Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

Are you a passionate woman committed to ending gender inequality? Do you know a phenomenal woman who has made a true impact in her community or organization that she represents? Are you friends with someone who has demonstrated leadership and commitment to helping women and girls?

Here is your chance to give this person an opportunity to make a difference. Vision 2020, one of WCF’s sister allied organizations is now accepting nominations for delegates who will play an integral role in working toward equality for women. Delegates will attend Vision 2020’s first national conference on October 21-22 of this year.

Vision 2020 is a national project focused on advancing gender equality by energizing the dialogue about women and leadership.

Two women delegates will be selected from each state as well as the District of Columbia. The two-day conference will feature experts from the seven fields that Vision 2020 focuses on: Arts & culture; business, law and finance; communications and media; engineering, science and technology; health; philanthropy, faith and voluntarism; and politics and government. In addition, the chosen delegates will make a three-year commitment to Visions 2020 by attending subsequent conferences following the conference in 2010 as an active participant.

This unique experience will give these women an opportunity to network with professionals in their interested field as well as a chance to utilize their abilities to make a difference.

It is essential to support efforts such as those of Vision 2020, which highlight exceptional women. It has been 90 years since the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified and there is still much to be done in terms of women’s equality in the political arena.

Deadline for nominations are March 1, 2010 and delegates will be selected and notified by the end of March.

Do not hesitate to give these women you know a chance. 17% of women representative in Congress is not even close to 50%.

Finding republican women that would speak publicly on the issues has been a surprising challenge at the Republican National Convention. Minnesota is known for a moderate to democratic political base. Many of the women I was able to get to agree to do a podcast were not Republicans. Broadening women’s perspective on politics, I ran into Kate near the MSNBC tent. Kate is here for the Ron Paul Convention. Here is what Kate had to say:

I have reached Larimer Street and it is still buzzing with the excitement of the night. People are stopping traffic as crowds move through the streets. Many are on their way to restaurants to get something to eat and some are going to celebrate. The streets and the sidewalks are overcrowded. Dacia agrees to talk to me, sharing her perspective, another “Woman on the Street”:

Walking up 16th Street, I came across a few people holding signs. I asked the two young Latina women what was written on their signs. They both said for immigration. They had taken a day out of school to march. This was clearly an important issue for them.

Celeste and Edith seemed politically active and aware of current events. I have to give credit to the their social studies teacher, who had taken the whole class to march. The two high school students had not heard any of the speeches during the convention, but they had issues that were important to them. Listen to what these youth had to say about women and political issues:

Ilana Goldman, President of Women’s Campaign Forum, explains to women why they should be involved in politics. There are three key things that women should know about how they can take part in the the political process each day. View the video to find out what they are:

After live blogging Hillary’s speech I went to the streets of Denver around the Pepsi Center. I asked several women what what they thought of Hillary’s speech. I came across a young African American women waiting for a cab on her way to a DNC party. Catching cabs in Denver have been challenging for everyone; I knew I could talk to her while she waited. This is what Angel had to say:

As I continue to move with the crowds, following the energy of the night, I come across a hip red carpet event. Bouncers are at the door screening every person. Some are turned away, some are let in, some look at the long line and walk away. A few young women of color are scanning the scene, trying to determine if they should go in. They are young, around early twenties. They are dressed in a youthful hip hop cultural attire that is common in their generation. I stop them to talk about the events tonight and this is what Laura had to say.