North Bay Woman Magazine
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1259780
26 NORTH BAY WOMAN S P R I N G | S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 Clinic in San Rafael and the midwifery program at Marin General Hospital. It was an era when women became more involved in politics. Nationally, Shirley Chisholm was elected to Con- gress in 1968, and Bella Abzug followed in 1970. Chisholm and Abzug joined Freidan and Gloria Steinem, co-founder of "Ms." magazine, in 1971 to found the National Women's Caucus, which worked to increase the number of women in both elected and appointed positions. The four women also were leaders in working for the ratification of a second Equal Rights Amendment, fol- lowing U.S. Senate and House of Rep- resentatives approval of the proposed 27th Amendment. It required the sup- port of 38 states and had received 35 in 1972, when arch-conservative Phyllis Schafly founded the Eagle Forum and started campaigning against it. Five states revoked their ratification, and the ERA failed to get enough support by a deadline in 1982. Schafly's success also was the beginning of a conservative backlash that persists. "We've lost ground," says Timms, but she observes that women wouldn't have accomplished as much as they have without the vote. Votes count Timms continues to act on behalf of the causes she believes in, and she participated in the Women's Marches in 2017, '18 and '19. "I'm a get-on-the-street kind of per- son. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel very empowered," she says. She hopes young women will learn about the history of the women's move- ment, and what it took to win the rights they have today. "Getting the vote was incredibly important as a step to signify the intelli- gence of women. It brought us into the whole political realm so we could be active," she says. "I am always a voter, because I understand how hard we had to work to get it." n Portrait of Marin County Supervisor Vera Schul- tz, circa 1960. – Photo courtesy of Anne T. Kent California Room, Marin County Free Library Jody Timms in the Women's March in San Francisco, January 2020. – Photo courtesy Joey Timms