Harriett Woods, the former Lieutenant Governor of Missouri and past head of the National Women's Political Caucus, spoke at Dartmouth yesterday to a small crowd of students.
The influential activist and author of "Stepping Up to Power: the Political Journey of American Women" addressed both the political progress of women since the 1950s as well as her own career in a presentation sponsored by Women In Government.
"There is a lot of controversy about the word 'feminism' today," Woods said, "but until the 1970s 'career woman' were the dirty words."
Woods said that she -- as well as a number of today's influential women -- was well aware of the stigma surrounding careers and opted for the more accepted route of self-fulfillment -- motherhood.
Her own journey as a politician, as well as the journeys of many of her colleagues, grew out of this role.
Woods recounted stories of her suburban house and her young children. "Everyday I looked forward to those few hours when my children would nap," she said. "It was the only time I had to myself, to think or to read."
However her peace was disturbed by something as simple as a manhole cover, which when upset by traffic, inevitably roused her children from their naps. She went to city hall to speak to someone about the problem, but no one would listen to her.
"I did what a lot of women were doing. I took out a yellow legal pad and pen and went door to door," Woods recounted. "Faced with numbers, the city council finally took action."
This manhole cover was the beginning of a long and noteworthy political career.
Woods focused on the fact that she, like many women politicians, "didn't start out like Al Gore or Bill Clinton who say 'I shook Kennedy's hand and saw an image of what I would become.' We had no images, no role models."
Women in the 1950s and 60s got involved when they wanted to change something they cared about, she said, much like she did.
"Revolutions, such as women obtaining equal rights and power, don't occur because someone makes a proclamation and people rally around the idea," Woods noted. "They happen when people get upset about personal problems."
Woods herself, after the manhole petition, joined her city council. "I tried to become part of the system rather then change the status of women," she said.
Gradually however, the status of women both in politics and in the workplace began to improve.
"Our focus was on getting a place in the system," Woods said. "We were so focused on winning this place that we didn't understand that we needed to change the system itself. That is the unfinished journey."
Woods criticized today's workplace for its all-consuming nature. Troubled that there is no place for the other values such as family, Woods lamented that one must focus primarily on their career in order to "be successful."
Woods concluded by calling on today's young women to finish the journey that the women of her generation began, to transform the system rather than to just become part of it.
"We must change the system so that careers are balanced with other things in life," she said. "I worry that despite all the opportunities young women have to [make changes], they shy from power because they find it confrontational."
Woods attended the University of Chicago where she was managing editor of the school paper. She is the former Lieutenant Governor of Missouri and a past president of the National Women's Political Caucus.
Her political experience also includes eight years as a city council member, eight years as a Missouri State Senator, and two years as a State Transportation and Highway Commissioner. In 1982 and 1986, she was the Democratic nominee in Missouri for the U.S. Senate.
In 1989, she created the Institute for Policy Leadership at the University of Missouri and headed the Coalition for Women's Appointments.
She has appeared on such shows as "Nightline," "Crossfire," "Good Morning America," the "Today Show" and "The MacNeil Lehrer News Hour."
