As noted in a recently formed Yahoo protest group, Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of democracy is eternal vigilance”.

So, as we look out over the wreckage strewn in the wake of the primary season, one might ask, what did it mean for women? How did it impact us? On the one hand, we did get a viable woman presidential candidate who captured 18 million votes. On the other hand, women, exemplified by Hillary Clinton, surely a serious and capable candidate, were savaged, in a way which might have echoed in our communal memories the witch hunts in early New England or the wholesale subjugation of women in the Middle Ages, when our lands were taken away, we were denied an education and had to flee into a nunnery to be allowed serious intellectual pursuits.

A woman president of the U.S. was not to be, not in this season, despite the women leaders who’ve emerged across the globe. But, is sexism the only reason Hillary lost? No. Unfairness and ethical lapses in the caucus system played a part. And Hillary and her campaign also made some mistakes which turned out, in hindsight, to be pivotal, perhaps monumental. One of her biggest was depending on two smart, perhaps brilliant, and controlling men, her husband and Mark Penn, to shape her campaign, when the latter, according to Harold Ickes, didn’t fully understand either proportional voting or the caucus system ( and for this wrongheaded advice, she drained her treasury of some $4 million leaving her constantly playing catch up financially). Equally important, someplace in the fog of the primary war, the HRC campaign let Obama high-jack the two themes which had been reliable Democratic winners: the need for change and the desire for Hope, as in the Man From Hope, Bill Clinton.

So where did that leave us? With a brilliant, and, as it turned out, tough and capable candidate, who knew the issues, had a grasp on how to solve them, but lacked the charisma of the new kid on the block and the backing of some of the key old white men such as Howard Dean; male identified women happy to be in the old boys’ club themselves, like Nancy Pelosi; and some with a sense of entitlement, who failed to get that far in the primaries themselves, like Ted Kennedy. In the end, although Hillary had been steered away from running as a woman, it was women and the women’s vote, particularly those who had endured the harshest forms of sexism in earlier decades, who felt her pain and rallied around her. But by then, perhaps just after Illinois, and certainly after a disastrous February pile up of caucus losses, it was too late.

In the past decades and certainly in this primary season, women in this country have certainly chipped away at old stereo types and made some incremental progress. As Hillary Clinton noted “We’ve made 18 million cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling.” But we haven’t made nearly enough progress and we’ve taken a couple of steps backward.

Here are 2 videos on sexism in this political race. The first has Hillary’s speech on “women’s rights are human rights’ in the background and egregious sexism in the video.

The second is of the over-the-top remarks of commentators and Obama’s campaign and Obama himself.

Hillary : We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby! (Read “More Info”)

Sexism Sells — But We’re Not Buying It

As the sexist tone in the media reaches a fever pitch, the Women’s Media Center created this video to illustrate the problem and send a message to the media: Sexism might sell, but we’re not buying it!Sign our petition here:
http://www.womensmediacenter.com/sexism_sells.html

So, it appears, we still have a long way to go, baby.

For those of us who wish to continue to try to level this very unlevel playing field, one resource which I found helpful , is Madeleine Albright‘s “Win with Women Global Action Plan” . Although it is aimed to a global audience, most of the issues are exactly the same as we all experienced in our local caucuses and the primaries.

In Albright‘s plan you will find “experiences and advice of women political party leaders from around the world”. The Plan is organized around four main themes which address women’s participation as voters, political party leaders, candidates and elected officials. ” On this page you can click on each theme and get a good summary of it. You can also download the whole Win With Women Global Action Plan.( I was a signatory on this plan.)

There are also some strategies mentioned which have to do with training women , an initiative one hopes could be financed by the political parties themselves or non-profits organized for the purposes of empowering women in politics

Some other specifics this plan asks for the following:

a. Increase the number of women elected officials at the national, state and local levels.

b.Ensure that political parties include women in meaningful leadership positions and in meaningful numbers.

c. Encourage greater participation of women in government decision-making and advocating for legislation that enshrines the full equality of women and men.

There are really only a couple of strategies which have been effective historically:

1. Getting goals written into law such as TItle IX and sexual harassment laws: only about 10 or 12 years ago women were having to file sexual harassment lawsuits against major Stock Brokerages, Oil companies etc. for egregious behavior. Once they understand how much it will cost them, they cut out that behavior.

2. Keep moving women up, with the goal of having 50% women in a particular group, like the Congress. That’s when change happens

3. In the same vein, have a plan to move women into local office, starting w Sheriff and dog catcher. Eventually they can rise to mayor. And, as the late, great Gov Annie Richards used to say, her election was on the backs of women mayors. In my town, San Antonio, Texas, we are moving women into City Council, where they now dominate and the next step is mayor.

In other words, don’t focus on telling the media or anyone not to be misogynist . Focus on getting ( a greater number of ) women the power, then the misogyny will start to be kept under control.

Also, since legislation historically has been effective, we might all think about getting behind a bill passing through the legislature right now, governing the FCC, which could restrict the media’s use on the public airwaves of certain words against women such as the B word.

Working around those intiatives would certainly be a good start.