Riding the wave

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat

Earlier this month, Elizabeth Dole quit her job as head of the Red Cross and further added to speculation on whether she will run as the first female presidential candidate in United States history. This news, along with political rumors that Hillary Clinton is debating whether or not to campaign for Patrick Moynihan's soon-to-be vacant New York senate seat, and the hype surrounding the Arizona Fab-Five lead by governor Jane Dee Hull, brought up many thoughts concerning the progress of feminist evolution, and the success women seem poised to receive in an arena which has unfortunately been denied the talents that women have sharpened through years of patriarchal servitude.

As the nineties come to a close, we have seen the evolution of feminist theory, and those who subscribe to its many ideologies. Feminists now are hybrids: part Ally McBeal, part SUV soccer mom yuppie. Affectionately self-titled Third Wavers, these feminists are children of the Baby Boom generation and, in a rebellious way, completely adverse to politics.

Unfortunately, to many, the word "feminist" conjures up thoughts of army fatigue-wearing lesbians or suburban socialist vegans. The truth is that the spectrum spans far wider than such pigeon-holing. Third Wave feminists are made up of people who refuse to subscribe to older feminist paradigms, opting for a more centrist view of themselves which focuses more on the harmony of difference than on the intonation of equality.

What sets Third Wavers apart from their more serious Second Wave parents is that Third Wave feminists are not only women, but men as well; a fact that in many ways has allowed the term 'feminist' to be popularized negatively, as though it were a weapon in the verbal arsenal of band-wagon thought-pattern pollsters and militant politically correct "consciousness raising" mediators.

Sadly, Third Wavers refuse to be associated with a term that carries so much political weight. Their numbers see the ebb and flow of American politics through the jaundice-tinted glasses of post-Nixon era scandals. From Tailhook to the entire Clinton administration, political scandals are no longer shocking. They are events that satisfy the expectations of a generation which has lost faith in the integrity of all politicians long ago.

So then why, with this jaded society, does a sudden shift toward women in politics become the lightning bolt that may save a lost generation's faith in its leaders? Easy, Mom is always right.

Many male politicians have proven that they can be lead astray far too easily from their line of sight. Power is an aphrodisiac that seems to give them confidence to veer strikingly away from decorum, and into red-light district behavior. Even those who have contributed to keeping women away from elected seats of higher power, have roundly helped the feminist political agenda by supplying the ultimate training ground for any wily and subtle leader: the family.

Generations upon generations of women shackled to the confines of a patriarchal system have given women the mediation and compromise skills to effectively sponsor any bipartisan legislature. The only place with more effective lobbyists than Washington is the average dining room table. Whether convincing Dad to "be a little easier on the Beave next time," to using subtle, but powerful moves to have Thanksgiving dinner with her side of the family (for once), mothers have perfected the art of politics in the nuclear home; arguably the most partisan and diverse group of people forced to live together peacefully.

It is too premature to say that this wave of women elected officials will result in better leaders. That would be a sexist conclusion. But what it does mean is that elected women are no longer political novelties, set adrift by post-Anita Hill gusts. Women have reached a stage where they too have attended the best schools in America, have worked in the best law firms, managed the most successful companies - illustrating that they have everything it takes to bat with the boys and the grace to do it as effectively as possible: very, very quietly and without a pat on the tush.