Nairobi, Copenhagen, Mexico City -- (and now Beijing) -- all were conceived at a comparatively small meeting of women June 1 through 4, 1973 at Harvard Divinity School. The First International Feminist Planning Conference was convened by the National Organization for Women. There was little press coverage at Harvard, and absolutely no political interference. Nobody cared.
It was almost midnight on the second day. An impromptu debate between Betty Friedan and Soviet delegates Lilia Felipova and Marietta Stepaniants touched on whether men should help out in the workplace or in the household.
This was not relevant, said Yoko Ono as she interrupted. Yoko said, "Forget men for now; they certainly never think of us at world conferences." She told us to glory in ourselves and our unity.
"We are creating a new nation here, a nation of women," said Yoko.
My tape of that meeting rings here with shouts and cheers. But what has become of it ... our nation of women?
The leaders among us at that time all thought United Nations sponsorship of future conferences would be good. It promised women the cachet of recognition leading to what our feminist theory professors now call "instrumentality." Women should be able to bring change with the UN imprimatur. Right? Wrong. Maybe.
Non-Governmental Organization gatherings reportedly accomplish more than the spotlighted and politics-infested official UN meetings. Why do governments program their delegations to deal with issues outside the specific concerns of women? That's easy. Because when women talk about general political matters they are NOT addressing their own needs. They do not disturb the status quo; the one men like so well.
(That may be why the first population conference in the 1960s? had no women in attendance.)
We women certainly created no upsets 22 years ago. True, we seriously unnerved a squad of Cambridge police officers with our celebration, song-fest and snake dance backed by John Lennon on bongos, a stand-up bass and Yoko belting out her song, "Woman Power." American police cordoned around the church, were simply not ready for the jubilant ululation of the Arab women.
It was easy getting to know each other; 300 of us from 24 countries. Space was no problem. We shared rooms in Lesley College dorms, and met in the classrooms of Harvard's Divinity School.
Some individuals made lasting impressions: Libby Koontz, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor, Helsinki councilmember Karmela Belinki, Swaziland Parliament member Mary Mdiniso... The pungent comments of Sweden's Berit As drew us to ask her to meet us outside the sessions. In our nightgowns we huddled around her at dawn as she told us of her work and her hope -- later fulfilled -- of being the first woman in Sweden's Parliament.
BRING BACK CHANGE
Is it time for women to take over the job of bringing change?
Women now know who we are. We are more than half most populations, if we live long enough to be counted -- 52.5 percent of the American population; about 54.5 percent of the US registered voters. In other parts of the world we are also a majority of the work force and raise most of the food.
Can women assume the responsibility of global meetings without government help? Some women's groups handle conventions of comparable size with regularity and with aplomb. Awesome though the Nairobi numbers seem, they are less than those on the convention rosters of several major black American sororities.
The job of rallying the world's women would require the resources of a conglomerate of organizations. Karmela Belinki of Finland advised American women at that Harvard meeting in 1973 to look to the veteran organizations such as the General Federation of Women's Clubs and the League of Women Voters for guidance and support. She could be right. These groups have experience bucking the tides, and they have funds. Would they help, along with the National Council of Negro Women, Jewish women's organizations, National Organization for Women, National Women's Political Caucus, the women's groups of Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East...? Now may be the time to ask.
Sheila Prag of Israel, invited to speak for her country at the end of the conference, said that had she had more notice, "I would have gotten together with my sisters from Egypt, and..." Spontaneous applause mounted as the Egyptian women ran down the aisle and clasped Sheila in their arms. An Hispanic-American woman speaking for the women of Cuba, caught the mood as the Israeli and the Egyptians clung together, laughing and crying.
She wondered aloud if some day, "the power of our love will triumph over the love of power."
We will never know unless we take Yoko's advice. She told us not to be afraid. Don't worry about making mistakes -- the kind that men make with their uses of power, she urged. Attain the power to help ourselves; then worry about mistakes, if any. ###
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