In Susan Page’s biography, Nancy Pelosi tells about women’s struggles to be heard in Washington—especially in the early years after she was elected to the House in 1987.
In the early 1990s, there were a few women in the House. These women met with a group of Democrats once a week for dinner and conversation.
In Page’s biography, Nancy Pelosi remembers: “We had many lively debates, and one thing was clear to us: The men never turned and asked us, “What do you think? Never.”
That was true even one night when the men began to discuss childbirth.
The first one said, “God, when I had my first, I had the green gown on but they wouldn’t let me in the room….”
Another one said, “I had a camera, but when I saw it happening, I said, ‘Oh, my God, let me out of here.’”
And, another man said, “Oh, (expletitive), I thought I was going to faint.”
None of them turned to the women, all of them mothers, with 11 children among them.
It was Nancy who said, “Not to interrupt your expertise on this, but maybe you’d want to hear from actually someone who’s had children.”
Nancy Pelosi, much later, concluded, “They didn’t even know how clueless they were. They didn’t have a clue that they didn’t have a clue.”