Patricia Ireland

When I started law school I was shocked to learn that our legal system traditionally had the man as the head and master of the family. As late as the '70s and '80s when we were fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment, states like Louisiana still had a head and master law.

Stewardesses are still paid so little that in many cases, new hires qualify for food stamps.

I want to organize so that women see ourselves as people who are entitled to power, entitled to leadership.

Some campaigns are not worth waging if you can't win; others have to be fought on grounds of principle regardless of the chances for success.

Some of us may just, in one-on-one conversations with our family, with our friends, over the back fence with our neighbors, talk about the reality of our lives and realize that we're not alone, that we have a right to be physically safe and emotionally safe in our own homes.