Madam Speaker

I have not always been in agreement with Nancy Pelosi‘s views and actions in the past, and I am sure I will have concerns about things she does or does not do in the future, but watching her ascend to the position of Speaker of the House absolutely thrills me beyond all reason. A female Speaker of the House in the U.S. Congress. Maybe anything really is possible for women. Thank you, Nancy Pelosi, for inspiring in me a sense of optimism about the future I thought was gone forever.

The Republicans have already thrown all manner of criticism her way, and obviously that will only increase. Supposedly Liberal Dudes who secretly despise uppity women will be surreptitiously undermining her leadership behind public masks of support, and history suggests the Supposedly Liberal Dudes will be ably assisted in this by female collaborators, some of whom will claim to be feminists. But this is nothing new or unforeseeable. She’s been fighting these battles for a long time, and last night she won big. Congratulations and thank you, Madam Speaker. You give me hope, and you make me very proud.

–Ann Bartow

Update: WaPo video of Pelosi’s address last night is available here (you have to sit through an advertisement to get to it, sorry).

Update 2d: Diane at the Dees Diversion noticed that Chris Matthews spewed a lot of sexist crap about Pelosi during last night’s coverage.

Update 3d: Per Bitch Ph.D.:

Holy crap, Bush really *did* say “In my first act of bipartisan outreach since the election, I shared with her [Pelosi] the names of some Republican interior decorators who can help her pick out the the new drapes for her new offices.”

Update 4th: Did y’all know that Nancy Pelosi has five children? Read to the bottom of her bio which states: “Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, a native of San Francisco, have five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul and Alexandra, and five grandchildren.”

Update 5th: Feminist Law Prof Sharon Sandeen granted me permission to post the contents of an e-mail message she sent:

I saw your blog about Nancy Pelosi today and it brought back a lot of memories. I remember working on her first campaign (to be the Chair of the California Democratic Party, circa late 1970s) and being in awe of a woman who could achieve such a position of leadership while raising five small children. I knew she had five children because they were often at the campaign headquarters working right along everyone else. She had an amazing ability to keep an eye on them while focusing on her candidacy, a skill that has obviously served her well since. She also always impressed me with her poise and professionalism. Too bad that some pundits have characterized her professional dress as a negative. Of course, whether they dress well or poorly, successful women can’t seem to avoid comments about their attire, hair style, jewelry, etc….