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I am thrilled to report that my friend Elise Rynhold is number five on
the list of the local Shahar party in Modi’in, Israel. That is reason enough
for me to vote for Shahar in the municipal elections in November.
Elise, a dynamic, super-intelligent, activist and energetic woman,
the kind of woman who knows how to get things done and has an amazing
head on her shoulders, has spent a good portion of her career in the
service of the Jewish people. But perhaps most importantly, she has
resisted the temptation that so many women have to sit on the sidelines
and watch others get elected. She has decided that women need
representation, and so she has thrown herself into the elections, front
and center.
Elise also represents a growing trend of increasing numbers of English speaking immigrants in Israel taking part in politics. The Ha’aretz newspaper quoted Elise in reporting on this trend last week.
Certainly representation for immigrants is important. But more than
that, I think that the election of women in city council elections is
critical. Women have real issues that are unlikely to be properly
addressed without having a powerful voice in place.
Marya Stark, a consultant on gender, politics and leadership, and co-founder and the Founding Executive Director of Emerge America, the premier national
training program for women Democrats, writes that while one issue
keeping women back is the “glass ceiling”, of no less importance is
what she calls the “pipeline” – that is, women in local city (and
state) government. Here is what she wrote recently in her blog, politics and leadership:
A new study suggests that may have less to do with the
glass ceiling than with the pipeline: too few women and minorities are
being appointed to top state jobs where they can get the experience and
the public attention to establish a political career…. The report, from
the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society at the State
University of New York at Albany, tallied how many women and minorities
were appointed by governors in the 50 states to leadership jobs between 1997 and 2007. The answer is: not enough. Of 1,834 top state jobs —
including advisers to governors, department and commission heads — 643 were held by female appointees, or about 35 percent of the total.
Minorities held less than 16 percent… For leaders to rise from the mix
that is America, governors need to cast a wider net for appointees
today.
I couldn’t agree more. A while back, I wrote about the frustration I experienced at a “women’s evening" for a local mayoral candidate (currently in the lead) whose idea of
helping women was extending school hours. While this is certainly an
important issue (for women AND men, but mostly for KIDS), he ignored
many important issues of real concern to women, such as, women’s
salaries, women’s representation in government and business, women’s
health, domestic violence, marriage and divorce in Israel, and
educational programs on gender, to name a few. But most importantly, he
did not address how many women he planned to include on his list. His
vision is to work as much as possible while his wife takes primary
responsibility for the kids. This was hardly a pro-women stance,
despite the extra school hours.
For women to achieve real change, they need to have a seat at the table and have their voices heard.
I realize that this is a difficult argument to make today. After
all, Eleanor Smeal of the Feminist Majority came out with a much
publicized letter explaining why she is supporting Obama
and not McCain/Palin. It is not enough for women to knee-jerk vote for
the “skirt”, she said. We have to vote on issues that benefit women.
While I, too, am supporting Obama at this point, it pains me to hear
Smeal say so emphatically that Obama is better for women than Palin. Sure, it’s
undoubtedly true in this case that Obama’s policies are better for
women. Of course, Obama is much better for America and for the world
than Palin. But the idea that I am counting on a man rather than a
woman to best represent the interests of women distresses me greatly.
Women need to have real power, a real say, to represent out own
interests. And this starts at the local level. As the old adage goes,
all politics are local.
Go Elise! Inspiration for us all!
