Stepping Into A Leading Role It’s Time For Women To Take Their Place Planning Future

It was early morning at the conference center in downtown Seattle. More than 1,500 women filled the enormous meeting hall. The place needed some warming up so Ysaye Barnwell, composer, singer and Ph.D., led the crowd in a sort of Bible hymn. Women swayed, clapped their hands and sang: “We’ve got to keep hope alive in this world today. So every day, we’ve got to pray on, pray on.”

It was clear the Northwest International Women’s Conference: A Forum for Global Leadership was not going to be any ordinary conference. There was a sense it would find its way into history, a touchstone event that mapped out a new way to lead in the world, a way that combines the unique strengths of women and men. Around the country, 10 similar conferences were taking place the first weekend in February.

Alene Moris, one of the conference organizers, said: “When the world is in a time of radical upheaval as it has been for the last two decades or so, leaders will emerge to guide the process. But the profound question is, what kind of leaders? Women must be a powerful part of the answer to that question.

“We know that whoever shapes the questions decides the basic direction of the debate, so if women are not in at the beginning when the questions are asked, we really have not much hope for the future.”

The conference was refreshing because new ground was explored. No male-bashing. No women-asvictim seminars. No whining allowed. The message was simple: For the past 30 years, women have struggled to redefine their roles in society. They’ve succeeded. They can now be wives and mothers and workers and leaders. So it’s time to step into leadership roles wherever women find them - in their family, their church, their workplace, their community. Step into the roles and be themselves, in partnership with men.

“You don’t have time NOT to be great,” said Dr. Jean Houston, a behavioral scientist and author. “This is the open corridor of time. Have the spunk and the vision to do the impossible.”

Houston reassured the crowd that the increased violence toward women and the “revenge of the white males” in the 1994 election are part of the cataclysmic change. Houston called it “the sunset effect of the old order.” She said: “What happens when the sun goes down? It blazes out. When something colossal is about to happen, everything rises to stop it. But there is no turning back. Women are joining men in full partnership.”

The conference was refreshing in another way. Most of the main speakers were in their 50s, 60s and 70s. Women from around the world, from Africa, India, Egypt, Taiwan. Role models showing younger women how to lead. They flavored their talks with drama, irreverence, humor.

“To be a woman in the midst of women is glorious!” exclaimed poet and keynoter Maya Angelou. “I know men are phenomenal, too. And I will just say this to the TWO men in the audience - you will have to give your own conference.”

In reality, dozens of men attended the conference and some helped facilitate the break-out sessions, sessions with titles such as “What Can I, a Man, Do to Create a Balanced Society?”

Practical leadership suggestions were passed on in each session and in the Young Women’s Forum, moderated by MTV newscaster Tabitha Soren. For instance, Monica Ramsey told the group how she hires welfare mothers in her Seattle-area corporate gift-buying company. But the young businesswoman didn’t gloss over the difficulties.

“Many of the women are trapped in depression. We do day care for them, but it’s hard - emotionally and financially. But that’s what women can do in business. Think about those issues.” Ramsey added:

“Men are not the enemies. They are our partners.”

The partnership way will revolutionize our families, our communities, our workplaces in the coming 30 years, conference leaders said. Are women and men ready?

“The path emerges as you walk it,” said psychologist and conference panelist Shamita Das Dasgupta. “So walk it.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with story: Thoughts on maturity Excerpts from the conference “Mission Statement” by Alene H. Moris: “The way most people try to survive these days emotionally is to not think about the issues. We carry on in a trance of denial. We tend to overwork, we use drugs and alcohol, we hide away at home and busy ourselves with relatively small matters. We decide not to listen to the news, we close our ears to the ugliness and mean-spiritedness on the radio and TV. We retreat into a kind of privatism of like-minded friends. “We retreat into these various forms of denial and passivity because we feel so helpless. And it does feel hopeless, especially when we hear the proposed solutions which are all set in the same old way of thinking. More jails, more police, more military, more sophisticated weapons, more manipulation of national economies. Nothing new at all, just more and more domination and control. More violence of all sorts by the people in power. There is no end to the battle when there is no change in the basic way of thinking. “(We need) a basic change in the way of thinking. A change away from simplistic domination control to try to find a new way best described as tough love - a balanced approach of the masculine principle or spirit and the feminine principle or spirit. Discipline and nurture - very clear boundaries and compassion. What the Chinese call the balance yin-yang style. What I would call maturity.”