Meet some of the amazing Democratic women running to flip red Congressional seats BLUE!

Join the Global Women’s Caucus for our “Women to Win” Candidate Forum.  Four candidates will speak with Democrats Abroad about how important it is for Democrats to keep the House in 2020 and what their priorities are for governing. They are running in Michigan, Texas and Georgia, all states Democrats can win, not only in these districts, but also key Senate races and Biden as well!   They need our help to take these seats and advance crucial Democratic policies in healthcare, climate change, racial justice, economic equality and others listed in the DA 2020 Platform.

The candidates joining the July Forum are:

Wendy Davis, a longtime Texas advocate running to bring the fight for gender equity to the House. Davis made international news with her 13-hour filibuster protecting women’s healthcare in the Texas State House, and now she’s campaigning on behalf of everyone in Texas, and the country, who has been left behind and needs a champion.

Gretchen Driskell, a former mayor running a determined campaign in southeast Michigan. Driskell served for 14 years as mayor of Saline, the first female elected to the position, before winning a seat in the Michigan House of Reps. Having knocked 25,000 doors in her constituency over the years, Driskell recognizes the priorities: universal healthcare, sustainable jobs and a  strong public education system.

Carolyn Bourdeaux has spent her entire career in public service, starting as a Congressional staffer, then going on to earn a doctorate in public policy. While teaching public policy at Georgia State, Carolyn took 5 years off to serve as Director of the Georgia Senate Budget and Evaluation Office.  This is her second run in the 7^th District, having lost in ‘18 by 433 votes after a recount and a court case!  This year, Carolyn won her primary (in what is now an open seat) with a tripling of the Democratic turnout.  She sees racial justice and the meltdown of healthcare, aggravated in this pandemic, as key issues for voters in this district.   

Gina Ortiz Jones ran in TX-23 in 2018 and came within just 926 votes of defeating Will Hurd who subsequently announced his retirement.  Gina is a first-generation American, raised by a single mother who came to the United States believing in the promise of a better future. Gina earned a ROTC scholarship  and was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force, serving in Iraq under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” She subsequently built her career in national security including serving under Obama.  Gina returned to San Antonio to help care for her mother who was fighting cancer. Gina knows that we need a leader standing up for the issues that can make a real impact on people’s lives. That’s why she’s stepping up to serve her country and her community again by running for Congress.

Please join us to learn about how you can help these amazing women win! RSVP to receive the information for joining this virtual event.  And read more about the candidates in the recent interviews on the DA GWC Candidate Information Action Team webpage:  www.democratsabroad.org/wc_cia_team 

If you have questions for the candidates, you can send them in advance to womenscaucus@democratsabroad.org. Please use the subject line “Women to Win Forum - question”.

Thank you to all who joined our discussion on Mother's Day.

Books Abroad, the Global Women’s Caucus feminist reading group, is excited to announce its summer reading pick, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister. Save the date, September 20th, for an engaging discussion of the history of female anger as political fuel. We hope this pick makes a great summer read and gives you food for thought during the election season. We look forward to seeing you again in September!

The organizing team would also like to introduce Joy Notoma as the group's next discussion facilitator, as Kelsey McLendon is moving back to the U.S. to pursue other opportunities.

This is an online event. Please RSVP to receive the connection information.

During the last Democratic debate, Senator Amy Klobuchar argued that women are held to a higher standard in politics than their male counterparts – or everyone would be able to cite their favorite female president of the United States.

While no country has had enough female heads of state to enable a real choice of ‘favorite’ (only a handful of countries have surpassed two), progress towards such a debate is slowly ramping up abroad. In 2018, 26 out of more than 190 countries or territories were ruled by women; this represents less than 15% but is nonetheless a historic high.[1]  

Looking beyond the presidential or prime ministerial seat, the forecast remains cloudy on a global scale but is getting brighter. As of February 2019, only 3 countries had reached equal gender representation in one of their houses of parliament, but 50 single or lower houses around the world were composed of at least 30% women.[2] Though the merits of critical mass theory – which posits that women must reach 30% representation in a political body before being able to affect meaningful policy change – have been debated,[3] crossing that threshold is, at the very least, a symbolic win given the role the theory has played in advocating for women’s participation in politics.

The Global Women's Caucus writes articles about the State of the American Women.  New ones are posted on a periodic basis.

New content:

GWC Celebrates Black History Month

Disparities in Healthcare Access for American Women of Color

Click on the below links to read earlier articles:

Women in the US Military

Party call: Gender parity in politics

Women in US Politics: Looking back to look ahead

On April 12, 2019, the DAUK Film Committee and the DAUK Women’s Caucus screened the documentary "RBG: A Progressive Icon in these Troubled Times” in London. “Super Diva” is on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s sweatshirt at her weekly routine in this lively biography. And “Super Diva’ she is to the young students attending her recent public appearances. The term is well-earned as we hear family, friends and colleagues talk of RBG’s impressive legal acumen, tireless work ethic, quiet determination, and successful strategies to advance gender equality in the United States.

We see her 1992 Senate nomination hearing outlining some of the many cases pursued while a law professor and general counsel of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, winning five of the six gender discrimination case before the Supreme Court. It is shocking to remember that, in 1959, despite graduating first in her law school class, she was turned down NY law firms and denied a Supreme Court clerkship because she was a woman.

There are amusing vignettes from her private life: opera, travel and a supportive husband who famously promoted her Supreme Court nomination. But what shines through is her dedication to the law and her mode of overcoming sexism: “Be a lady and be independent.” And the Justice continues as a “rock star” with her independent thinking in eloquent dissents in today’s Supreme Court.

It was an excellent film and we would highly recommend it. RBG is now available on iTunes!

Watch the trailer

Highlights of the March 8 events in Oslo

There is an irony in the fact that Norway, which is ranked as the second most female friendly nation (2018 ranking*1), is so dedicated to the International Women’s Day. Have they not already achieved equality? The strong engagement is a good barometer for Norway’s general commitment to support women’s rights. The laws here do support women both in the workplace and home. Norway, traditionally a farming nation, recognized the contributions of farmer wives, decades ago, by giving them the status of a regular workers, entitled them to increased social security and workman’s benefits. Now girls are taken over farms since the law on inheritance has changed, favoring the first-born child, replacing the first born “male” as the heir. The law now also states that all corporate boards must be minimum 40% female; however, women tend not to rise as rapidly as men on the corporate ladder. A major newspaper recently reported that more men are going into female dominated vocations, such as nursing and teaching, and a larger percentage of women now seek higher education than men. 

Michael Flood, Queensland University of Technology

Young men who conform to traditional definitions of manhood are more likely to suffer harm to themselves, and do harm to others, according to a new survey of Australian men aged 18 to 30.

This is the first major Australian survey to map ideals of masculinity among young men, commissioned as part of the Jesuit Social Services’ Men’s Project, which is dedicated to helping boys and men live respectful, accountable and fulfilling lives.

The researchers surveyed 1,000 young men on their attitudes toward seven pillars of traditional manhood: self-sufficiency, toughness, physical attractiveness, rigid gender roles, heterosexuality and homophobia, hypersexuality, and aggression and control over women. These represent what we call the “Man Box”, or the ideals of manhood that can be both influential and restrictive to young men.

The men were asked about their perceptions of societal messages about manhood and their own endorsement of these messages.

Our findings showed that many young men remain greatly influenced by these societal messages of what it means to be a man. For example, young men were particularly likely to agree with statements that society expects men to act strong (69%), fight back when pushed (60%) and never say no to sex (56%).

However, some traditional ideals seem to be dropping away. Few young men agreed that society tells them they should use violence to get respect (35%), straight men should shun gay men as friends (36%), boys shouldn’t learn how to cook and clean (38%), and men shouldn’t do household chores (39%).

Read more: Masculinity should not be defined by the Kavanaugh hearings

Join our ERA Photo and Video Campaign!

We are SO CLOSE now to getting the ERA ratified! The Virginia general assembly starts their session on January 9^th and the Virginia Equal Means Equal team needs our help right now!

They would love to have some photos and videos of Americans living abroad who support ERA to use to win over some votes. So if you could take a photo holding a sign and/or make a 30-45 second video, that would be appreciated. Here are the simple guidelines.

If possible, they would like by the end of the week so they can put something together for a big event in Richmond on Jan 8. So if you could send something in before then, that would be great. However, if you miss this first deadline, we have also been asked by both Arizona and North Carolina for the same thing and they do not need as soon. Just send as soon as you can!

So – show your support of women and equal rights by creating a photo and/or video. Send the photo and video links to era@democratsabroad.org

THANK YOU for your help!