Page 61 - ECOlogic Book

This may be a moment in history when American voters are tuning in to this
revolution, ready to redress the balance of masculine and feminine. As
Laura Berman pointed out in a recent Detroit News article: “Women’s
traditional involvement in family and domestic issues, once perceived as
‘soft’, is now, at a time of domestic crisis – viewed as strength. Women are
bringing a kind of humanity to this political season that is helping transform
77
American politics.”

Moreover, women will bring differences in leadership style. “Women will
change not only the agenda, but hopefully the way we do business,” said
Harriet Woods, President of the National Women’s Political Caucus. “Women
tend to be more conciliatory, more apt to try to solve problems and more
responsive to open-door government . . . they are more likely to involve
citizens in the policy-making process; more likely to opt for government in
public view rather than behind closed doors.”

“Many are predicting 1992 as the year of the woman, with big change being
driven by gender, “says Berman. “In 1984, only 28% of voters thought the
country would be governed better if more women held office. Today that
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number is up to 61%.”

If these predictions prove true, perhaps Pan, the old god of nature, can rub
the rust off his ancient pipes and begin again playing his beguiling tune up
and down the halls of Congress, calling us all back once again, to a life
remembered in our genetic coding, when women were equal to men and
animals were equal to humans; a time when people knew how to live in
harmony with the natural world.

I don’t know if I’ll vote for the woman named Pan. But if she wins, I’ll be
thinking about Columbus, sailing the ocean blue, and the people In Dios, and
the Great Binding Law of Peace and the Iroquois and our constitution. I’ll be
listening for her flute and remembering a Kabir poem that goes like this:
The flute of interior time is played
Whether we hear it or not.
What we mean by “love”
Is its sound coming in.
When love hits the farthest edge of excess,
It reaches a wisdom,

77 Berman, Laura, ”Women Candidates have a New Mission in Mind for Congress”, June 7, 1992 Detroit
News.

78 Berman, Laura, quoted in April, 1992, U.S. News and World Report.

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