Supporters Turn Out in Force to Attend Party 'Listening Meetings'

(San Francisco, Wed., July 24, 2008) – Just days after launching its “Stop the Silence” campaign calling for the Democratic Party to include language in the National Platform on gender bias in the media, WomenCount is dispatching vast numbers of supporters around the country to make its case at Party “Listening Meetings.”

WomenCount members will attend this week’s house parties armed with proposed Platform language that calls for the Party to “acknowledge that the 2008 Democratic primary election exposed pervasive gender bias in the media during the campaign. From now on, when we see examples of this behavior, our Party leadership will take immediate and public steps to condemn it.” The full text of the proposed language can be viewed at www.womencountpac.com.

“It was bad enough that these sexist incidents occurred over and over again during the campaign,” said Stacy Mason, Executive Director of WomenCount. “But perhaps worse was that no one in the Democratic Party leadership did anything about it. Where were they? Thus, our campaign to stop the silence.”
The organization, through its members, will continue to wage the Platform campaign as part of a bigger effort to put an end to gender bias in the media and the political arena. There will also be a campaign to include similar language in the Republican Platform.

WomenCount PAC was created in the closing weeks of the primary election to advocate for continuing the campaign until every vote was cast and counted. In just five weeks, WomenCount ran a series of three ad campaigns and made contributions to several women Members of Congress.

Now, WomenCount has shifted its focus to the issues that emerged from the campaign and has repositioned itself as a “MoveOn” for women. “We are calling on all Democrats, no matter who they supported in the primary, to stand up against sexism,” said Jehmu Greene, Political Director of WomenCount. “This election created a new movement among women in this country. We intend to capture that passion and energy and use it to continue the progress that has just been made.”

Earlier this month, WomenCount polled its members to ask which of three issues the movement should tackle first. Stamping out sexism in the media won with an overwhelming percentage of the vote. In the weeks to come, the group will continue to wage its “Stop the Silence” campaign as well as launch other efforts that give women of all generations and backgrounds a powerful voice in the political process.