Debate How to Make Impact
Strong Women Hold 'F' Word

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

A panel of five powerful women last week tried to rescue the substance of the word "feminism" from the dustbin of politically unacceptable rhetoric.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang STOP PLAYING DEFENSE: United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten argued last week at a panel on feminism and politics that salvaging the substance of the 'F' word was more important than maintaining the moniker. 'The label feminist doesn't work - it has negative connotations,' she said. 'But the issues do work.'

Speakers at a morning forum held at New York University's Wagner Graduate School expounded upon the difference between men and women in elected office and at the bargaining table. They asserted that without women in positions of power, many issues important to women and working families would never be seriously considered. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was seemingly more ready than others to discard the "f" word, arguing that keeping it in circulation was less important than championing its substance.

Issued Are What Matters

"The label feminist doesn't work - it has negative connotations," she said. "But the issues do work."

The women, who are leaders in their fields of politics, business, education, labor and the media, lamented that "feminist" had gone from being a term of pride to a pejorative one, but they argued that women had made strides in the past 20 years nonetheless.

"The title is more controversial, but the agenda is more mainstream," said Ann Lewis, a senior adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

One woman in the audience took issue with panelists' apparent readiness to back off from using the term, arguing that a retreat on the word inevitably meant diluting its content. "I resist the notion of giving up the language," she said. "I don't believe we should run from it. We should own it. They take the language, and then they take the issues."

Ms. Weingarten agreed that women's rights had experienced a backlash. The union leader added that when a movement goes from advocating basic legal rights to pushing for economic rights, "you have a huge push-back from some quarters."

A Waste of Energy?

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang A CANDIDATE OF ONE'S OWN: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's senior adviser Ann Lewis (left), Community Board 1 Chair Julie Menin and NYU Wagner School Senior Vice President Lynne Brown asserted last week that women's issues would not be addressed if they weren't represented in elected office. 'We can't afford to lose women's talent, and women also do bring different life experiences to the table,' said Ms. Lewis.

But she cautioned that staying the course on a politically charged term could be counter-productive. "It's not what you say, it's what is heard," she said. "If people you are trying to reach shut down, it's a Pyrrhic victory."

While several of the women said that they nonetheless continued to define themselves, albeit more privately, as feminists, Ms. Weingarten said that the label had never been one that she adopted. "AmIafeminist?Iprobablyhavenever used it to describe myself," she said. "At the beginning of my career, I never thought of it in that way."

The issue of abortion rights was notably absent from the discussion, even though the stated mission of the event's sponsor, the Women's Campaign Forum, is to "empower pro-choice women" to become actively involved in civic life and run for public office.

Electoral Focus

Instead, the substantive discussion revolved around how to get more women into office. But one of the panelists said that politics was an unattractive profession to the young women that she worked with, mostly because making progress in the current political situation was frustrating. "You watch the Daily Show or CSPAN," said Janice Min, editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, "and you see these people get up and speak, and you can't believe these are your elected leaders. Any smart woman goes running in the other direction."

Ms. Weingarten, who emphasized the family and economic issues facing women, argued alongside Community Board 1 Chair Julie Menin that women needed to rise to the challenge. "If you don't have women in elected or appointed political office, the issues never, never, never, never, never - did I say never enough times? - never get a hearing," Ms. Weingarten said.

While the unspoken agenda of the panel at times seemed to be the election of Ms. Clinton as the next President, several women in the audience took issue with her positions. Ms. Clinton was criticized for attacking U.S. Sen. Barack Obama from the right when he came out against a nuclear attack on Iran, and for not fighting hard enough for abortion rights. "Hillary Clinton has conceded on so many issues," said Sunsara Taylor, to a burst of applause. "She talked about how abortion was a tragedy when it's actually a necessity. We don't need fewer abortions in this country, we need more access to abortion providers."

Hillary's Defense

Ms. Lewis defended her candidate, listing the pro-choice legislation she has backed, and arguing that Ms. Clinton was put in the position of having to prove to voters that she was strong enough to protect Americans from another terrorist attack.

Ms. Weingarten echoed the latter claim, using her own experience as a negotiator as an example. "The only way I got the Mayor to negotiate with me is for people to start by seeing I'm a tough leader," she said. "It doesn't mean I don't care or it doesn't get to me, but I will use that toughness if I need to."

Similarly, she argued, Senator Clinton had to be tough, while Rudy Giuliani won acclaim on 9/11 when he showed that he had a heart. "She has to be as strong and as resolute in her values and in defending America in the same way a male leader has to show that he can be warm and fuzzy," Ms. Weingarten said.

But the union leader also asserted that women were different from men, at the bargaining table, in how they wielded power, and more generally in public service. She argued that characteristics that could be perceived as weaknesses could in fact be assets. "That's what makes women different from men in public service," she said, "because we do get affected and we're not so cavalier, and that's a good thing."

She said the public as a whole would benefit from more women leaders. "We could actually get more done if there were more women in public life," she said.