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The Women of Washington
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10787 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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3 / 1993 |
2,409 Words |
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Elisabeth Hickey
Elisabeth Hickey is a political features writer for the
Washington Times. |
It looked like another case of media hype: "1992: The Year of the Woman" blared the headlines about the unprecedented number of the fairer sex hoping to crash the Old Boys Club on Capitol Hill.
After all, 1990 saw 7 Republican and 2 Democrat women make the November Senate ballot. In 1992, it was just the opposite: 10 Democrats and 1 Republican. Guess which year got the media hoopla?
As expected, the only Republican woman running for the Senate in 1992, Charlene Haar of South Dakota, was virtually ignored, while Illinois' Carol Moseley Braun, Lynn Yeakel (who lost her Pennsylvania race to Sen. Arlen Specter), and Californians Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein became national celebrities.
But in the end, no one could dispute the unprecedented impact of women on 1992. What made it the year of the woman was the way women were paid attention to as never before. Suddenly, women were everywhere.
There are 29 new women on the Hill-many of whom said they were spurred to run by the specter of Anita Hill, whose testimony in the Clarence Thomas hearings made the issue of sexual harassment the hot topic at office watercoolers across the nation.
Women senators, whose numbers tripled from 2 to 6, even won a new women's restroom alongside the men's room outside the Senate chamber.
The new first lady, Hillary Clinton, captured the imagination of baby boomer women juggling careers and families and brought the scorn of conservatives who see her as a domineering feminist. She will be a power in her own right in the White House and is expected to attend cabinet meetings.
Three women have been appointed to the cabinet.
Six millions more women than men voted in November 1992.
"We're politically awakened," says Jane Danowitz, executive director of the Women's Campaign Fund. "The record number of women candidates running for office stimulated the record number of women voters. Also, Roe v. Wade was on the line and there was a very clear choice in terms of presidential candidates. Women voted for Clinton not only for the economy but for the issue of choice," she says.
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