new faces, more voices session 3

The most recent session of New Faces, More Voices focused on organizing for international women’s issues. As always, the two speakers were inspirational.

I’m sometimes concerned that what often feels like an exclusive focus on the struggles of women in developing nations draws attention away from domestic problems in our own backyards. For example, at his UNC speaking engagement this year, Nicholas Kristof dismissively said the “only problems” U.S. women have to worry about is sexual harassment at work, not seeming to think that feeling sexually threatened was much of a problem at all.

But the speakers at NFMV drew an interesting parallel between their work on the international stage and at home attempting to ratify the CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) treaty. The United States is one of only seven countries that has not yet ratified the treaty (others include Sudan, Somalia and Iran). The speakers explained how the treaty would positively affect women in all socioeconomic conditions.

Barbara Ferris is a feminist activist who helped start the International Women’s Democracy Center, which teaches women how to run political campaigns and originally targeted women in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Her organization assists with campaign management and coordinates a community leaders forum. It also has established a pipeline project for U.S. women ages 18-35 to encourage and train them to run for office. This project has recently expanded its focus to include outreach to LGBTQ-identified individuals. Ferris talked about the struggles feminist organizations face in finding funds from donors. “If you really want a ton of money, do babies, trees and animals,” she said.

The second speaker was Erica Swanson, field director at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. She shared her career history – having started out in social work, she became more and more concerned with the systemic challenges that made her job so difficult. She transitioned to political campaign work after being encouraged to do so.

Swanson is young, soft-spoken and kind. She assured all of us that a happy, secure life in this city was a dream within reach. She is pregnant and married to a man she met in undergraduate school.  Swanson encouraged us to translate our idealism into our life’s work.  “Let that inspiration help make life decisions for you,” she said.

This discussion session was interesting for me, especially because I related to Swanson and was very interested in her career path. But it was also difficult; I’m already getting disillusioned with the partisan political process here.

It’s devastating to me that a woman as passionate and committed as Ferris can work for 40 years toward a goal and see so little progress. I’m incredulous that the U.S. still hasn’t signed a treaty ensuring equal rights for women after all this time.

Working toward progress, and thinking of politics in terms of real people’s lives rather than as a game, can be demoralizing.

I’ve often felt that kind of frustration and helplessness on a smaller scale through my activism on campus, and I think sometimes it IS necessary to allow a few minutes to feel sorry for yourself. Fixating on those feelings probably isn’t healthy, but I think recognizing injustices and feeling them to your core – and sometimes feeling genuinely sad – is necessary to maintain your passion.

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