At a moment in political history when feminists have a friend in the White House (and her husband might be a friend as well), the National Organization for Women begins the task of trying to reclaim ground lost during the long, dark night of the administration of George W. Bush.
At a convention last week in Indianapolis, NOW elected Maryland's Terry O'Neill - white, a lawyer, a divorced mother and 56 years old - as its new president.
The chief of staff to Montgomery County Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg defeated Latifa Lyles, 33, an African-American from the District, on campaign pledges to return to the grass-roots organizing fundamentals of NOW. In contrast, Ms. Lyles had talked of youth and diversity and the need to work the Internet and the halls of Congress for change.
Ms. O'Neill's margin of victory was just eight votes out of about 600 votes cast - hardly a mandate from an organization with more than a half-million members - and it suggests a generational rift in the women's movement that is still trying to shed its white, middle-class image.
Ms. O'Neill said in an interview that she recognized the need for NOW to reach out to young women, who might believe that sexism has been solved, and to poor women, who might believe the movement is only there for women who have been passed over for partner.
"I don't think generational issues are insurmountable," she said. "Young people have absolutely as much to teach me."
She also pointed to the other women on her ticket, including two twenty-somethings, Erin Matson, who is white, and Allendra Letsome, who is African-American, as representative of the youth and diversity NOW needs going forward.
"I do care about our image. Image matters," she said. "That's one of the reasons why we will be operating on a model of shared leadership. I wanted different life experiences because I know it is important."
The new president takes the reins of a movement that has not moved women very far forward in its 40 years. Yes, want ads are no longer divided by sex, pregnant teachers are not fired, and a woman can get credit in her own name. But women still earn just 70 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, and single women heads of households earn even less.
Ms. O'Neill appears ready to take NOW back to its roots - organizing around these economic issues.
"This moment we are living in is transformational," Ms. O'Neill said in an interview. "Women's rights advocates have a real friend in the White House."
