NOW Hung Up in 'Then,' Observes Critic
by Mary Rettig
August 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The director of campus programs at the Independent Women's Forum says the National Organization for Women (NOW) is basically working its way into irrelevance.Allison Kasic attended NOW's 40th anniversary convention late last month in Albany, New York. She says she was surprised to find out that barely 700 women attended, considering the organization's website boasts more than half-a-million contributing members. She says after the three-day conference she could not help but think that NOW is no longer a major player in public policy. According to Kasic, the whole gathering had a "distinctly retro air" -- and even their main issues at the conference were old.
"The funny thing is the biggest talking point, policy-wise, was the Equal Rights Amendment," Kasic recalls. "I mean, that hasn't even been around since the late 70s [and] it was killed off by 1982." Still, she says, it was a topic of debate. "The way they talked about it was as if everyone [knew what it was] -- most young people probably have no idea what the Equal Rights Amendment is -- and this is still their number-one talking point as an organization. It just shows how dated they are, and how out of touch they are with young, professional, modern women."
Writing for The Weekly Standard, Kasic notes some of the peculiarities of the gathering. For example, one state NOW leader announced to attendees they were present at a "herstoric event." And NOW president Kim Gandy introduced one speaker as a true "shero." Says Kasic: "They really do talk like that."
And the list of invited speakers carried its own message, she says. "There weren't any big name speakers," exclaims Kasic. "The biggest celebrity was the person [actress Tyne Daley] who used to play Lacey on Cagney and Lacey [which last aired in 1988]." How about politicians? "The biggest politician was only a congresswoman from New York."
Continuing, Kasic wonders: "Where was Hillary Clinton? Where were the big Hollywood stars who we know are liberal and we know are feminist? They're sort of distancing themselves from NOW."
According to Kasic, even the mainstream media, to some extent, has begun to distance itself from NOW.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
