Crayons in the purse
This morning, I went to a briefing on the "Maternal Wall" organized by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Much of it covered ground that I was already familiar with, but I really enjoyed the introductory speech by Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Wasserman Schultz is a freshman Representative from Florida, and I have to admit, I hadn’t heard of her before. Her bio is quite unusual. She’s 38 years old, and was first elected to the Florida state legislature at 26. She’s also the mother of 6-year-old twins and a 20-month old. And during the campaign, her opponent, a woman with adult children, consistently charged her with being a bad mother for running for office.
Wasserman Schultz won me over with a story of how, at one event, she couldn’t find a pen and so took notes with a crayon. Her opponent seized upon this as evidence of her "frazzledness" and lack of fitness for office. When asked about it by a reporter, Wasserman Schultz responded "I may not always have a pen in my purse, but I always have crayons." Me too.
Wasserman Schultz pointed out that there are only 4 women in Congress with children under 15, and only 2 with children under 10. The classic women’s path in politics has been to get involved later, when children are in high school, or out of the house. Politics is a time-intensive career, but not one that requires a linear path of achievement.
May 6th, 2005 at 10:59 am
Great story! Glad to hear that Schultz’s opponent didn’t win with that line of attack.