Twenty years ago this month, four political activists joined forces in Washington, D.C., to organize a political arm of the women`s movement: the National Women`s Political Caucus.
On Tuesday, Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem will be reunited in Washington to celebrate the Caucus` 20th anniversary at a convention that continues through Sunday. Some 2,000 women, including 150 government and political leaders from across the country, are expected to attend.
”Creating a More Perfect Union” will celebrate the achievements of women in government as well as set an agenda for grooming future leaders, especially minorities and young women. The convention will feature a special session on training first-time minority candidates and introduction of a new forum for women in their 20s.
Daily workshops focusing on issues challenging women in the next decade, including reproductive health care, family legislation and poverty and children, will be led by women officeholders and political consultants.
Among recently elected politicians scheduled to attend are Texas governor Ann Richards, District of Columbia Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon and several new members of Congress, including Eleanor Holmes Norton, a non-voting member representing the District of Columbia. They will be joined by other high-profile political women, including Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.).
At this convention, the caucus women will recount their collective progress since July 1971, when some 300 women from 26 states first gathered to forge the bipartisan grassroots network.
”There`s a tremendous amount of consciousness about the need for women to be involved as a policy forming force in society,” says Abzug.
For two decades now, the caucus has been a political godmother to aspiring female candidates, preparing them for business of campaigning, coaching them on political etiquette, and sending them out the front door
into the male-dominated political arena.
”We`ve been and continue to be a learning laboratory for women in terms of politics,” says Sharon Rodine, caucus president, emphasizing that the organization is a bipartisan effort to help women enter the mainstream of American politics and achieve gender balance in government.
”Our basic mission is to increase the number of women elected and appointed to public office-progressive women who are going to support and promote issues of concern to women and their families.”
The caucus points to some of the most visible gains: 1,356 women today in state legislatures compared to 362 women in 1971; and 151 women mayors of cities with populations over 30,000 people compared to seven women mayors in these cities in 1971.
At a time when more women are entering state and local government, critical issues including abortion, child care, the environment, education and health care, are shifting to these forums.
”Congress moves at such a pedestrian pace,” says Rodine, adding that recent Supreme Court decisions have resulted in unprecedented state government influence over such issues.
More disappointing are the statistics showing only two women in President Bush`s cabinet, and the numbers in Congress. In 1991, there are 30 women in Congress (plus one non-voting delegate), compared to 15 women members of Congress in 1971.
Rodine says that although the figures represent an increase, by percentage women are ”still in the single digits and that`s pretty pathetic at this point in time” considering that women represent more than 50 percent of the nation`s population.
”We have to be a lot more aggressive in helping women see that politics can be part of their career path. Not something to just jump into because no one else is doing it,” she adds.
”What we need are a couple of breakthroughs in which women are seen as leaders on levels of which they have not yet served,” says Abzug. ”Then the public perception will be that women with knowledge and skills are necessary to any meaningful decisionmaking.
”It`s a tough period to come into politics,” Abzug says, noting such factors as the high costs of campaigning, an entrenched incumbency, and a drop off in voter participation.
For many long active in the caucus, the time has come to pass on their knowledge and leadership roles. A workshop, ”Changing the Future: From Mothers to Daughters,” will address that transition.
For Caucus founder Abzug, the past and the future are already merging. Abzug`s daughter Liz is campaigning in a September primary for a seat on the city council in New York City.
”I`m passing the torch,” laughs Abzug, ”but I won`t give it up completely.”
