Philadelphia Needs a Feminist Mayor
Written by: Kelly Sheard, Director of the Gender Wealth Institute
“If history and experience have taught us anything, we know that shared identity is not enough to assume common ideology and collective goals. Representation alone is not justice, and increased participation in a broken system is not enough to dismantle it and create new structures. Therefore, a feminist mayor is best understood through demonstrable action – a mantle anyone with awareness, critical thinking, and commitment can take.”
Friends, it’s the most wonderful time of the year – mayoral candidate forum time! Are you rolling your eyes, yet?
The deluge of these events is optimistically meant to provide community members with opportunities to understand the declared candidates’ strategies and intentions as they seek the path to becoming Philadelphia’s 100th mayor. In a crowded primary, it can be helpful to cut through the canned talking points and discern the differences in experience, approach, and ideology. Accordingly, you’d be wise to ask — How can and should candidate forums offer an opportunity to cut through performative politics and reach for an experience and discussion that will actually be of use to voters? WOMEN’S WAY believes offering a framing of identity politics and intersectionality allows us to discern which candidates can lead us towards a just future.
