Jo Freeman’s Convention Diary: Organized Women at the Democratic Convention; More Events of, by and for Women Than Any Other Single Group

Women were roughly half of the delegates because Democratic Party rules require equal division by sex.* The Republicans do not have such a requirement. The parties no longer provide demographic data to the press so one cannot easily make a comparison. There are ways to count the women (e.g. names on the delegate rosters) but they take a lot of time.

The Democrats have held daytime meetings of different demographic groups since the 1970s. Initially they were forums to debate issues. They evolved into rallies to pump up the troops. The number has increased every convention (there were 14 in 2012 and 17 in 2016) and now includes “rural,” “disability,” and “veterans.” Most met for two hours on two different days. These meetings were open to the public, though delegates entered through separate doors and sat in separate sections.

The women’s caucus still attracts the biggest audience though the numbers have gone down over the decades. The two women’s meetings this year had roughly 500 each in attendance; the next largest was the black caucus with roughly 200. Ironically, these meetings were held in rooms that were cold and dark, making it unpleasant to sit for two hours and hard to take photographs. The other meetings were in better spaces.