Posts by Gloria Feldt
Questions for Democrats Post Election
In many ways, today is like where I came into national leadership. It was 1996, after the1994 Gingrich revolution Republican sweep of Congress, in a huge Tea Party-like backlash against the progressive initiatives of President Bill Clinton’s first term.
While I’m processing the key question in my mind–why do the Democrats never learn????–I want to share questions that Political Voices of Women’s Pamela Kemp put forward last night:
Read MoreDifferent Approaches to Controversy Yield Different Results
I can’t think of a better example of controversy well-taken than then-presidential candidate Barack Obama’s thoughtful speech exploring the role of race in American history, delivered in Philadelphia in the spring of 2008. In response to exploding controversy around his relationship with his pastor and mentor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who had made inflammatory (and frankly racist) remarks in his sermons, Obama rode directly into the wave of controversy. He didn’t deflect or minimize it, but took the festering issue of race in America head-on, thus defusing criticism, positioning himself as a courageous truth-teller, and building respect and enthusiasm for his candidacy among voters hungry for change. He turned a powder keg of a controversy that could have exploded his presidential campaign into a brilliant platform to teach about a subject so sensitive that it is often avoided in public discourse.
I sincerely doubt Obama or his campaign advisers would have sought out this controversy, but when it came up, they realized they had been handed a priceless moment to demonstrate genuine leadership. I believe this was the turning point that led him to victory, and that if Clinton had treated the equally vicious sexism thrown at her with the same directness and candor that Obama confronted race, the outcome might well have been different.
Sometimes we embrace controversies that have turned up on their own. And at other times, we need to create our own controversies in order to get things moving. In other words, there are controversies we make and controversies we take.
What are your own examples of embracing controversy? Did you make the controversy or did you take a controversy that came to you? What did you learn from your experiences?
Read MoreOn a Tough Election Day, a Sweet Story
Today, amidst the myriad reminders to vote (I voted early, folks, but unfortunately I’m not allowed to vote that often) and the barrage of articles, op eds, and talking heads predicting election outcomes and what it all means–I received an e-mail with this story. It’s touching reminder, in the midst of all those pontifications, that real women’s lives are affected by our votes:
Read MoreIt was 30 yrs ago today, I officially became a WOMAN… yes, on Election Day, 11/2/1980!
From the marbled bathroom of South Jr. High I learned that my life was going to be very different from that point forward… no longer a child but a woman with the ability to give life to another human being, quite an occasion indeed…
I spent years & years celebrating “NO BABY MONTHS” as well as shedding tears over losses that only a woman can truly understand. So while I may bitch and moan about a monthly reminder of my gender – I’ve come a long way, baby!!
What’s very ironic about this, I’m celebrating in kind today… so, think I may have some chocolate cake and do it up right!! 😉
Is This Election Day Good for Women or Bad for Women?
OK, so this is a little blatant self-promotion, because I’m very honored to have been quoted extensively by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Connie Schultz in her column “On Balance, Progress for Women” today.
Connie called me Sunday evening fretting about the Gawker kerfluffle about Christine O’Donell’s sexual and shaving practices. Personally, I said, I’ve declined to write or talk about it because I don’t want to make either Gawker or O’Donnell more important than they are.
So we quickly moved on to how this election day will reflect upon women in politics and impact progressive women’s agenda priorities. Here’s our conversation as she reported it, quite accurately:
Read More“Gloria,” I said. “Gloria, Gloria.”
Patiently, she waited for a verb.
“What do we make of this sexist coverage of women? Why does it persist — even from supposedly liberal guys? How do we change this?”
I could hear Feldt take a deep breath.
Power Tool #4: Embrace Controversy
Controversy. Does it make you run for the hills, or charge into the fray?
Watch the video and find out what feminist activists Jodie Evans, Gloria Steinem, and Shelby Knox have to say about their relationships with controversy.
Controversy gives you a platform, and it also give you an opportunity to define your values. Controversy can nudge you towards clarity. And it can also become a source of strength. What are ways that you have embraced controversy in your life in order to make a positive change?
Read MoreDo You Value Yourself?
Nicole Baute from The Star asked me to share some of the central messages of No Excuses when she interviewed me last week. I posted part of the interview Tuesday on the 9 Ways Blog. Here is another excerpt from that interview.
One of the things in the book that struck me was the stat that women are four times less likely to ask for a raise. Why?
I don’t think we always value our worth as much as men value their worth. Men are pretty ruthless about valuing their worth, they’re not at all timid about it. In fact, they tend to overstate their worth. Women understate their worth.
Why do women isolate themselves and try to fix things on their own?
We’re working in a workplace culture that was designed by men for men, who could work day and night because they had a woman at home taking care of the house and the kids. And that paradigm no longer works for anybody, I don’t think. So as women have entered that workplace culture, if you’re the first one, if you’re the only one in a department, you tend to try to fit yourself into the predominant culture.
That’s exactly why we need to consciously un-isolate ourselves and reach out with what I call Sister Courage. Ask another woman for help if you need it. Ask a man for help if you need it. Offer help if you think someone else needs it.
Do you think that competition — women competing with each other and women competing with men — is a barrier to asking for help?
Read MoreFounder of EmpowHER Uses What She’s Got to Make a Difference
One of the inspiring women I profiled in No Excuses is Michelle King Robson. She’s the Founder, Chairperson and CEO of EmpowHER, one of the fastest-growing and largest health media companies dedicated exclusively to women’s health and wellness.
Michelle’s story is especially powerful, because she used adversity–her illness–as a tool that fired her passion to begin advocating for other women. Earlier in the week, we talked about using what you’ve got to make a difference. When you hear Michelle’s story, can you think of a way of turning a potentially negative situation into powerful action?
Read MoreChanging Hands Bookstore: Tempe, Arizona
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Top Left: A packed house waited for the reading to begin. Lots of old friends and family made this event especially special.
Top Center: I love this bookstore!
Top Right: A panel of politically astute women talk about various power tools.
Bottom Left: Debra Boehlke tells how she knew she had the power to at age 16 when she discovered she could earn money to support herself. Debra, Bree Boehlke, executive director of Emerge Arizona and Dana Kennedy, Emerge board member all shared their power political moments.
Bottom Right: Signing AZ state senate candidate (and personal hero) Rita Dickinson’s book.
Read MoreIt’s Time for Women to Step Up
Nicole Baute from The Star asked me to share some of the central messages of No Excuses when she interviewed me last week. Here is an excerpt from that interview.
You called your book No Excuses. Do you think that women are coming up with excuses for why we aren’t getting a little more power and a little more pay?
The honest truth is that my title was Unlimited and the publishers made me change it. They wanted something more controversial. I tend to take the positive approach. I think this is the moment for women, but I did want to sound a clarion call to women to say, this is a moment, but you have to take it. Things won’t just happen.
Why would you have preferred Unlimited?
Because I am hopeful, I am optimistic and I believe that this is just an incredible time for women.
Why is now an incredible time?
Well, the rest of the world knows it. I’m not sure we always do. For example, the World Bank has done studies that found that Parliaments that have 30 or 40 per cent women on them make better decisions, they have less corruption, the performance is better. Marketers know that women buy 85 per cent of the goods.
That old thinking, why is it still persisting?
Read MorePower Tool #3: Use What You’ve Got
In No Excuses, I share this dream I had one night. I was in my out of control speeding car, and I couldn’t stop it. I slowly realized the keys to the car were in my hand, and they had been all along.
You don’t have to sit in the shrink’s office to figure out the metaphor in that dream! Have you ever had a similar experience?
To be able to use power, the first thing you’ve got to do is realize that you have it. I’ve found in personal life and in meeting challenges at work that what you need is usually there if you can only see it and have the courage to use it.
Here are just a few examples women shared with me about how to use what you’ve got:
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