League of Women Voters holds discussion about women in politics

Women’s voices are important in the political process. Yet, many feel that politics is a man’s world and they don’t have a place in it. It's Not Your Mother’s Politics: It’s Yours! is an intergenerational discussion about the importance of women’s voices in the political process.

The League of Women Voters of Shaker Heights, Case Western Reserve University’s Flora Stone Mather Center for Women, and Shaker Heights Public Library will host an interactive, intergenerational program from 6:30–8:45 p.m., Thursday, April 21 at Shaker Heights Public Library, located at 16500 Van Aken Boulevard in Shaker Heights. The participating groups encourage women to join in the discussion and to bring along a woman of a different generation.

Dr. Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather professor of political science and interim chair of the CWRU department of political science and leading scholar on politics and gender, will begin the evening with a short discussion about women in politics and the ways their political participation has changed society; the effectiveness of the women’s political involvement, and how discrepancies in political participation by gender affect our lives and the lives of women running for and holding office. 

Following her overview, Ann Klotz, head of Laurel School, will moderate a panel discussion that will explore how women of different generations approach politics based upon their ages and perceptions of a woman’s place in society.

Panelists include Britney Bennett, a graduate of Hathaway Brown School and Spelman College and former intern for the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones; Bennett is pusuing a joint MBA/JD degree at CWRU. 

Other panelists are Stephanie Mercado, director of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Business Association and member of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission; Dr. Rachel Y. Talton, an entrepreneur who heads Synergy International a marketing research company; and Mary Reynolds Powell, author of A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam. Powell served as a nurse in the Vietnam War.

The Not Your Mother’s Politics: It’s Yours! planning committee is cochaired by Center for Women Community Advisory Board members, Susan Troia and Colette Hart. “The need for communication and better understanding between women of all generations is an important issue,” said Susan Troia, who is also a member of the League of Women Voters. “Since women are so underrepresented politically on the national level, we shouldn’t be spending energy arguing with each other when what we really need to do is to work together to build understanding on women’s issues for the benefit of all.”

The CWRU Center for Women’s mission is to improve the educational, professional, social climate and opportunities for women within the university and community through education, advocacy, and research. The League of Women Voters of Shaker Heights is a nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to promote political responsibility through the informed and active participation of citizens in government and to act on selected governmental issues.

The Not Your Mother’s Politics: It’s Yours! is free and open to the public. All attendees are urged to bring a woman from a different generation. To register, call 216-991-2030 or 216-368-1068; or register online at www.shakerlibrary.org or www.case/provost/centerforwomen/calendar/html.