Ireland, 46, who grew up in suburban Chicago, cites two moments in her feminist awakening. When she was in college, her calculus professor made fun of a question she asked and complained about having to teach girls. She never raised her hand in class again. Then, while attending law school and working weekends as a flight attendant, Ireland discovered the airline’s health policy wouldn’t pay for her husband’s dental surgery because it covered only the spouses of male employees. With the help of a Florida chapter of NOW, Ireland challenged the policy and won. The experience made her a loyal NOW member. Friends speculate that this same forthright style led Ireland to discuss her dual life with The Advocate, a gay publication. Ireland was not “outed,” and her husband, an artist, has made no public comment since the interview.
While Ireland was supposed to give NOW a new face, she has not broken ranks with the protest politics forged by leaders Molly Yard and Eleanor Smeal. NOW is planning a reproductive-rights “We Can’t Go Back” march on Washington in April. Like Yard and Smeal, Ireland calls for a third party more responsive to women. Other feminist leaders won’t openly criticize NOW, but regard its third-party tactics as suicidal.
Though feminism has suffered during the Reagan-Bush years, women-and the public in general-are interested in electing more female politicians. A Times Mirror Co. poll shows that 69 percent of the public agree the country would be “better off” if more women served in Congress. Groups that have shifted their focus to electoral politics are thriving. “People have problems with the term [feminist],” says Ellen Malcolm, president of EMILY’s List, a political network for Democratic women. “But if you talk about what it means, there’s a tremendous amount of agreement on the agenda.” EMILY’s membership is up 40 percent since October, reflecting anger over the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. That activism may be a tribute to NOW’s influence, even if the group–and its leader–seem so far out of the mainstream.
