Interview with Pat Schroeder
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In continuation of our collaborative woman president project series, Marianne Schnall interviewed former presidential candidate and Congresswoman Pat Schroeder. Elected at age 31, Schroeder was the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado and served twelve terms. In the interview, she shares some of her experiences being a woman in politics, talks about what has changed in the political climate for women since she ran for president in 1988, and explains how having a woman president would help further women’s equality in all areas, including the corporate world.
She also emphasizes how crucial it is for women to encourage other women to run for office: “Women have hesitated to do that I think. We tend to want to be in the bleachers and watch the action rather than be cheering for one of our own down on the stage. I think we all need to be much more encouraging.” In her political career, she had to deal first-hand with the stereotypes placed on women, and while she believes things have improved over the years, she asserts that those stereotypes are still at play.
Parts of this interview were used in a previous release, 3 Steps Closer to the Oval Office
“When about the 15th press person said to me, ‘How can you be a Congresswoman and mother?’ I said, ‘I have a brain, I have a uterus, and they both work.’”
Joining women’s groups who are protesting the administration’s withholding of funds appropriated by Congress, including federal funding of day care centers, Representative Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.), brought her daughter Jamie, 2 1/2, to work with her, April 10, 1973. Here, she answers questions in her Capitol office while holding Jamie. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
Marianne Schnall is a widely published writer and interviewer whose writings and interviews have appeared in a variety of media outlets including O, The Oprah Magazine,TIME.com, In Style, CNN.com, EW.com, the Women’s Media Center, and many others. Marianne is a featured blogger at The Huffington Post and a contributor to the nationally syndicated NPR radio show, 51 Percent: The Women’s Perspective. Schnall is the founder and Executive Director of Feminist.com, a leading women’s website and nonprofit organization. For nearly 20 years, Feminist.com has
been fostering awareness, education, and activism for people all across the world.
Marianne’s latest book What Will It Take to Make A Woman President?: Conversations About Women, Leadership and Power, features interviews with politicians, public officials, thought leaders, writers, artists, and activists in an attempt to discover the obstacles that have held women back and what needs to change in order to elect a woman into the White House. Marianne’s first interview with the Pat Schroeder can be found in her book.