Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin, D-Vt., called for programs in the United States that allow women to successfully maintain both professional and family lives in a lecture in Filene Auditorium on Tuesday night. Kunin read from and discussed her new book, "The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work and Family," which outlines how and why keeping mothers in the workplace will benefit not only women but also the economy as a whole.
The United States is unique on the world stage in its lack of early child care, paid maternal leave and workplace flexibility three necessities for keeping mothers at their jobs once they begin to have children, Kunin said. This issue is not only a matter of social justice or gender equality, but of economics, according to Kunin.
"Child care and early childhood education are the two best investments any country can make in improving the quality of education and reducing the level of poverty," she said. "The best answer to poverty is still a paycheck if you enable parents to work and take care of their families at the same time, you are reducing child poverty."
The United States currently has the highest childhood poverty rate of any industrialized nation at 22 percent, compared to only 3 percent in Kunin's native Switzerland.
The "new feminist agenda" addresses social and economic concerns beyond feminism and accordingly engages the elderly, the disabled, business people and men in the pursuit of work-family reforms, Kunin said. Getting more women involved in politics is one key step in advancing conditions for working parents.
"We need more women in public life because if you're not at the table, you're on the menu," she said. "Other people make these decisions for you with or without your voice."
Kunin served as the first female governor of Vermont for three terms from 1985 to 1991. Kunin said that when she first entered politics, she was one of only two female governors and that pursuing political office was unusual for a woman at the time.
"I didn't dream of being a politician because I didn't have the role models," she said. "I thought about being a politician's wife, but I didn't see myself as an actor in such a situation."
Kunin is also a former ambassador to Switzerland and served as the deputy secretary of education under the Clinton administration.
Kunin said that the women's movement and the environmental movement motivated her to get involved and enabled her to pursue social change. Being a woman in politics, however, is still a unique and challenging role because female politicians are in a double bind, Kunin said.
"Women have to be like a man but be like a woman at the same time," she said. "You have to be tough and soft."
The dichotomy between tough and soft poses issues for Kunin's beliefs, Gould Academy high school senior Carly Giddings said. She asked Kunin how pursuing solutions for problems related to the work-family balance could avoid playing into gender stereotypes and being dismissed as "girly issues."
Rachel Wang '13, who attended the lecture, said that a lot of the stigma surrounding the word "feminist" stems from a misunderstanding of the term.
"Making sure that we all recognize that the definition of feminism is about equality and freedom is the most important thing," Wang said.
Apprehensions about the word "feminist" almost kept Kunin from including it in the title of her book, Kunin said. She said she and her publisher feared it might deter readers. Feminist struggles, however, are still relevant in light of the current struggles over women's reproductive and health rights, Kunin said.
"I think it's time for younger women to become activists because Roe v. Wade is really threatened, and the basic truth is if you can't determine whether or not you can have children, you can't control your life," she said.
In this respect, the "new feminist agenda" is relevant for younger women who neither have children nor full-time jobs, like college students, Kunin said.
"Even as you are in your dating period, it's worthwhile to discuss this with the men you associate with because some of the ideas about gender roles start early," she said.
The feminist movement is relevant even if individual women do not feel its effects personally, attendee Sarah Walchter '16 said.
"Even if you don't feel oppressed, that doesn't mean feminism isn't an issue for other people," she said. "Because there is still some radicalism associated with feminism, people think that if it's not directly impacting them they shouldn't care about it, and no one wants to act like they have a chip on their shoulder."
The lecture was sponsored by the Rockefeller Center and the Center for Women and Gender and was followed by a dinner discussion sponsored by the East Wheelock program.
