Fathers Day Edition: Daughters Make the Political Personal for Dads

By Gloria Feldt | June 21, 2009 |

Obama’s “Promoting Strong Fathers” speech and town hall last week was not just great role modeling and a politically smart thing to do, it had some very poignant moments that scratched the surface, albeit gently, of the president’s quest to know his father. He came to terms with that missing piece of his own identity long ago, as chronicled in his book, Dreams of My Father.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel sadness in my heart when he talked about his absent father, even as he expressed appreciation for his mother’s struggles and how his loving grandparents cared for him.

[caption id="attachment_3665" align="aligncenter" width="431" caption="L-R: Gloria, Deborah, Kristal, Courtney"][/caption]

I was watching the town hall because fathers were much on my mind as I prepared for yesterday’s “Dads, Dudes and Doing It” panel, along with WomenGirlsLadies co-panelists, Courtney Martin, Kristal Brent Zook, and Deborah Siegel-Acevedo. Together, we span five decades in age and we speak through both gender and generational lens.

[caption id="attachment_3666" align="alignleft" width="269" caption="My friends called my father "Big Max" because it described both his height--6' 3"--and his personality"][/caption]

We had a lot of fun as we always do with our panels, but it was nevertheless emotional for each of us in different ways to be talking about our fathers. I’m the panel’s senior citizen, and I was missing my daddy who died almost 15 years ago. I speculated that he never connected his personal declaration that his daughters could do “anything their pretty little heads desire” with the political movement of women that a decade or two later would turn the political system upside down to make sure we actually could aspire without legal impediment to whatever heights we wanted.

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International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month: What Do You Want to Be?

By Gloria Feldt | March 4, 2009 |

“What do you want to be?” we ask our daughters and sons when they are growing up.

Barack Obama poses this question to elementary school children in this delightful video called “I Want to Be” that looks at political leadership of women through American history. Take a look and ask yourself the same question: what do you want to be next?

This video is just in time for International Women’s Day– March 8–and Women’s History Month, celebrated throughout March. “Celebrated” is the right word for where women are today, too: on the cusp of a great leaping point toward true equality and even in some instances, parity.

Watch and see where U.S. women are in national political leadership as compared to other countries. You’ll find interesting vignettes of women shattering barriers, others who didn’t succeed but paved the way for the next woman who tried, and some facts that might surprise you.

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