Despite the second-worst snowstormof the season during the first weekend in February, Expo '96 drewan overflowing crowd of 3,000 feminists from all sectors of themovement to Washington, DC for the first national feminist exposition.Sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation and 310 women'sand civil rights organizations, the three-day Expo '96 was anenergizing blend of learning, organizing, socializing, and visualizingfor a future of equality.
Expo '96, designed partly as a "dryrun" for a massive exposition in the year 2000, was coveredby C-Span, CNN, and newspapers in major cities including the WashingtonPost, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer,Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times.
PegYorkin, Chair of the Boardof the Feminist Majority Foundation, emphasized the diversityof those present at Expo '96. "When we sent out a call forfeminist artists, architects, technocrats, academicians, lawyers,organizers, trade unionists, economists, athletes… you responded,"said Yorkin. "Over 300 speakers - mostly at their own expense- are participating in this exposition. In addition, the responseto our Exhibit Hall was so overwhelming that we ran out of exhibitspace and had to start a waiting list. If Expo '96 is the firstever feminist exposition, can you imagine what Expo 2000 willbe like?"
About1,000 students participated in Expo '96, both as speakers andattendees. Ms. editor-in-chief Marcia Ann Gillespieremarked on the student presence at the final General Assembly."We are always being told that feminists are 'women of acertain age,'" said Gillespie. "What I love is I'm seeinga lot of young women in this room. What I know and what you knowis that there are more of us coming."
One of the main agenda items for Expo'96 was fighting the attacks on affirmative action. SenatorCarol Moseley-Braun highlighted the opposition's attempt toignore women as beneficiaries of affirmative action. "Thereactionaries have tried to demonize this issue by painting affirmativeaction with a black face. But women said, 'we are not going toallow you to divide and conquer us.' Women stood up and what somepoliticians thought would be a stepping stone in the fight againstaffirmative action has become a slippery slope."
Feminist Majority Foundation presidentEleanor Smeal emphasized the future-visions aspect of theExpo. "We want everybody to feel the strength of our ideas,the diversity of our organizations, and the richness of our resources.When we usher in a new millennium, we want to make sure women'svoices will be heard every day of that new millennium.
"Thegoal of the Feminist Expo was not just to rehash the problemswe all know too well - but to share and develop innovative strategiesto solve these problems," continued Smeal. "We wantto go into the next century with pro-active plans to create afuture of equality."
Here are just some of the ideasand strategies that were shared at Expo '96. See related articlesin this issue on developing a feminist federal budget, voter registration,and strategies to empower women internationally.
New Ways of Working. EllenBravo, Director of 9-5, pointed out that 11% of the womenwho took unpaid family or medical leave under the Family and MedicalLeave Act (FMLA) had to go on public assistance during this time.To address this problem, Stephanie Aaronson of the Institutefor Women's Policy Research described a "Temporary DisabilityInsurance" (TDI) policy that her organization is studying.Funded by contributions from employees and employers, the TDIplan would provide 52 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of family leave,paid at up to 50% of wages, at a cost of $13-$14 per employeeper month.
One of the biggest barriers facingwomen who start their own business is access to capital. CarenWilcox of the National Association of Women BusinessOwners described an agreement NAWBO had recently reached withWells-Fargo Bank. The bank has created the first major fund forwomen business owners - a $1 billion revolving loan fund.
Eliminating Poverty. EileenApplebaum of the Economic Policy Institute laid out her four-prong"welfare program": increase the minimum wage; unionorganizing, since women in unions earn 25% to 35% more than womenin non-union jobs; comparable worth legislation so that womenare not stuck in low-paying "pink-collar" jobs; andenforcement of affirmative action so women have equal access toopportunities. Getting women into "non-traditional"jobs allows them to earn 20%-30% more than "traditional"women's jobs, stressed Marie Sandy of Wider Opportunitiesfor Women. The term "non-traditional jobs for women"actually encompasses over 95% of job categories.
Dottie Stevens of the NationalWelfare Rights Union recommends a guaranteed annual income foreveryone [NOW also advocates this] and "housing takeovers"- where homeless people take over abandoned HUD housing. MarilynAshley with ACORN talked about their program working withbanks to allow poor people to buy homes.
Countering the Radical Right.The radical right wing is a threat to feminism and democracy aroundthe world. Loretta Ross, former research director of theCenter for Democratic Renewal National Anti-Klan Network, talkedabout how radical right-wing issues have made their way into themainstream. "In 1975, when David Duke started the Knightsof the Ku Klux Klan, the biggest Klan group in the U.S.,"said Ross, "he had a 10-point plan of action. He wanted toend non-white immigration, end all affirmative action, end allforms of welfare, and create the idea of reverse discrimination.Twenty years later, David Duke's ideas have become public policy."
Wanda Allston, Special ProjectsDirector at NOW, brought attention to homophobia in the blackchurch, "the black church that started the civil rights movement,that refused to start AIDS ministries across the country."
Radical right wing ideas are perhapsnowhere manifested as harshly as in Islamic fundamentalist countries.Jan Goodwin, author of The Price of Honor: Muslim WomenLift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World, pointed outthat U.S. money helps fund this war against women. "The mainfunders of Islamic fundamentalism are the three oil-rich countries:Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates," said Goodwin."Since the Gulf War the U.S. has sold them $35 billion ofour most sophisticated weapons."
Making women count. Throughoutthe conference leading researchers and activists discussed strategiesto value women's work and skills. Biased academic tests suchas the Educational Testing Service's Scholastic Assessment Test(SAT), biased workplace evaluations, gross domestic products whichdo not count women's unpaid work in the home, and scientific "realities"which purposely leave women and women's concerns out, all serveto perpetuate the myth that women are second-class.
Gloria Steinem talked abouta populist movement of homemakers across Canada who are refusingto fill out the census form because it does not count them asproductive workers. Phyllis Rosser of the Equality TestingProject recommends making the SAT optional for college admission.Ronnie Steinberg, professor of sociology at Temple University,described a gender-neutral job evaluation system she has developedwhich measures such things as "emotional demand" and"work pressure and stress" in an effort to value skillcomponents of traditionally female and minority dominated jobs.
More power for women.We must change the rules to help more women be elected to publicoffice, said Eleanor Smeal. "We can change campaignfinance rules so candidates can use the money they raise for livingexpenses. We can develop a Guaranteed Candidate Loan Program fromthe federal government, similar to the Guaranteed Student LoanProgram." Smeal also brought attention to a bill in Congress,introduced by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, to dramatically increasethe representation of women and minorities by allowing multi-memberdistricts.
One strategy for winning equal powerfor women is to pass laws calling for gender balance in all appointedgovernmental decision-making bodies, such as boards of education,boards of regents, departments of transportation, and boards oftrustees. Kappie Spencer, Founder and Director of the NationalGender Balance Project, together with women's rights groups suchas the Feminist Majority, NOW and AAUW, has won gender balancelaws in approximately 10 states, three cities, and three counties.
Inclusive or "positive" quotasto increase women's representation have also been used bypolitical parties around the world, thanks to the work ofMaria Jonas with the
Social Democratic Women of Austria. As the former GeneralSecretary of Socialist International Women, Jonas convinced SocialDemocratic parties in 30 countries to institute gender balancepolicies in their lists of candidates. In addition, Argentinaand Belgium have actually passed laws requiring all politicalparties to produce candidate lists with at least 30% women.
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