President Wears Prada (WisCon 31 panel)

138 The President Wears Prada; or Women: The Dark Side

Politics, Race, Class, and Religion•Capitol B• Sunday, 10:00-11:15 a.m.

Here's a topic we couldn't have at early WisCons, but maybe with the possibility of two women being nominated as Presidential candidates, it's time. We used to hope that politics run by women would be innately more peacable and tolerant, less violent and punitive. Then we got Margaret Thatcher and Ann Coulter. We still want to believe that government by women would be less corrupt and more ethically, ecologically sound, but recent voting records suggest that if a woman thinks her child might be in danger, she can be as vengeful and oppressive a reactionary as any guy who ever tanked up an SUV. Can we afford to think we're better? If women get a chance at real power, what do we need to watch out for? Might the President turn out to "wear Prada"?

M: Janice M. Eisen, Karen Babich, Richard Bowes, Laurie J. Marks, Kassandra Grace Sojourner