Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Throughout Women’s History Month, and especially on International Women’s Day, NOW celebrates the women past and present who risked everything and worked tirelessly for women’s rights. They countered attacks on the constitutional right to equality for women in the United States and rallied to secure the right to vote. But as we prepare to celebrate the historic 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment this year, we recognize that many women of color continue to face barriers to the ballot box even now.   

While we are celebrating a centennial of progress, we recognize there is still much work to be done.  We must continue following in the footsteps of the incredible women who came before us and advocate for intersectional feminism that ensures that we are making progress towards securing a more equitable society for all women.  

NOW is also spending this month honoring our “Sheros” on social media @NationalNOW, including celebrating the life of Katherine Johnson, a leader of the group of brilliant women mathematicians who landed Apollo 11 on the moon. We also continue to applaud the work of the incredible intersectional feminists of the 116th Congress, who have been vital in the progress of the Equal Rights Amendment.  

This Women’s History Month, we recognize all the women who have and will continue to champion rights for all women in our society. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary , press@now.org , 202-570-4745

NYTimes Michelle Cottle’s opinion column on women and the Presidential race:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/opinion/democrats-super-tuesday-warren.html

Ms. Warren is thought to have struggled in part because she was too professorial — too schoolmarmish, if you will — to connect with anyone beyond white college-educated women like herself. But had she focused on her up-by-the-bootstraps biography, who’s to say she wouldn’t have been slammed as inauthentic or as trying too hard? As for complaints that she was too strident or shrill or hectoring or inflexible, have any of these critics seen Bernie Sanders? Come on.

Or consider Amy Klobuchar’s conspicuous irritation with Pete Buttigieg’s precocity. On multiple occasions she noted that a woman with his résumé — a 38-year-old former mayor of the fourth-largest city in Indiana — would never be taken seriously. “Women are held to a higher standard,” she said at the November debate. “Otherwise we could play a game called ‘Name Your Favorite Woman President,’ which we can’t do because it has all been men, including all vice presidents being men.”