The University of New Mexico

Feminist Research Institute Presents Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin

February 21, 2013 | By Carolyn Gonzales

Gov. Madeleine Kunin — Photo by Paul Boisvert

The Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico Fem­i­nist Research Insti­tute presents Ver­mont Gov­er­nor Madeleine Kunin, deliv­er­ing, “The New Fem­i­nist Agenda: Defin­ing the Next Rev­o­lu­tion for Women, Work and Fam­ily,” on Mon­day, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in SUB Ball­room B on the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico cam­pus. The event is free and open to the public.

Fem­i­nists opened thou­sands of doors in the 1960s and 1970s, but decades later, are women where the thought they would be? The answer is a resound­ing no. Women have made obvi­ous gains – such as women rep­re­sent­ing nearly 60 per­cent of col­lege under­grad­u­ates and half of all med­ical and law stu­dents, and enter­ing the work­force in record num­bers, mak­ing the two-wage-earner fam­ily the norm – but com­bin­ing a career and fam­ily turned out to be more com­pli­cated than expected.

While women changed, social struc­tures sur­round­ing work and fam­ily remained sta­tic. Afford­able and high-quality child­care, paid fam­ily leave, and equal pay for equal work remain elu­sive for the vast major­ity of work­ing women. In fact, the nation has fallen far behind other parts of the world on the gender-equity front.

It’s time, Kunin said to change all that. Look­ing back over five decades of advo­cacy, she ana­lyzes where progress stalled, looks at the suc­cesses of other coun­tries, and charts the course for the next fem­i­nist rev­o­lu­tion – one that mobi­lizes women and men to call for the kind of gov­ern­ment and work­place poli­cies that can improve women’s lives and strengthen families.

The UNM Book­store will be on hand to sell copies of Kunin’s lat­est book, “The New Fem­i­nist Agenda.” Kunin will also be avail­able to sign copies.

This event is co-sponsored by the Women’s Resource Cen­ter, the Depart­ment of Amer­i­can Stud­ies and Uni­ver­sity Col­lege. For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact the Fem­i­nist Research Insti­tute, (505) 277‑1198.

Media Con­tact: Car­olyn Gon­za­les (505) 277‑5920; email: cgonzal@unm.edu

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  1. By President Frank’s Weekly Perspective – 2.25.2013 - UNM Today | The University of New Mexico on February 25, 2013 at 10:10 am

    […] for­mer Gov­er­nor of Ver­mont, and dis­tin­guished author Madeleine Kunin, who will present The New Fem­i­nist Agenda: Defin­ing the Next Rev­o­lu­tion for Women, Work, and Fam­ily, at Stu­dent Union Build­ing (SUB), Ball­room B. She will dis­cuss “chart(ing) the course for […]