Governor Kunin and Governor Roberts

Governor Kunin was in Portland this past week to speak about her most recent book, The New Feminist Agenda.  Looking back, she said, the women’s movement made some progress but not as much she expected.  Women still earn less than men, only 17 percent of the Congressional seats are held by women (putting the US in 68th place in the world in terms of the percentage of women in the national legislature), and only 3 percent of CEOs are women.  And, she added, it has not gotten any easier for women (and men) to balance family and career; high quality affordable child care is not as readily available as it should be. We lag behind other developed countries in terms of paid family leave. While some companies offer employees flexibility in their work schedules, most do not; this flexibility is essential for working parents to manage their multiple responsibilities. She also spoke about the rising percentage of children living in poverty in this country–again, much higher than many other developed nations and emphasized the need for policies that make investment in children, especially in programs targeted at early childhood.

To make change, people need to get active. Asking us to imagine a powerpoint with three boxes, she described the three things that enable people to become active.

One is anger about something. The second is a combination of imagination (the ability to see the world working differently) coupled with empathy (of understanding the feelings of others being affected by things that are not working).  The third is optimism (the conviction that things can change coupled with the belief that the risk is worth it because it can make a difference). These three things are what enable people to become activists.

At this point in her life, she said that is time to push for the changes envisioned when the 1960s saw the emergence of the second wave of the women’s movement.

The first wave began in the 1848–women’s suffrage. Here in Oregon we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, which finally passed in 1912 after a long campaign.

Governor Barbara Roberts introduced Governor Kunin. They are among  the first generation of women governors–the nine women elected between 1974 and 1994.

Book Talk and Signing with Former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin at the Oregon Historical Society

Sunday, October 7, 2 PM

Free Admission
Oregon Historical Society Website: Click Here

The New Feminist Agenda

Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work, and Family

by Madeleine M. Kunin

Feminists opened up thousands of doors in the 1960s and 1970s, but decades later, are U.S. women where they thought they”d be?  The answer, it turns out, is a resounding no. Surely there have been gains. Women now comprise nearly 60 percent of college undergraduates and half of all medical and law students. They have entered the workforce in record numbers, making the two-wage-earner family the norm. But combining a career and family turned out to be more complicated than expected. While women changed, social structures surrounding work and family remained static. Affordable and high-quality child care, paid family leave, and equal pay for equal work remain elusive for the vast majority of working women.  In fact, the nation has fallen far behind other parts of the world on the gender-equity front.  We lag behind more than seventy countries when it comes to the percentage of women holding elected federal offices. Only 17 percent of corporate boards include women members. And just 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies are led by women.

It’s time, says Madeleine M. Kunin, to change all that. Looking back over five decades of advocacy, she analyzes where progress stalled, looks at the successes of other countries, and charts the course for the next feminist revolution—one that mobilizes women, and men, to call for the kind of government and workplace policies that can improve the lives of women and strengthen their families.

Published by Chelsea Green. Available: click here:The New Feminist Agenda

*Lifetime Achievement Honoree *
Gov. Barbara Roberts, Former Legislator, Oregon Secretary of State and First woman Governor of Oregon.

In this centennial year of Oregon women”s suffrage, we have been asking ourselves, what will Oregon be like in the next 100 Years?

What steps forward will our state have taken toward inclusion and prosperity? What will our legacy be to the generation that looks back 100 years from today?

Help cement your legacy for the next 100 years of women”s leadership by sponsoring or attending our women”s leadership luncheon.

Thursday, October 4, 2012 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum.

COST
$100
purchase tickets

Center for Women, Politics & Policy
cwppinfo@pdx.edu

Governor Madeleine Kunin just published a new book–The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work and Family.

Here is an interview with Joyce Marcel, for the Vermont Business Magazine:

Interview: Optimists Change the World