Recently, I read the special section in The New York Times entitled “Redefining Representation: The Women of the 116th Congress,” and I felt more hopeful than I have since Nov. 8, 2016. Published in January, it featured portraits of all the women who are now serving in Congress.
The introduction to the section pointed out that since the establishment of the country, portraits of the leaders have been almost exclusively of men — white men — dressed in the formal attire of their era. These hang in the halls of Congress and statehouses across the country.
To update the face of leadership, The New York Times assigned two women photographers to take portraits of the women serving in the House and Senate as of Jan. 1. Some are newly elected, part of the Women’s Wave celebrated in marches all over the country. Others are the more familiar names and faces of veteran women who have served in Congress, some from as early as the 1980s. The newest members range in age from the youngest, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 29 to Donna Shalala, the oldest at 77.
Snowed in on a Sunday morning, I settled into a chair and began to look carefully at each portrait. Every picture was identified with the name, state and party affiliation of the woman, followed by a few lines capturing some of her unique history or special interests. My first impression as I scanned the section was of the striking diversity of the women. I thought of this again last Tuesday night when I saw these women of the Congress attending the State of the Union speech, dressed in white to honor the suffragists.
As I read about these women, I realized that there were many “firsts” among them: the first black congresswoman from Massachusetts, the first two Muslim women, the first two Native American women, and the first woman to be the Speaker of the House now in her second term. On and on it went, firsts building on each other; the changing face of the Congress, of leadership, of power.
Many acknowledged the women who had been their role models: grandmothers, mothers, aunts and sisters. They gave credit to those who had encouraged them and talked about standing on the shoulders of those who had gone before. Looking to the future, 31-year-old Katie Hill of California said, “Being a woman in power means making space for the women who will come after me.”
Some of the women spoke about different experiences that had compelled them to run for office: the murder of a son, watching a mother suffer from cancer without access to good medical care. Two or three began as advocates for their children with special needs and eventually realized they needed to run for office to effect real change. There were single mothers who talked about the particular challenges of raising children on their own and their commitment to working on behalf of children and families. As Marcia Fudge of Ohio explained, “It is our duty … to also be the voice of women not allowed in the room.”
I’m saving that special section of the Times so I can follow the women I read about on that snowy Sunday. My sense of hope rests with these women and the allies they make. I hope that Katherine Clark, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts is proven right when she says, “Women govern differently. We are negotiators; we listen.”
I want to be able to track them as they speak out and vote. Susan Brooks, a Republican representative from Indiana said, “Americans expect members of Congress to work together to find common ground.” Hopefully, women will be leaders in finding that common ground to work across the partisan divide that has been so dysfunctional.
Val Demings, a former police chief elected as a representative from Florida in 2016, said, “I realized we cannot change Congress unless we change the kind of people we send to Congress.”
The 131 women now in Congress are testimony to the change that is happening. So I am saving “The Women of the 116th Congress” to read over again whenever I need an infusion of hope.
Marion Van Arsdell is a retired special education teacher and writer who lives in Florence. Her book “I Teached Him to Talk: Stories of Children with Autism” was published by Levellers Press in 2018.