Watch: Tea Party Women

From reproductive rights to Hillary, women’s progress in today’s political climate has largely been credited to the American left. But is it too simple to pin gender advancement on the Democratic party?

As Melissa Deckman discusses in her new book, Tea Party Women: Mama Grizzlies, Grassroots Leaders, and the Changing Face of the American Right, the Tea Party has been practicing its own kind of progressivism. From Michele Bachmann to Sarah Palin, the far right has its own array of female figureheads who are changing the conversation about women and politics. For them, feminism comes in a different package--one that often embraces women's roles as mothers while also celebrating individual female empowerment. In the process, many right-wing women are reframing what is means for an issue to be a “women's issue.” 

Melissa Deckman and journalist Amy Sullivan will join the Better Life Lab and the Political Reform Program for the latest in the Women’s Decision series to discuss her upcoming book, spokeswomen of the Tea Party, and the ways that women are making conservatism progressive. 

Light refreshments will be served. 

Copies of the book will be available for sale at the event.

Follow the conversation online using #TeaPartyWomen and by following @PolReformNA and @BetterLifeLab.

Introduction:

Jay Newton-Small
Author, Broad Influence: How Women are Changing the Way America Works 
Fellow, New America 
Staff Writer, TIME 
@JNSmall

Participants: 

Amy Sullivan
Senior Editor, Yahoo News 
@SullivanAmy 

Melissa Deckman
Author, Tea Party Women: Mama Grizzlies, Grassroots Leaders, and the Changing Face of the American Right 
Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs, Washington College
@MelissaDeckman