NeW Kind of Women

Campus Report ^ | July 13, 2009 | Brittany Fortier

[bs9021]

NeW Kind of Women

by: Brittany Fortier, July 13, 2009

Young conservative women have an organization to call their own. The Network of Enlightened Women (NeW) held its fourth annual conference at the Heritage Foundation on June 26, 2009.

Karin Agness, a University of Virginia law school graduate and the founder of NeW, said that the organization serves a two-fold purpose: first, as a book club, which provides a “structural and educational component,” and second, as a network to “cultivate a community of conservative women.”

Agness says that NeW women are different from their liberal counterparts because they believe the radical feminist agenda has “gone too far.” The NeW woman “embraces femininity and modesty” rather than succumb to a “victim ideology.”

Keynote speaker and political pundit Kate Obenshain called Agness an “inspiration.” Asserting that “diversity is very narrow” on college campuses when it comes to conservative groups, Obenshain encouraged conference attendees to “bring in conservative speakers” to articulate a different point of view. Obenshain said that NeW should continue to “stimulate discussion” on college campuses and open young women’s minds to the possibility that “there may be another way.”

“Young women face challenges different from their male counterparts,” Obenshain said, citing having a family and remaining in the workforce as important concerns. Calling these concerns “legitimate,” Obenshain said there a “lot of options” for today’s woman, including telecommuting and home-based businesses.

Obenshain feels she was not “giving anything up” by staying home to raise her children, calling it the “hardest job she’s ever had” but “by far the most rewarding.”

Saying that “accomplished and successful” women in the conservative movement need to be recognized, Obenshain pointed to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as an example.....

[Niuhuru]

I just gave my info and am joining. Anyone with me?

[willgolfforfood]

I’m a mere guy, but thanks for stepping up! Best of luck with the new group.

[nonsporting]

My daughter is a NeW member.

Nothing "new" about these delightful, engaging, intelligent and motivated young women. If you ask me, it's the NOW nags that are subverting the time-honored traditions which are conservative by nature.

Usually these enlightend women are called to become wives and mothers, leaving politics to the likes of the nags. I hope they can remained engaged without sacrificing their families.