What Do They Think? Renowned Women Speak Out on 2008 Election

Marianne Schnall is a writer and activist who seeks to inspire activism and raise awareness of important issues. She's interviewed famous individuals about the charitable and activist causes and organizations they support, and her Rolodex is filled with notable women she knows on a first-name basis.

She writes:

As a woman, I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed and shaken by this election season, the highs and lows of it all....[E]veryone is talking about women and our decisive influence in this election....So many important themes and dialogues have been raised...identity politics, what we expect from a woman leader, sexism in the media, diversity in the feminist movement, what masculine and feminine values are, and about Sarah Palin and the "Palin effect." It all made me want to talk to other women, to get clarity, to gain insight. I tried to think about what I, personally, could do to contribute to this dialogue.

I realized that, through my many years as a writer and as founder of the women's website and non-profit organization, Feminist.com, I possessed extensive contacts with a diverse cross-section of well-known and respected women. So, I decided to pose identical questions by e-mail to some of these dynamic women and just see what came in....

The responses came by email and by phone. But in either case it was clear to Schnall that these famous women were just like the rest of us: they wanted to talk and vent their thoughts.

She reached out to - and heard back from - writers like Alice Walker and Isabelle Allende; performers like musician Melissa Etheridge and actress Kathy Najimy; playwright Eve Ensler; current and past presidents of national organizations devoted to women's issues such as Gloria Feldt, Kim Gandy and Eleanor Smeal; and cultural icons like Gloria Steinem, among others.

Schnall's questions and their answers are gathered in "Renowned Women Speak Out on Palin and the Election" at the Huffington Post.

What did Schnall learn from the exchange? Something monumental is happening in our culture as women are feeling and expressing their power:

I believe that there is a cathartic benefit to all these complex issues and themes rising to the surface, as the world is being transformed, and that the transformation will continue -- no matter who ultimately winds up in office after November 4th.