IN MY SHOES: Trapped In Amber
Charlotte Hays, senior editor at the non-partisan, non-profit organization Independent Women's Forum (IWF), attends the National Organization for Women's 40th Anniversary Conference, and finds the membership creaky and cranky. Here’s a flavor of the festivities:
I didn't have to pack a lot of fancy party clothes--the dress code was strictly old feminist. The mindset was of the same vintage. Though there was a “summit” for young feminists on Friday before the conference got under way in earnest (and I do mean earnest), most of the 700 women in attendance were no spring chickens. They were joined … by a handful of hen-pecked, middle-age men, always touchingly eager to demonstrate their ardent sympathy. …
There was a stand for the socialist People's Weekly World (successor of the Daily Worker), a midwifery booth (how I wish I hadn't peered so closely at the frontal photo of a squatting woman welcoming a child into the world!) and a vendor of lesbian-themed quilts. …
It's not that NOW is less radical than younger organizations--she isn't. Every resolution was relentlessly hammered out until there was no possible way that LGBT people (LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) could feel excluded; there was an “equal marriage” pretend-wedding reception with punch and cake. A resolution calling for an “independent” investigation of 9/11 – you know, because all the other 9/11 investigations weren't truly “independent” – was adopted. …
The issues are not new. I heard no interesting discussions, not one word of disagreement. In place of argument, there was only dogmatic insistence on inclusivity.
The quality of the “breakout sessions” radiated tiredness. The panelists were often ill-prepared, their presentations disjointed. A session on Wal-Mart drew about 40 angry women and one angry man in a purple NOW T-shirt and matching shorts. I gleaned the startling information that the “merchant of shame” - i.e., Wal-Mart – “seeks to dominate the retail industry through customer acquisition.” … Later I asked a young woman sporting an “I Prefer Girls” button if Wal-Mart might be a good issue to bring new blood into NOW. She thought not. Young and less affluent women, she explained, rely on Wal-Mart's low prices.
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