Veteran journalist Judy Woodruff will talk about the changing role of women in American politics at an appearance in Chicago this week.
Woodruff, chief White House correspondent for the ”MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour” on public television, has covered national politics for 17 years. She will speak Wednesday at a career night program for women hosted by Marshall Field & Co.
Woodruff said in a recent telephone interview that the record number of women running for House and Senate seats this year bodes well for women in general.
”If people see more women in Congress, the Senate and the Cabinet, it should be a little easier for women everywhere to feel good, more confident, more likely to be taken seriously.”
Woodruff said that that would be the case in the nation`s capital, where
”I wouldn`t say women here don`t get their phone calls returned, but as with everywhere else, women have to work doubly hard to be considered up to snuff.”
She said there are several reasons why 1992 became dubbed ”the year of the woman.”
”There was a sequence of stories in the last year,” she said. ”The Anita Hill hearings certainly were a factor because you had women all over the country watching this spectacle and who, whether they believed her story or not, saw that even the men on the committee who seemed to believe Hill weren`t in tune with her at all. It was a spectacle that left people with the impression that women just aren`t represented in U.S. government.
”The other two stories were the William Kennedy Smith trial and the Mike Tyson trial. Again, these were public spectacles of women standing up to the establishment.”
Woodruff said the abortion issue also has been a factor in energizing women politically.
The public attention on Hillary Clinton`s role as a wife with a career is another indication that Americans are confronting the reality of women with roles in the public sphere, she said.
”Hillary Clinton has to walk that fine line of being smart but not stepping on toes,” said Woodruff, who interviewed her at the Democratic National Convention. ”That reflects the fact that our society is still struggling to define the roles of women.”
Woodruff will speak at a dinner and fashion show at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Fairmont Hotel, 200 N. Columbus Dr. Designer Dana Buchman will show her designs for working women. Cost is $25.
For reservations call 312-781-4777.
