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It's going to be very important that we as women's rights advocates are involved in redistricting of both the states legislatures and of the House of Representatives and that we not lose seats but we gain seats for talented women and our country, but we're lacking behind.

Eleanor Smeal

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Eleanor Smeal
Age: 85
Born: 1939
Born: July 30
Feminist
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Ohio
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More quotes by Eleanor Smeal

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Carolyn Maloney knows how to get something done, and as I said, it doesn't matter if she's in the majority or the minority. It doesn't matter if she's chair of a committee or not, she can figure out how to get a piece of legislation passed, and that's what is - is a unique quality.
Eleanor Smeal
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Carolyn Maloney is really constantly thinking, How do we improve things? You know, sees the glass always half-full, and you have to be an optimist to work in Washington. So that's what I - we admire so much about her.
Eleanor Smeal
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I mean, how many men would have gone on to the floor of the House as Carolyn Maloney did and wear a burkha to show the fight of Afghan women.
Eleanor Smeal
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Carolyn Maloney is very, very comfortable with a whole host of issues, but on women's issues, she is really just one of the few people who understands that women are not only half of the world and half of the United States, but they need an advocate that they have to have advocacy that our issues cannot be ignored.
Eleanor Smeal
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Well it's unusual for us to do an endorsement, you know, and the special occasions where you need appointments, but we thought that Senator [Hillary] Clinton had occupied such a neat and unique role, certainly a worldwide advocate for women, and also there's also only 16 women without her in Congress.
Eleanor Smeal
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I'm not a prejudice person, and I've worked with many male legislators and some have been excellent for us, so I'm not speaking against a class of people.
Eleanor Smeal
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One of the problems and the reason why Carolyn [Maloney ] wrote the book, the Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated is that some people think we have made it when we have not and there's much to be done.
Eleanor Smeal
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There's no question in my mind but that rights are never won unless people are willing to fight for them.
Eleanor Smeal
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In New York that probably has more lawyers per square foot than any other state in the union, more women lawyers. I mean, it to me shocking that this can happen in 2008, but fortunately, you had a governor who was sensitive enough to this outrage that he pointed it out to the nation, and is trying to do something about it.
Eleanor Smeal
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I've been here a long time working for women. These are long years and this is an unusual legislator.
Eleanor Smeal
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We think that Hillary [Clinton] will be a symbol and a reality for the women of the world, and it's very important because so many - so many underdeveloped countries, not the least of which is Afghanistan, the women of the world need help, and she understands those issues and is a lightning rod for them.
Eleanor Smeal
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No one thinks she [Carolyn Maloney] can pass the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act she passed it through the House. I mean, it's just - she's there. She knows the issues and she makes sure they get done.
Eleanor Smeal
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Carolyn Maloney has been a consistent fighter for Afghan women but also for International Family Planning Bills.
Eleanor Smeal
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I personally think that people should get the book because it is like a blueprint. It shows you the work that needs to be done if we're ever going to get economic equality, health, reproductive health, violence. I mean, it's every category.
Eleanor Smeal
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We have got to have more providers to replace those who are leaving.
Eleanor Smeal
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We need some rules changes. This is an outrage that this, the oldest democracy has now, you know, ranked - when I say ranked 59th, it means that in the percentage of women, in our national parliament, our National Congress, is now ranks 59th from the top. That means 58 countries have more women than we do in percentage wise.
Eleanor Smeal
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We have so few women in Congress. We are so underrepresented and whether we like it or not, we are in area - in an era that still the women, the handful that are there, have two jobs: they represent the constituency that they're from, and they also represent the women of the nation or the state or sometimes as Maloney has done, of the world.
Eleanor Smeal
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I'm not going to say that all the cabinet appointments of the men and women, you know, obviously we might have some reservations on some, but the women's movement has congratulated them for some of the appointments and is urging and encouraging more women in the Executive Branch and high areas.
Eleanor Smeal
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Feminist humor raises consciousness. And the reason it's funny is because it stands something on its head. Goodness knows you've got to have a sense of humor if you do feminism full-time, I tell you.
Eleanor Smeal
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Nowhere have women been more excluded from decision-making than in the military and foreign affairs. When it comes to the military and questions of nuclear disarmament, the gender gap becomes the gender gulf.
Eleanor Smeal