Jill Stein
Jill Stein Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Jill Stein is a Harvard-educated physician and activist who ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010, and then ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 2012 when she received 456,169 votes. Because she’s yet to receive more votes than previous Green Party nominee Ralph Nader, it’s been difficult for Stein’s campaigns to be taken seriously.
The Green Party has always struggled to be popularly perceived as a “legitimate” party, but Stein has faced the additional burden of being a woman. As Stein said in a Refinery29 interview:
“When we fought our way in the debates in the 2010 Massachusetts governor’s race, they did things like give me trivial questions, and they wouldn’t ask me fundamental questions about the economy and jobs. I can tell you they were not on the key issues that I really wanted to speak on. And they didn’t give me the same amount of time or the number of answers. They then cut me out of the reporting on the debate. The picture of the debate was the three guys — and not the woman.”
Prior to politics, Stein practiced internal medicine in a private practice. She was particularly interested in how local environments intersected with public health — publishing several papers on the subject. Stein was active in the effort to get the Massachusetts fish advisories updated to better protect women and children from mercury contamination.
She went on to have a notable protest history, being arrested three times in 2012 during sit-ins and organized demonstrations in opposition of housing foreclosures, exclusion of smaller political parties from debates and in Texas for trespassing when she attempted to provide food and supplies to activists protesting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
When asked about what advice she would give young women today, Stein — who is currently seeking the Green Party nomination in the 2016 race — said the following:
“Be as powerful as you are. Don’t let them talk you out of your power. Your vision, your sense of family and community as our priority is absolutely right. We’re not only half the population, but other oppressed groups, people of color, Latinos, working people who’ve been thrown under the bus, the minute we get together, we are unstoppable.”
Next, check out some incredible female scientists whose discoveries were, sadly, overshadowed by men.
