E-Mail This Article to a Friend What women want (continued)
	Related links Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston The center’s mission is to increase — through research, education, public events, and collaboration with other organizations — women’s participation in the politics and policy of Massachusetts. Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey This center and its Web site provide a clearinghouse of research and statistics on women’s place, historically and currently, in American political life. Boston City CouncilInformation about and contact information for the council and its members. The Institute for Women’s Policy ResearchIn its "Status of Women in the States 2004" report, the institute evaluates the progress of women in five categories: political participation, economics, health, rights, and demographics. Massachusetts recently dropped in overall ranking from eighth to 20th, mostly the result of the state losing its female governor. Massachusetts Women’s Political CaucusThe caucus seeks to increase the number of women elected to public office and to boost female political participation in general. MWPC organizes a Campaign Skills School for women, as well as networking and seminar events, and offers technical advice on its Web site. 1920 — Women gain the right to vote under the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. 1921 — Grace Shipman is the first woman to run for city council; she loses. 1937 — Mildred Gleason Harris is the first woman elected to the city council. 1940s/1950s — Few women run for either city council or state legislature. 1963 — Catherine (Kitty) Craven, running on an anti-urban-renewal platform, is elected to the council. 1967 — Louise Day Hicks, a passionate foe of school busing, is the first Boston woman to run for mayor; she loses to Kevin White. She wins a council seat in 1969, and a place in the US Congress in 1970. Losing her congressional seat after one term, she returns to the council, and, in 1976, is elected that body’s first female president. 1977 — Rosemarie Sansone elected to the council. 1981 — Maura Hennigan is elected to the council; 24 years later, she’s the longest-serving councilor, male or female. 1987 — Rosaria Salerno elected to the council. 1993 — Peggy Davis-Mullen, Maureen Feeney, and Diane Modica are all elected to the council. The three women, plus Hennigan, form a bloc and earn the nickname "the Kelly Girls," a reference to the council’s then-president, Jim Kelly. Also in ’93, Salerno runs for mayor and loses to Thomas Menino. 2003 — Patricia White, daughter of former mayor Kevin White, runs for an at-large seat on the council, and loses. She’s running again in 2005. 2004/2005 — Andrea Cabral is the first woman to be elected Suffolk County sheriff. Linda Dorcena Forry wins the 12th Suffolk Democratic primary race to replace former House Speaker Tom Finneran. Hennigan announces she’ll run against Menino for mayor. — DF

As sweeping as the CWPPP report is, local political observers say two other issues play a role in the gender disparity. One of them was invoked by Harvard president Lawrence Summers in his controversial speech on January 14: forcing women to choose between professional and family goals may chase them away from the political arena. National statistics, which show that 86 percent of elected officials younger than 35 are men, suggest that many women wait until after they have children to run for office.

"We have to take into account these things that slow women down in other career sectors as well," says Patricia White, who ran for an at-large council seat in 2003, lost, and is trying again in 2005. "Why don’t we have more female CEOs? Why don’t we have more women in senior roles in business or media or otherwise? The larger issue here is work-family balance. With politics, we haven’t figured that out yet." But, she adds, "[Women] shouldn’t have to make that choice." (White, it should be noted, will be a walking experiment in perfecting the politics-family balance during this campaign — she’s due to have her first child in July.)

The report didn’t even consider another factor: "Women have better things to do," one political observer says, pointing out that women today have more professional careers from which to choose than their predecessors did. "There’s lots of options available for women. And then they make the decision — if they can make a six-figure salary doing x, y, or z, why should they be in the city council, getting phone calls in the middle of the night when the snow isn’t plowed?"

IT WILL never work differently if we don’t try to do something about it," says Rosaria Salerno, who ran for city council in 1987 without any traditional political connections — and won. Salerno is still in City Hall, serving as Boston’s first female city clerk. "It’s going to be tougher for women, and they have to prove themselves a hundred times more than men do."

"You cannot be thin-skinned," agrees Maura Hennigan, whose famously thick skin has protected her through more than 24 years of rough-and-tumble city-council politics, and who announced last week that she will finally take on Menino in the 2005 mayoral race.

While Hennigan still describes the council as "kind of a male club," she’s excited about what women can accomplish once they land a seat at the table. "Women often tend to approach things differently," she says, an opinion echoed by many high-powered female — and male — officials who spoke to the Phoenix for this article. "They’re consensus builders. They’re not back-room-deal types."

In 1993, Hennigan, Peggy Davis-Mullen, Diane Modica, and Maureen Feeney (who, unless another woman is elected in 2005, will be the last one standing after Hennigan leaves) were dubbed "the Kelly Girls" when they served simultaneously and formed something of a voting bloc. With a united front, the four councilors were able to make advances on issues such as easier access to mammography services and day care.

Still, the two high-profile female candidates who are bound to make waves this fall — Hennigan and city-council candidate White — refuse to tie their candidacies to their gender. Instead, both strive to highlight their records and their passion on issues such as housing and education. According to As Tough As It Gets, many female candidates start out in politics by getting involved in the issues that most closely affect their daily lives and communities (hence the importance of the School Committee).

"You can’t say, ‘I’m running to be the first woman,’ " says Carol Hardy-Fanta, CWPPP director and study co-author. "But you can ... within yourself and your supporters, highlight what a woman can bring to the office that a man might not be able to bring."

To get there, however, much work needs to be done. Organizations such as the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, the Massachusetts League of Woman Voters, and CWPPP itself have all taken steps toward promoting the political participation of women of all ages and parties. Such support networks are important to have, especially in the fledgling stages of a candidacy, when deciphering paperwork, fundraising, and campaign operations can seem daunting.

In the end, nothing is more effective than experience. "I don’t think attending a workshop is going to prepare you to run," White says. "It’s not going to help you run for office. What you have to do, you have to plan — it’s really not that different than when men run for office ... Take [former councilor] Rosemarie Sansone, for instance. She listed off what she had done, over the years, to prepare herself for a candidacy, for office."

With a combination of New Boston energy and well-prepared candidates on the ballot, there’s a good chance the city could make strides toward council diversity — and that’s a worthy goal.

"You can have people who will be strong and champion causes for other groups," Golar Richie says of some male colleagues. "But there’s nothing like having that person, herself, standing up there as a role model."

Deirdre Fulton can be reached at dfulton[a]phx.com