Always the strategist, Schroeder realized that a light touch would allow her words to carry more weight. For example, “When people ask me why I am running as a woman, I always answer, what choice do I have?”11
There were also role models in my personal life. For these specific individuals, I will refer to them by their first names because they became my friends. While studying at the University of Wisconsin, I was introduced to Ada Deer, an advocate for indigenous peoples. Among her many accomplishments, Ada served as chairwoman of the Menominee Restoration Committee (the interim tribal government). Later, appointed by President Bill Clinton, she was the first woman to serve as assistant secretary of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior.12 In her confirmation hearing, she said she wanted the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be a full partner in fulfilling the Indian agenda developed in Indian country. “The best way we can do this is for the tribes to decide what needs to be done and for the tribes to do it on their own terms, with our enthusiastic support.”13 Here again, a female leader advocated for self-determination.
Shortly after graduating college in the early 1970s, I volunteered to work with Ada and the Menominee. I accompanied tribal representatives to Washington, D.C. We lobbied to reverse the federal policy of termination—a law intended to pilfer tribal resources including timber, oil, and fish by ignoring long-standing treaties with the U.S. government. The Menominee and a handful of other, more wealthy tribes were desperate to save what was left of their land and regain tribal status.
As volunteers, we supported the Menominee by taking care of tasks, everything from logistics and travel arrangements to writing press copy and speeches. As a twenty-something, I found it thrilling to be part of this historic movement. Like many young people without a trust fund or other financial backing, I waitressed at night so I could volunteer during the day.
During that time, Ada introduced me to Nancy Lurie, Head Curator of Anthropology at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Author of books on Native Americans, notably Wisconsin Indians, Nancy put me up in her home and guided me through the process of documenting the Menominee struggle to save their land. The result was a book called Freedom with Reservation, published in 1972. As the coordinating editor, I had a range of duties including overseeing the distribution of 10,000 copies to build public awareness and drive momentum for our lobbying efforts.
Our reward was seeing the historic passage of the Menominee Restoration Act, signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1973. This act officially returned the Menominee Reservation (and those of ten other tribes) to federally recognized status.14 What was initially considered a hopeless campaign turned into a victory led by the Menominee, supported by the National Congress of American Indians, Native American Rights Fund, and a few of us outsiders.
Being encouraged by Nancy and Ada bolstered my self-confidence and was instrumental in shaping my career path. First as a student and then as a young professional, I was protesting injustices, and that instilled in me the belief that what I had to say mattered. Ada and I remain fast friends. She calls me her sister from another tribe.
These brave women made a difference by speaking out. I didn’t know all of them personally, but I saw them testify in Washington, speak on television, or deliver statements to the press. As a young woman, I responded to the power of their words and the raw emotion that revealed a determination and vulnerability much like my own.
Bella Abzug poked fun at herself when she said, “I’ve been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prize fighter, a man-hater, you name it. They call me Battling Bella, Mother Courage and a Jewish mother with more complaints than Portnoy.”15 Abzug frequently used humor to get her point across. Paraphrasing President Theodore Roosevelt, she said, “Women have been trained to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over.”16
Fifty-some years later, I’m not so sure. I’ve noticed that few women share their unique perspectives. Moreover, women often second-guess themselves and, when challenged, fail to successfully defend their positions or deflect criticism with humor.
Are women who speak out criticized (and discounted) because human nature tends to fear the new and unfamiliar? Or is it because these women challenge our perception of how women are supposed to behave? Judging from history and personal experience, I’d say it’s both. Women’s fear of public speaking involves more than our own inhibitions. We’re overcoming centuries of programming about our rightful place in society and what’s expected of us.
Thankfully, there have always been courageous women who lead the way and do what’s considered unladylike, immoral, and even illegal. The list includes Benazir Bhutto, Indira Gandhi, and Ernestine Rose, an early suffragist who served as the role model for Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
There have always been courageous women who lead the way and do what’s considered unladylike, immoral, and even illegal.
In a time when women were rarely, if ever, engaged in public speaking, Susan B. Anthony traveled the world advocating for women’s rights, and gave seventy-five to a hundred speeches a year. I doubt I could have withstood the withering criticism and ridicule she received, including the accusation that she was destroying the institution of marriage. Thankfully, Anthony persevered and was able to see sweeping change during her lifetime—in 1920, women were given the right to vote in the United States.
But it was Elizabeth Cady Stanton who, according to Anthony’s biography, “provided the ideas, rhetoric and strategy” while Anthony “delivered the speeches, circulated petitions, and rented the halls. Anthony prodded and Stanton produced.”17 Their partnership activated each other’s skills.
One speaker who has inspired me and many others in this century is Malala Yousafzai. When she was only eleven years old, this young Muslim woman stood up for the education of girls in Pakistan when the Taliban forbade it. Even after she was pulled off her school bus, brutally shot in the face, and spent months in a coma, Yousafzai didn’t stop.
Less than a year after the attack, this teenager spoke at the United Nations, calling for worldwide access to education. In 2014, she shared the Nobel Peace Prize as the youngest-ever Nobel laureate. It’s remarkable to me that someone so young has such maturity and insight. Yousafzai said, “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”18
In repressive societies around the world, women such as Yousafzai know they can be killed or ostracized for expressing their views and yet they do it anyway. I don’t know how they brave extreme danger to be out front. But because they do, their passion inspires us and their words motivate us. They change the course of history.
Their passion inspires us and their words motivate us. They change the course of history.
Yet today, do women prefer working behind the scenes, believe they can be more effective by speaking less, or fear a backlash? In 2011, Victoria L. Brescoll, associate professor of organizational behavior at Yale School of Management, asked business professionals to evaluate the competence of executives who voiced their opinions more or less frequently.19
She found that male executives who spoke more often than their peers received 10 percent higher ratings of competence. But when women executives spoke more, both men and women punished them with 14 percent lower ratings.20 What the
