The story behind Name It. Change It.
In 2001, Sam Bennett ran for Mayor in her hometown of Allentown, PA. During her very first stump speech, she was interrupted by the chair of that meeting, who asked,
"Sam, I want to ask a question all the men in this room have been dying to ask you: Just what are your measurements?"
As if this wasn't bad enough, a reporter who witnessed this unabashed display of sexism wrote an article about that stump speech—and didn't even mention the incident.
In 2008, when Bennett ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15th District, a known anti-woman blogger posted this comment on the blog Lehigh Valley Ramblings:
"Sammy Bennett is phony political w**** who gives good h**d and makes cheap, blatant political opportunists look like Mother F****** Teresa. Even her p**** is made of plastic."
In addition, her local paper, the Morning Call, printed the quote on their front page. It ran day after day, with a large color photo of Bennett right next to it.
It was Bennett’s experiences as a candidate that drove her to change the sexism that all women candidates face—especially in the media.
After becoming the President/CEO of the Women’s Campaign Forum (WCF) in 2009, Bennett met with the heads of other like-minded women’s political organizations. Knowing that Marie Wilson, President and Founder of The White House Project, had the best rolodex of contacts, Bennett enlisted her help to convene these women leaders to collaborate.
Ambassador Swanee Hunt ended up leading this charge, and soon the gatherings of women leaders in her home took form to become Political Parity, a nonpartisan initiative to dramatically increase the number of women in high-level political offices.
With the help of Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners, Bennett encouraged the group to tackle sexism against women candidates in the media. Bennett turned immediately to the Women’s Media Center (WMC) to forge a project to hold the media accountable for their language about women candidates. Then-President of WMC Jehmu Greene enthusiastically agreed to be a partner on this project—having experienced her own share of sexism in the media.
Together, WCF Foundation, Women’s Media Center, and Political Parity developed the Name It. Change It. project. Gloria Steinem, co-founder of WMC, helped to coin the project’s name.
Thanks to financial investment from Lauren Embrey, President of the Embrey Family Foundation, Name It. Change It. officially launched in August, 2010
