Strangers in the Senate

by Barbara Boxer and Nicole Boxer

The senator from California presents the inside story of the transformation of the Senate from a largely male body, discussing the memorable march of women legislators, the Clarence Thomas scandal,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1882605063
• ISBN13: 9781882605064
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: National Press Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Wonderfully inspiring

I reviewed this book for a political science class, and have since refered to it many other times for enlightenment, inspiration and that general pick me up. Boxer and her daughter write a frank and enlightening journey of the path that modern political women have taken in the baby-boomer generation. Born at a time when women were encouraged to be a Senator's wife, the women elected during the 1992 "Year of the Woman" were also influenced by the women's movement of the 1960's and 1970's. For the first time in history, women were told that they had a right to seek power in their own name and the above mentioned sense is growing stronger with each new generation.While women went to Washington before 1992, there was an unspoken assumption they were not going to make waves, instead defering to their male colleagues. Perhaps most importanly, they would only mention women's issues if it was in the context of maintaining the status quo (ie help for homemakers) and did not work as directly for women's equality as would be expected today. Although it is written by one Senator, the reader can really sense that it was a collaborative effort for all the women in the class of 1992. Even as we have reached higher numbers of women in office (with the election of Michigan's Debbie Stabenow, Missouri's Jean Carnahan and New York's Hillary Rodham Clinton) the journey will never be completed until society becomes more comfortable with independent women office holders. Obviously very relevant to political women, this book is a good mentoring tool for women in all professions. Even though it is biased towards the next generation of liberal democrats, I also believe that conservatives will be able to draw some inspiration from this book as well. Women will continue to break down political inequalities making our legislative bodies more accurately reflect the population.

Interesting Read

Barbara Boxer wrote this book very well...for the avid political guru or for the beginner. She gives a detailed and most personal account of how it was growing up and evolving as a woman in the political arena. hope to get this one signed by her!