A Woman's Woman

WHEN Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D.-Colo.) announced her candidacy for president this summer many people were in disagreement. They doubted the sense of a woman running for president when it was clear that the country would not elect one, no matter how qualified she truly was.

But the importance of Schroeder's candidacy did not lie in her ability to win but in her visibility and qualifications as a candidate--her stature as a respected politician would have proven that a woman of the 1980s could do the job. Geraldine Ferarro already taught the nation that lesson four years ago.

Though her vice-presidential campaign was marred by the financial dealings of her husband and other crises, Ferraro was a role model for a new generation of women. She proved that women could not only aspire to move outside their homes and enter the rankand-file workforce, but that they could also assume top leadership roles.

Ferarro's position as an Institute of Politics fellow this semester allows her to continue as a role model for younger women. As Ferarro said in a speech last week, her example can inspire confidence in women that they can start early in politics, or any career, and succeed.

I particularly admire Ferraro because she was my role model when I grew up. Unlike most children who constantly changed their minds about their future plans, I always answered that typical adult query, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" by saying that, more than anything, I wanted to be a politician.

As I grew older I noticed that adults seemed taken aback when I announced my intentions, as though they wondered why I would want to run for office. And when I was about nine or 10 I finally realized that many found this ambition so unusual for the simple reason that I was a woman.

The politicians I saw on TV weren't women. They were large blustery men with red faces or they were tall charismatic men with white teeth and big smiles--but they were never women. After I realized this I began to doubt whether I wanted to be a politician and, more importantly, whether I could accomplish what I set out to do. I was scared that my gender could effect my success.

It was about this time that my family went to Washington for a weekend. Geraldine Ferraro, who had just been elected to the House of Representatives the year before, donated the trip to an auction held by my elementary school, where her daughter was a student.

The calm, self-assured presence of Ferraro has remained with me ever since. Over the weekend she took us on a tour of the Capitol, treated us to lunch in the members' Dining Room, and let my sister and me vote in her place. She explained the sights and people to us as she walked confidently down the halls, stopping to discuss an upcoming vote with her colleagues.

I left Washington with a renewed belief in the possibilities open to women. Four years later she provided another, greater, boost in confidence by announcing she would run for Vice President.

Her candidacy gave her a chance to reach beyond the women she had come into direct contact with to touch the mass of women in this country who have few powerful role models. And just as she expanded her role to reach an entire country, so now, at Harvard, she will be able to aim her support and experience at the ambitious women here.