Jean Bethke Elshtain and Jean O’Barr reflect on the profound changes in the role of women in U.S. politics in the mid-1980s. Images of women in American political history range from portraits of Betsy Ross stitching the flag, to early newsreels of white-clad suffragettes marching for the right to vote, to television commercials with Geraldine Ferraro asking for votes in the 1984 national election. These images reflect the evolution of women’s place in politics up to the time that election occurred.
At the time of this interview, Elshtain, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (2000-2001) and a trustee of the Center, was professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. O’Barr was director of the Women’s Studies Program at Duke University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
