I don’t think you lead by pessimism and cynicism. I think you lead by optimism and enthusiasm and energy.
Advice and consent does not mean rubber stamp in the Senate.
Extremely strong, effective, tenacious, and powerful political networks can be built when you fight losing battles as well as when you win.
We have to stop this violence. We have to make the political nature of the violence clear, that the violence we experience in our own homes is not a personal family matter, it’s a public and political problem. It’s a way that women are kept in line, kept in our places.
The Young Women’s Christian Association is nourished by its roots in Christianity and, at the same time, over the years, it’s been enriched by beliefs and values from all kinds of places, even, in fact, strengthened by our diversity.
Some of those men in power, we just have to change their faces because we’re not going to change their minds.
When I started law school I was shocked to learn that our legal system traditionally had the man as the head and master of the family. As late as the ’70s and ’80s when we were fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment, states like Louisiana still had a head and master law.
The way to be a man if you’re a little boy is to be willing to throw your weight around.
In any grass-roots campaign, building an ongoing base of support is as important as winning the ultimate goal.
The Violence Against Women Act is so important. It provides money to train the cop on the beat, to train the judges that this is a new day, that we won’t tolerate this violence and to know how to deal with it.
Most of us see Justice O’Connor as something of an icon, although we do not agree with all of her decisions.
The opposition has moved from a blaming the victim to blaming the victim’s advocate’s statistics. Irrespective of what the numbers are, it’s far too many.
Stewardesses are still paid so little that in many cases, new hires qualify for food stamps.
Violence may be a good focus to organize around, but we have to look at women’s lives in our entirety.
Some of us may just, in one-on-one conversations with our family, with our friends, over the back fence with our neighbors, talk about the reality of our lives and realize that we’re not alone, that we have a right to be physically safe and emotionally safe in our own homes.
There are a lot of people who worked extremely hard in the election who are still organized who know how to do door to door and phone canvassing, who know how to raise money.
And of course we are familiar with the English common law rule of thumb that said a man could in fact use a stick no bigger than his thumb to discipline his wife and family.
All of us knew he was a snake when we voted for him.
I want to reach young women and to get them involved in the mission of the YWCA, economic empowerment of women and girls, and ending racism.
Some campaigns are not worth waging if you can’t win; others have to be fought on grounds of principle regardless of the chances for success.
Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.