“From Whence We Came, Where We Are, and Where We Have Yet To Go” — Insights into Gender-Equitable Policy: An Interview with Sharon Nelson

Alex Lehman: You have worked as a political strategist for both Democrats and Republicans, identifying your priority as “civic engagement.” Further, you helped lead the National Women’s Political Caucus, which seeks to empower women across the aisle to run for office and promote pro-choice policy. How effective and feasible is a non-partisan approach in today’s hyper-polarized political climate? 

Sharon Nelson: In 1971, the year the National Women’s Political Caucus was founded, the main conversation was that Roe v. Wade was coming. More than 300 women started the Caucus on the Hill of Washington, DC. Among their iconic leaders were Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem, and Betty Friedan. These four proved that even though they were very different politically, they shared the struggle and understanding of being marginalized in a man’s world. They were able to gather hundreds of peers who understood—whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, Green Party, or whatever— that the thing they all had in common was their gender. 

While they did not agree on what ended up happening with a woman’s right to choose, they agreed that a woman had a right to choose if she was having a family or not. It’s not the business of the court system, and it’s not the business of men. It’s the business of the woman who subsequently has to take care of that child and feed and nurture that child every day. It’s the business of the woman to know if she is prepared and has the capacity to deal with that kind of responsibility. So, the National Women’s Political Caucus was very instrumental in the decision and the framework of Roe v. Wade. 

Now, it’s become so subject to politics, and that’s part of the problem with the extreme polarization that we have now. We can’t keep on dodging the issue of a more perfect union. We have to be grown-ups—mature enough and wise enough to understand how to bridge these gaps and mitigate these differences.

AL: What is the impact of elevating women’s political power?

SN: For so long, “we the people” has been defined by a white, male standard. This is misleading. Women historically have been positioned as the weaker sex, as an appendage to a man, and were never really enfranchised on their own. Why women? Because we never really were taken seriously or given the power to determine our futures. We’re still working on enfranchising ourselves.

Gender creates a different way of looking at the world and problem solving; it’s not so “cookie cutter.” If you’ve never been somewhere and done something, how can you make policy without a frame of reference? That’s been going on for centuries. A diversity of experiences at the table shapes the way legislation is passed, laws are created, and quality of life improves. I’m very hopeful that with new leadership and women in the lead, we will start to see things differently. 

AL: Engaging American history is so central to your work, from drawing inspiration from the suffrage movement to continuing to champion the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). What do we make of our imperfect history? How should it inform our political engagement?

SN: There’s a lot of American history that we are not proud of. We’re in correction mode now, and I think the epiphany of that is refreshing. We have these hard discussions because they are cathartic. They are meant for us to understand from whence we came, where we are currently, and where we yet have to go.

Women are 51 percent of the population. Why is the bar so high that we cannot pass something like the ERA when women are contributing every day to the maintenance and upkeep of this country?

As a woman of color, I think it’s very important to have the sort of social justice where we can talk about different historical traditions in America—histories of Black women, Hispanic women, Asian women, and Indigenous women. It is a beautiful thing. We are bonding over the strength of our participation in this amazing sisterhood. Not only are we raising each other up, but we are encouraging each other by acknowledging each other. 

We can’t be selfish. Instead, we have to be able to learn to work together, not apart. That’s the only way we’re going to get our society the progress that we need. Without that, systemic racism and sexism will continue. 

My hope is that we can come to this order where people respect each other and nurture each other. That’s the key to a more perfect union. If we could all agree to do that and put aside our individual baggage, then that’s what I call progress.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.