Hmmmm it seems as if the new NOW President, Terry O'Neill is part PUMA. Maybe I will have to give them and their website a look over again with fresh new eyes.
By DAVID CRARY (AP) – 57 minutes agoNEW YORK — Men behaving badly. It wasn't a topic that Terry O'Neill expected to find high on her agenda as new president of the National Organization for Women, but she's tackling it with zest and determination.
Elected as NOW's leader in June, O'Neill had plenty on her plate already — notably trying to gauge the impact on women, for good or ill, in the multiple proposals for health care overhaul. Then along came the Roman Polanski and David Letterman controversies, and she charged briskly onto a new front.
Polanski "is a convicted criminal pedophile" and making excuses for him is "dangerous talk," O'Neill declared earlier this month after some luminaries in Hollywood and Europe questioned a move by Swiss authorities to detain the film director for possible extradition to the U.S. He faces a charge dating from 1978 of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Four days after the Polanski statement, O'Neill fired another salvo after Letterman's on-air revelation — prompted by an alleged extortion attempt — that he had sex with women working under him on his "Late Show."
"As 'the boss,' he is responsible for setting the tone for his entire workplace — and he did that with sex," O'Neill said. "In any work environment, this places all employees — including employees who happen to be women — in an awkward, confusing and demoralizing situation."
The decision to speak out about Letterman prompted a surge of e-mails to NOW headquarters, many commending O'Neill and many criticizing her. One message accused O'Neill of "man-hating," while another praised her for raising the workplace issue on behalf of daughters and their parents.
Despite her other priorities, O'Neill doesn't see the two incidents as a distraction and views her statements as part of "an important conversation to have."
"Men behaving badly is exactly the problem in this country," she said in a telephone interview. "It's not a diversion — it's at the core of why women are unequal, why they are kept in second-class citizenship."
O'Neill didn't drop the topic after issuing her statements. NOW urged its supporters to rally outside movie theaters in support of victims of rape and sexual assault, and O'Neill wrote to the president of CBS, which airs the "Late Show," requesting a meeting and urging the network to appoint more women to its board of directors.
CBS declined to respond publicly to O'Neill, but noted that women are presidents of several of its key divisions, including CBS Entertainment, CBS Films, CBS Sales and Simon & Schuster.
O'Neill also wrote to Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, Inc., which replied on Thursday.
"As an employee of David Letterman's since 1985, I have personally found the work environment on his shows to be fair, professional and entirely merit-based at all times," wrote Worldwide Pants CEO Rob Burnett, who said Letterman has never been the target of a sexual harassment claim.
Burnett also noted that women hold numerous high-level executive posts in the company.
O'Neill linked the Polanski and Letterman controversies to a broader trend that has troubled her in recent years — nasty, gender-based attacks on women in public life, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama and new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
"We're living in a time when women who put themselves forward as leaders are subjected to vicious misogynistic attacks — it's very analogous to sexual harassment in the workplace," she said in the interview. "The message to other women is, 'Stay in your place.'"
O'Neill said her dismay with Letterman didn't hinge on the legality of his conduct.
"The question is whether the atmosphere in that workplace was poisoned by that lord of the manor, where everybody is made to understand that the women are there for sex and the men are there for work," she said.
O'Neill, 57, was somewhat of a surprise winner in NOW's leadership election in June, beating a 33-year-old NOW vice president who'd been endorsed by outgoing president Kim Gandy.
O'Neill, a former law professor, vowed in her campaign to reinvigorate NOW's grass-roots activism and deploy tougher tactics to convey its views.
On the job for four months, O'Neill has found the work intense — particularly trying to keep up-to-date on how the evolving health care proposals might affect women.
She worries that the eventual plan might lack a public option allowing the government to sell health insurance in competition with private companies, and that such a result would dismay many women.
"It breaks my heart," she said, expressing fears that many progressive women would be so disheartened that they wouldn't vote in 2010 and thus create an opening for "dreadful, anti-women candidates to win."
Maybe Ms. O'Neill would have done a better job than her predecessor handling the chauvinistic attitude of o-usurper. I like that she came out swinging!
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Barack/Barry: If you're NOT LEGIT, then you MUST QUIT!!
"It breaks my heart," she said, expressing fears that many progressive women would be so disheartened that they wouldn't vote in 2010 and thus create an opening for "dreadful, anti-women candidates to win."
Umm...some of those same "dreadful, anti-women candidates" are not up for re-election in 2010, some just sit by the Democratic Party fireplace and leer at the lack of boobage that suits their fancy out of the interns. I like the new NOW President but have to remind her that Pubs are not the wolves in sheep's clothing, they share the lambswool with the Dems too.
I think we need to show many incumbent men the door in 2010 and 2012 and fill their positions with women from either party. That is the only way that we will have any hope for representation for issues that concern women.
O'Neill, 57, was somewhat of a surprise winner in NOW's leadership election in June, beating a 33-year-old NOW vice president who'd been endorsed by outgoing president Kim Gandy.
O'Neill, a former law professor, vowed in her campaign to reinvigorate NOW's grass-roots activism and deploy tougher tactics to convey its views.
On the job for four months, O'Neill has found the work intense — particularly trying to keep up-to-date on how the evolving health care proposals might affect women.
She worries that the eventual plan might lack a public option allowing the government to sell health insurance in competition with private companies, and that such a result would dismay many women.
"It breaks my heart," she said, expressing fears that many progressive women would be so disheartened that they wouldn't vote in 2010 and thus create an opening for "dreadful, anti-women candidates to win."
O'Neill has been much more active than her predecessor. There are a few things I've been wondering about since she took over. First, I wonder if the women's movement should really be in the hands of women over 40 (O'Neill is 57). I say this as someone who is in her late 30s. As I get older I see now that I was much weaker when I was younger and was unwilling to speak out against sexism (because I did feel weak). O'Neill has more life experience and doesn't have the hang-ups that young women have. That's one reason I see for her outspokenness.
In reference to the whole Letterman thing- it seems that it is younger women who support Letterman and more mature women who understand that his behavior would have created a negative work environment for all women who worked for him. Young women just don't get that when an employer approaches you for sex that you will eventually be the loser because you have no power in that situation (I'm thinking not just of the Letterman thing, but Monica Lewinsky, the young lady who was having an affair with that congressman from CA and ended up missing, etc.). Long story short, perhaps women under 40 could only really be "feminists in training" because those life experiences that we have in our 20s and 30s are critical to understanding how gender works in our society.
Finally, I think O'Neill is right when she points out that women still have many obstacles to overcome. It seems that the worst thing one can be in our society is an older or overweight woman. Those two "sins" are unforgivable. Society can forgive men who cheat, beat women, make misogynistic comments and so forth, but we can't have "fat old" women on T.V., or doing the news, or in magazine ads... I guess women over 40 or who weigh more than 120 pounds have to hide themselves in shame and live in seclusion.
"It breaks my heart," she said, expressing fears that many progressive women would be so disheartened that they wouldn't vote in 2010 and thus create an opening for "dreadful, anti-women candidates to win."
Umm...some of those same "dreadful, anti-women candidates" are not up for re-election in 2010, some just sit by the Democratic Party fireplace and leer at the lack of boobage that suits their fancy out of the interns. I like the new NOW President but have to remind her that Pubs are not the wolves in sheep's clothing, they share the lambswool with the Dems too.
I think we need to show many incumbent men the door in 2010 and 2012 and fill their positions with women from either party. That is the only way that we will have any hope for representation for issues that concern women.
STAMP! STAMP! STAMP! This is why the 2008 PUMA's need to reunite and keep to the cause Optix just stated. We PUMA's started this agenda and now we must continue it forward for all women.
"It breaks my heart," she said, expressing fears that many progressive women would be so disheartened that they wouldn't vote in 2010 and thus create an opening for "dreadful, anti-women candidates to win."
Umm...some of those same "dreadful, anti-women candidates" are not up for re-election in 2010, some just sit by the Democratic Party fireplace and leer at the lack of boobage that suits their fancy out of the interns. I like the new NOW President but have to remind her that Pubs are not the wolves in sheep's clothing, they share the lambswool with the Dems too.
I think we need to show many incumbent men the door in 2010 and 2012 and fill their positions with women from either party. That is the only way that we will have any hope for representation for issues that concern women.
STAMP! STAMP! STAMP! This is why the 2008 PUMA's need to reunite and keep to the cause Optix just stated. We PUMA's started this agenda and now we must continue it forward for all women.
YES!!
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It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony
I've been weary of NOW for the past 18 months......Terry could very well be the new leadership that is needed, regardless I am glad she speaks out, and is not afraid to do so.
Sexism needs to taught to girls and boys starting at a very young age, even when they are babies! No one should be mistreated because of their gender at any age.
I've been weary of NOW for the past 18 months......Terry could very well be the new leadership that is needed, regardless I am glad she speaks out, and is not afraid to do so.
Sexism needs to taught to girls and boys starting at a very young age, even when they are babies! No one should be mistreated because of their gender at any age.
You are so right, Building 4112. Many teen girls I speak with have little concept of sexism - they don't recognize it as such, even when it's blatant. Needless to say, I try to enlighten them - lol.
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It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony
I don't know I hope she continues fighting but honestly I don't have a lot of respect for NOW right now. I just hope they don't just fight the Pubs but also the Democrats hell the Pubs didn't abuse Hillary or Palin in 2008 the Democrats did.
