Women's Role in Community Organizing

Women have been getting together to organize in one way or another for ages.  Weather it is The National Women's Suffrage League, NOW(National Organization of Women), Girls Scouts or small private groups; women know how to get together and get things done.  But does this mean that women stereotypically feel more so they are apt to trying to better their communities, or does it mean that these groups stick out because women have been a minority for so damn long? 

Around the turn of the 20th century in parts of America, more and more "women's associations" started to pop up.  These groups, made up of predominately white middle-class women, were formed to address specific issues that concerned their families and their community.  This was one of the first ways that women used what little power they had in the public sphere to organize.  One of the more well known associations of that time was of course the National Women's Suffrage League, which we saw examples of in "Ironed Jawed Angels".  

While men have been organizing communities for eons, women organizing is a fairly new idea in the context of American history.  As the 20th century chugged along, it became a normal thing for women, mainly home-makers, to get involved in all matter of organizations, something to keep the poor things busy.  Throughout history, women have been seen as the "moral" side of the population, always considering their families in the changing world.  Maybe this "moral" part of women is what got them involved in organizing, maybe its that mothering instinct in many women, or maybe its that women are actually better at organizing. 

I started thinking about this when I was considering who would show up at meetings, fundraisers and work days for the group I work with called Angry, Young & Poor.  (I won't get into the story behind the name, it is a long one)  I found it surprising that at most of these events we have pretty equal numbers of men and women coming to help out.  However, when it comes to the logistics and organizing ends, it is always mainly women who put things together.  This fact got me thinking about how many countless non-profits I've worked for where there was at most 2 men on staff.  What is it about the humanities, community organizing and social change that attracts women?  Will we see more power within groups of women around the world?  I guess we'll just have to keep organizing for the betterment of our communities and see!