Margaret Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology
Subha Barry, Merrill Lynch
Linda Basch, National Council for Research on Women
Kathleen Barnett, ICRW
Julia Beatty, Twenty-First Century Foundation
Kathleen Barnett, International Center for Research on Women
Taina Bien-Aime, Equality Now
Elodie Billionniere, Arizona State University
Lynn Bolles, University of Maryland, College Park
Kathy Bonk, Communications Consortium Media Center
Kristin “KB” Bowman, Columbia College
Vicki Breitbart, Planned Parenthood of New York
Jaweer Brown, Planned Parenthood of New York
Connie Buchanan, Consultant (formerly with the Ford Foundation)
Victoria Budson, Harvard University
Charlotte Bunch, Rutgers University
Tamara L. Burk, Center for Engaged Learning
Johnella Butler, Spelman College
Kathryn Peltier Campbell, Association of American Colleges and Universities
Hope Campbell, Anti-Violence Project, New York
Timothy Casey, Legal Momentum
Amanda Cassel, Women’s Foundation of California
Lybra Clemons, American Express
Ellen Chesler, Hunter College
Carol Cohn, Boston Consortium on Gender, Security, and Human Rights
Elizabeth Colton, International Museum of Women
Aimee Meredith Cox, University of Michigan
Kimberle Crenshaw, Columbia University
Jane Daniels, Luce Foundation
Anisha Desai, Women of Color Resource Center
Brittany Denitzio, College of New Jersey
Patricia Deyton, Simmons School of Management
Bonnie Dill, University of Maryland
Catherine Dixon-Kheir, Alignment Strategies
Sharon Doherty, The College of St. Catherine
Stephanie L. Drahan, University of Massachusetts
Ana Duarte McCarthy, Citigroup
Rosanna Durruthy, Aequus Group
Kirsten A. Elling, University of Michigan
Patricia Eng, Ms. Foundation for Women
Joan Entmacher, National Women’s Law Center
Jessica Fields, San Francisco State University
Michelle Fine, CUNY Graduate Center
Susan Forde, University of South Florida
Gisela Fosado, Barnard Center for Research on Women
Andrea D. Friedman, Global Justice Center
Ellen Friedman, College of New Jersey
Stacie Geller, University of Illinois, Chicago
Paula J. Giddings, Author Ida: A Sword Among Lions
Lilyane Glamben, The Sister Fund
Sangita Gopal, University of Oregon
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
Cheryl D. Gray, The College of New Jersey
Autumn Green, Family Economic Initiative, Boston
Michele Rene Gregory, York College of the City University of New York
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Spelman College
Connie Sutton, NYU
Carol Hardy-Fanta, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Bill Harvey, University of Virginia
Katherine Henderson, Texas A&M University
Rita Henley Jensen, Women’s eNews
Silvia Henriquez, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
Rebekah Heppner, University of South Florida
Ines Hernandez-Avila, University of California at Davis
Lyndi Hewitt, Vanderbilt University
Sarah F. Hill, The Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, Inc
Mary Hopps, The College of New Jersey
Eleanor Horne, Educational Testing Service
Evelyn Hu-deHart, Brown University
Hae Ja Shin, Dongseo University
Janet Jakobsen, Barnard College
Annalisa Jenkins, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Carol Jenkins, Women’s Media Center
Cheryl Johnson, Miami University of Ohio
Heather Johnston Nicholson, Girls Inc.
Kate Kahan, National Partnership for Women and Families
Erika Kates, Wellesley College
Don Kulick, New York University
Helen LaKelly Hunt, The Sister Fund
Barbara Lee, The Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Tobe Levin, University of Frankfurt
Janet E. Malley, University of Michigan
Ruth Mandel, Rutgers University
Courtney Martin, feministing.com
C. Nicole Mason, National Council for Research on Women
Lisa McClain, Boise State University
Kathleen McHugh, University of California, Los Angles
Caryn McTighe Musil, Association of American Colleges and Universities
Monique Mehta, Third Wave Foundation
Soraya Mekerta, Spelman College
Elaine Meyer-Lee, Saint Mary’s College
Shari Miles-Cohen, American Psychological Association
Yuriko Mita, Merrill Lynch
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University
Meredith Moore, Weil, Gotshal, & Manges LLP
Linda Moran, Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Sandra Morgen, Pennsylvania State University
Roweena Naidoo, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado
Kimber J. Nicoletti, CARe: Communities Against Rape Initiative
Anne Marie Nicolosi, The College of New Jersey
Catherine Orenstein, The Op-Ed Project
Ramona Ortega, Women of Color Policy Network at NYU
Rupal Oza, Hunter College
Heather Panahi, MassNOW
Eesha Pandit, MergerWatch
Judy Patrick, The Women’s Foundation of California
Linda Perkins, Claremont Graduate University
Ros Petchesky, Hunter College
Marj Plumb, Women’s Foundation of California
Katie Quan, Cornell University/University of California, Berkeley
Dina Refki, State University of New York at Albany
Ashley Reichelman, College of New Jersey
Jane Roberts, 34 Million Friends of UNFPA
Brenda Ross, Cottey College
Sue V. Rosser, Ivan Allen College
Ariella Rotramel, Rutgers University
Anne Runyan, University of Cincinnati
Larry Ruisi, Credit Suisse
Elizabeth A. Sackler, Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum
Lynda M. Sagrestano, University of Memphis
Judith R. Saidel, State University of New York at Albany
Kimberlee Salmond, Girl Scouts of the USA
Rebecca Salonen, Godparents Association
Kathy Sanders-Phillips, Howard University College of Medicine
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, University of Pennsylvania
Cynthia Secor, NCRW Board of Directors
Donna Shavlik, American Council on Education
Deborah Siegel, Woodhull Institute
Jael Silliman, Ford Foundation
Ellie Smeal, Feminist Majority Foundation
Taleigh Smith, Mothers on the Move
Donna Stewartson, University of Massachusetts,Boston
Catharine Stimpson, New York University (NYU)
Taleigh Smith, Mothers on the Move
April de Stefano, University of California, Los Angles
Carla Stokes, Helping Our Teen Girls in Real Life Situations, Inc
Ivy O. Suriyopas
Donna Tambascio, Wellesley College
Mary Thom, Author
Deborah Thomas, University of Pennsylvania
Gloria Thomas, American Council on Education
Gosia Tomaszewska, MassNOW
Suzanne Tomatore, City Bar Justice Center
Virginia Valian, Hunter College
Sarah VanHooser, Vanderbilt University
Sia Vang, The College of St. Catherine
Kathleen Vermazen, Women’s Media Center
Delores M. Walters, National Council for Research on Women
Susan Wefald, Ms. Foundation for Women
Seth Wessler, Applied Research Center
Patricia Williams, Columbia University
Marie Wilson, The White House Project
Ludmilla Wikkeling-Scott, National Minority AIDS Council
Jane Wishner, Southwest Women’s Law Center
Lisa Witter, Author, Fenton Communications
Melinda Wolfe, American Express
Gina Wood, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
LaLa Wu, The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute
Diana Yadria Salas, Women of Color Policy Network
Joy Zarembka, Break The Chains Campaign, Institute for Policy Studies

More info on the conference here.

Well, it’s over. And with heavy heart yet a solid sense of the stakes come November, this Hillary supporter is turning her energy now to the general election and getting herself completely behind the dude. So many important lessons and takeaways from primary season, which I’ll continue to write and speak about as we go.

Of course, one of the most important outcomes of having two such amazing candidates on the Dem ticket this primary season: the number of young people who rallied. On that note, definitely check out Courtney’s latest, Fanning the Flames of Youth Civic Engagement, over at the WMC this week. Here’s a summary:

As we finish the final contests of the primaries, young people are excited about politics. According to the PBS News Hour, 5.7 million people under the age of 30 voted in the primaries, a 109 percent increase from last presidential election. As Courtney Martin reports in the latest WMC Exclusive, young voters’ enthusiasm should not be written off as a case of “Obama mania” (he got just 57 percent of the youth vote in Iowa, for example). Courtney writes, “In 2004, youth turnout in the general election rose by 4.3 million votes over the 2000 level, and hit the highest level in over a decade… The challenge ahead is to keep the excitement over the primaries alive until November, but what’s more, make sure that civic engagement becomes an organic part of young people’s frenetic lives from here on out.”

Well, HRC’s days as a candidate in the 2008 race may be numbered, but not so the impact she’s had on the electorate. Weighing in here today is Kristen Loveland, offering an inter-gender, intra-generational conversation with her brother, Andrew. Kristen, an MPhil in Modern European History and a staffer at the Association for Jewish Studies, has a great blog called The Choice. While an undergrad at Columbia University, Kristen co-founded the university’s first progressive student magazine, Ad Hoc, and became its Editor-in-Chief. I am proud to call her my (very over-qualified) summer intern, and to introduce her as a new regular here on GWP. Welcome, Kristen! -GWP

An Inter-gender, Intra-generational Conversation
Kristen Loveland

Taking my view that it’s better to dialogue than snipe to the streets, I found someone even younger than me (age 24) to talk about Hillary’s candidacy. That person? My brother, Andrew, who’s 17 and one of the only Hillary supporters in his high school. As an Obama fan myself, I think it’s possible both to be a feminist and to not support this particular female candidate. But after speaking with Andrew about his classmates’ take on a woman president, I almost wanted to switch teams.

Kristen: So let’s cut to the chase: why don’t your classmates think Hillary should be prez?

Andrew: Well, a lot of them joke about her not having masculine characteristics and say her crying on TV proves she couldn’t run a country. They joke that she should be making sandwiches for the men instead.

K: Do girls in your class object to this sort of thing?

A: Well, they don’t say girls should just make sandwiches, but some don’t think a woman can run the country. They think it’s all about perception and that a woman leader wouldn’t be respected, especially when dealing with leaders of other countries where women are second-class citizens.

K: But what are they taught in history? Don’t they know about England’s Margaret Thatcher, or Israel’s Golda Meir, or Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, who led a Muslim country?

A: They never talk about other women leaders. They just say women are generally too weak. But the guys are more vocal and use a lot of Family Guy jokes to put Hillary down.

K: Family Guy? But isn’t Peter (the husband) a complete idiot in the show and Lois (the wife) the smart one who always gets him out of scrapes and drunken stupors?

A: Yeah, but they ignore that and just think it’s funny that Peter always puts Lois down for standing up for women.

K: I feel like in my day, which was not so many days ago, girls were being told that they could be the first female president, and Murphy Brown was a high-powered news anchor, and Jessie Spano was class president and calling A.C. Slater a chauvinistic pig… What’s changed?

A: We learn in history about the 1950s “cult of domesticity” and it seems like nothing has changed. In business class we were trying to determine projected earnings and some of the kids said women would make less than men. When our teacher asked why, they said it was because the girls would have to stop working to stay home with the kids.

K: Do you think they assume this because their moms are stay-at-home?

A: Maybe, but it’s also TV shows, where you primarily see women home making dinner. Even in Arrested Development, which is an awesome show, all the women do is spend money while men solve the problems. And Laguna Beach is really bad: you have a lot of stuck-up girls, who don’t work, spending their husbands’ or fathers’ money. So the girls get into this idea and then guys think girls are weak because all they want is handbags.

K: So, why do you support Hillary?

A: I do like Obama and they share many of the same viewpoints, but for me it’s like picking out a car; sometimes one car just feels better than the other. Also, I think she’s a better public speaker, and her views on women’s rights are more progressive.

K: Would you consider yourself a feminist?

A: Well…I’m not much into protesting, and I do think Family Guy’s funny, but I guess I take it more seriously than others. Even if shows portray women in a certain light, we shouldn’t take that as the way it is in real life. Oh yeah, did I tell you how my “Bush’s last days” sticker got keyed off my car? And my Hillary sticker would have, but I pasted it on the inside of the window.

I think a few conclusions can be drawn from our convo. First, high school history curricula must be augmented with a critical supply of celebratory women’s history. The National History Women’s Project is a good place to start, but this must be implemented on an expansive basis—and not just during Women’s History Month. Second, role models are some of the most important factors influencing girls’ perceptions of their future selves—and we need better ones. Third, we need to continue the conversation. I hate to draw conclusions from afar. (I’m infuriated whenever writers condemn today’s college hookup culture without seeming to have ever spoken with the many women I knew who engaged with it on their own terms.) It’s vital to talk with young people so as to better understand the cultural and social factors that influence placid acceptance of patriarchy and misogyny in their generation. Oh, and finally, my brother’s kind of awesome, even if he does compare choosing a president to picking a car.

Welcome back from the weekend! I’m psyched to start the week off with this next guest post from regular Courtney Martin. Here she is, with some quintessential Martin-style wisdom for individuals and orgs wishing to reach younger people through their writing and their work. -GWP

Reaching the Next Generation

One of the most interesting things, in my humble opinion, about the next generation is the way that it approaches altruism. Long gone are the days when writing a check or signing a petition were action enough for the socially conscious individual. And also long gone are the strict bifurcation between nonprofit and corporate, do gooder and go getter, giver and saver.

Through a variety of technological innovations like Facebook Causes and You Tube appeals, young people have changed the landscape on “doing good.” And it’s not just a technological shift, but a whole new paradigm that has been born thanks to the kids of the 80s and 90s.

Organizations like Drinking Liberally have spawned a whole new, very fun way of approaching public awareness and political community. And one of my favorite new sites is All Day Buffet, which calls itself “a social action brand for the cool kids.” It seems that everyone is striving to put the fun back in fundraising.

Including myself. Check out the piece I wrote for The American Prospect about my own little contribution called the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy.

And keep this in mind if you are trying to inspire young people to get involved in a cause. We like to feel engaged, but not drained. We like to kill many birds with one stone.

We like to get a little tipsy.

One more must-read, just in case you (like me, gulp) missed it: Susan Faludi’s recent oped at the NYTimes. Writes Faludi:

As Thelma, the housewife turned renegade, says to her friend in “Thelma & Louise” as the two women flee the law through the American West, “Something’s crossed over in me.”

Senator Clinton might well say the same. In the final stretch of the primary season, she seems to have stepped across an unstated gender divide, transforming herself from referee to contender.

What’s more, she seems to have taken to her new role with a Thelma-like relish. We are witnessing a female competitor delighting in the undomesticated fray. Her new no-holds-barred pugnacity and gleeful perseverance have revamped her image in the eyes of begrudging white male voters, who previously saw her as the sanctioning “sivilizer,” a political Aunt Polly whose goody-goody directives made them want to head for the hills.

I know it’s over. I imagine she knows it’s over. But I admit, I’m truly enjoying that glee in her eyes. That woman is one tough cookie, and I mean that in only the best of ways.

David Crary, an AP reporter I admire and a winner of the 2008 Council on Contemporary Families Media Award, had a piece up at Yahoo news last week called “Feminists Sharply Divided Between Clinton, Obama” that is one of the few truly thoughtful pieces on the divides in a MSM venue I’ve seen. Thank you, David, for being interested in the issues and not in the alleged fur and claws.

Ok, hey, it’s Reader Appreciation Day over here at GWP 🙂 I decided to post Gryff’s comments too. Gryff is a Canadian (self-described “white male”) who urges me to put away the remorse and writes passionately about the historical moment. “Be part of the stuff that will be in school history textbooks – not just for whoever the nominee is – but the Democratic Party itself, and American Democracy,” he says. And here he is:

You, as a supporter of Hillary Clinton, and the supporters of Obama are doing something special for the Democratic Party. You are helping to break the ‘glass ceiling’ that has kept the preserve of the ‘most powerful politician in the world’ for white men only. You are helping to at least change the Democratic Party!

In a democracy, we all have a vote (age and citizenship restrictions aside). Some people don’t bother to vote – and in my view have no reason to complain if they don’t like the government they get.

Some vote, but kind of think that it ends there.

Others, like you, commit to a candidate. By going out and persuading, cajoling, converting peoples ideas etc., you end up with more than one vote! Each one you persuade is an extra vote — and they in turn might persuade someone too, perhaps a neighbour, a relative or a spouse.

You will see bitterness and nastiness in replies at the Guardian and elsewhere – that’s almost the nature of the internet.

Whenever I was doorknocking for a candidate and had the door slammed in my face, I would always remember those people who I managed to bring around to my candidate. The glass half full — as opposed to half empty 😉 Personal success for me was the number of extra votes I helped bring in.

I see from your blogs and website that you are a writer, speaker and consultant. Use those skills to go out and make sure that the ‘glass ceiling’ for President is smashed completely. Help open doors for women and people of colour …. because once they are open, more will follow them.

gryff 🙂

(A white male by the way.)