National Organization for Women - 2007 National Conference
NOW President, Kim Gandy, took the podium during the July 14 plenary session
and proudly announced, "One year ago we left the Conference committed to
changing the face of politics...now there's Hillary, Pelosi, and the president of Harvard
is a feminist woman!" She beamed at the crowd as she ticked off names of women
now in the news. She mentioned the downturn in George Bush's approval ratings as
one of these recent positive changes and seemed about to describe his ratings as 'in
the crapper', but caught herself, joking, "You can't say that on C-SPAN."
- to keep a handle on what coverage went out to its viewership.
day cap on wage discrimination lawsuits. In May 2007, the Supreme Court ruled against Lilly Ledbetter, in
her suit against Goodyear Rubber and Tire, citing Title VII, which states suits must be filed within 180 days of
the original discriminatory act. Gandy suggested that each lesser paycheck is a new act of discrimination; she
also made the point that a female employee who finds out she is getting paid less than male employees may
miss the 180 day deadline to file because "your first instinct is to work hard and prove yourself, not go to the
EEOC and complain."
Gandy urged all to sign on at Now.org to review a proposed 'fix' to the time cap, called The Ledbetter Fair
Pay Act, which would eliminate the filing time cap and enable women to file complaints as soon as they
discover discriminatory pay practices. This Act could come to a vote in the House as early as July 30.
can we do about men's violence - and what can we do to make men responsible for their violence?"
"We have got to challenge...every single time we hear racism, sexism, and ignorance!" She called out to the
crowd, then waved a pretend 'goodbye' to Don Imus and others of his ilk. To this end, Gandy pledged that
NOW leadership will be meeting with major media to discuss racism and sexism. "They are listening to you,"
she said, "because they have no choice!"
Before leaving the podium, Ms. Gandy warned, "Forget what legislators say...watch what the do, when the
country isn't looking!"
the podium in the breakout session. Smeal took the Supreme Court and legislators
to task for recent decisions concerning women. "Let's be real," she yelled, "they
[the Supreme Court in Ledbetter] are gutting Title VII!" She pointed out that the
decision could even affect wage complaints focusing on race and the handicapped.
"Gonzalez" she continued, noting the recent case, Gonzalez v. Carhart, wherein
the Court decided to leave availability of 'partial birth' abortions up to state
legislatures, "essentially guts Roe v. Wade!" Smeal made the assertion that the
decision in April 2007 was buried in the press, up against the Virginia Tech killings.
makes her point
abortions...this is a back-handed way to ban all abortions." She reminded her audience that Justice Kennedy,
who wrote the opinion, was on the Archdiocese in California.
Many times during her speech, Smeal jabbed at the air with a finger. She railed: "These are frontal assaults on
women's rights and civil rights...they must be reversed!" She then suggested that the bill, The Freedom of
Choice Act, introduced in April 2007 by Senator Barbara Boxer, might be a remedy for the recent Gonzalez
decision. The Freedom of Choice Act would nullify local and state bans on 'partial birth' abortions.
Board of Education: "What else is it but Court-orded segregation, if race cannot be used
in placing your school population, when housing is segregated!"
Smeal reiterated that "the Court releases bad decisions at strategic times", burying them in
other breaking press so that the public won't notice. She left the crowd with the parting
command: "We must fire-up on these issues!"
of the Feminist Majority
Foundation
Education Resource Center, introduced herself to the crowd as a proud Comanche
woman, saying, "This is our land. Welcome." In the breakout and plenary sessions,
Asetoyer primarily spoke of the battle for Native American women's Choice in South
Dakota and about the colonization and abuse of Native American women in general.
However, she touched upon the war in Iraq, too, using the terms "expansionism",
"colonization", and "grab for resources", to frame her criticism. She stated, "They're [the
U.S. government] not satisfied, and they won't be, until they've got it all."
groups in her rural state: "We have to realize that these right wing fundamentalist organizations have gazillions
of dollars and endless resources... While we're car-pooling to get up to the capitol, or wherever the action is,
the Christian Right brings in this well-oiled machine," and is able to be johnny-on-the-spot.
She also lamented that legislators in South Dakota often assume that those appearing before them to give
anti-abortion testimony are honest, but, she said, "legislators are not health care providers and don't
necessarily know better." Consequently, correcting abortion mis-information is "crucial" to the continuing
battle for Choice in her state. "Talking to local legislators [in South Dakota] is nothing like talking to people in
Washington." As proof, she said that the South Dakota legislature once argued for two days over the
[il]legalities of beastiality, but took less than half an hour to formulate the 2006 abortion ban legislation.
organization that you know the best way to strategize...listen to the local women.
Customize your political strategy so that you win the issue!" She then told how
Indigenous women in South Dakota worked to rally local voters against the 2006 ban:
"We talked to them [rural South Dakotans] from a perspective that they could
understand - about government having too much influence on the intimate details of
their families' lives."
...not women's rights." She added that you "frame it in a civil liberties perspective", even bringing in gun
rights, so that the ranchers and farmers "get it".
Asetoyer said that Indian radio played a role, too, giving Indigenous women free air time to discuss repealing
the abortion ban "because we talked about our traditions...[that Choice is] a sovereign right, our bodies and
our determination."
"The issues in South Dakota politics," Asetoyer said, "were framed by Native women." Furthermore, an
Indigenous Women's Caucus has been formed and, she said, "we are working on the rape of women and
land." After citing appalling statistics recently released on Native American women and rape [see Amnesty
Int'l. Report, April 2007: "Maze of Injustice - The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual
Violence in the USA"], Asetoyer informed a stunned audience that "our law enforcement do not have the
jurisdictional right to go after men off-reservation who perpetrate crimes against our women. 85% of
perpetrators are not Native, they're white! That tells you the rape and pillage is still going on!"
Asetoyer noted that it is difficult for all Indigenous women to get rape exams after an attack, that some
women in remote Alaskan villages must wait for a doctor to fly in to perform one. "How dare the Federal
government, through Indian Health Care, not provide rape exams on every reservation! The exam is the first
in a chain of evidence...without it, there's no conviction."
In South Dakota, Indian voters put the Democrats over the top in the last election, so Asetoyer says "they
owe native women on these issues of sexual violence. We wanna know what you're gonna do for us...I
wanna ask Hillary [Clinton] - what is she going to do about sexual violence?!"
Because reservations tend to be isolated, Asetoyer told the Conference attendees: "It is your responsibility as
women to help us...and to become informed on Native issues. We're not gonna be arm candy [for Caucasian
organizations], we have our own caucus! Let's move a feminist women's agenda forward for all women!"
Black Women; she has served on many boards and received numerous appointments. At
the plenary session, McCabe addressed NOW's seeming failure to appeal to Black
women. She informed the mostly Caucasian crowd of the meaning 'clubs' have historically
had for Black women in America. Unlike clubs for white women, which were mostly
social in nature, Black clubs were began by intellectual women who, through their clubs,
met the needs of Black women and children "before social or legislated remedies existed."
Black clubs provided a necessary support system for Black women, long before the
government or the dominant culture acknowledged their needs.
legendary women's rights conference of 1848.] "That was strike one, Kim!" She laughingly joked to Gandy
on her left. "We're in search of a common agenda, not a common candidate." McCabe remarked, in
reference to the wrangling that had taken place earlier over endorsement of 2008 U.S. Presidential candidates.
"One problem we [Black women] had with the beginning of the women's movement, was that everything you
[white women] wanted to be we already were! Black women had to pay the bills; and if they went to college,
they were careerists!" With that remark, the few Black women near me reared up in agreement and applause.
Turning again toward Gandy, McCabe pledged to work with NOW to form a feminist think-tank "to help us
through the race thing", and to address cross issues of race, class, and gender. Issues, according to McCabe,
that are "always bubbling under the surface." Upon this announcement, the audience roared in applause.
On a lighter note, McCabe noted that "whether it be Hillary or Barack, it'll be the first legitimate presidency of
the 21rst century!"
session speaker not a baby-boomer, Cruz spoke about changing her life and
growing into herself. With two other Latina writers, she founded "Women in
Literature and Letters". She told of writing to women writers she admired and
telling them,"Hi. I want to change the world. Want to help?" She said she
discovered that lots of women wanted to "make relationships outside of their
culture but didn't know how."
you?', and maybe somebody else feels the same way. You don't know." To make a difference, she
suggested: "Find someone half your age and ask them what they really care about, and help facilitate [change]."
She breathlessly noted, "The more I write, the less I care about how I look. The more you write your story,
the more self-defined you become."
Her parting words of advise: "Look at your sisters and believe in their potential."
giving birth to a severely debilitated child
that died - one that many women might
have wanted to terminate, if given a 2nd
trimester choice upon learning amnio
results. She urged support for Choice for
women who might want to try again for a
healthy baby, after learning
"disheartening" information in their 2nd
or 3rd trimester. Also told of the medical
expense and insurance costs of forcing
women to deliver babies
they know will die soon after birth.
man to left dozing in his.
attendance - and a few men. Many of the women attending were baby-boomer age, but there were quite a few
young women present as well. A number of senior-looking women were part of the crowd; and a few definitely
senior men.
In response to Smeal's use of "god-darn" during her fiery breakout speech, this was heard said by an 89 year-old
white woman who was fully garbed in traditional African kente cloth: "It's about time we got mad and swore
about this situation!"
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