There IS a reason why the Women of the Senate get along and work together so well

[Tx4obama]

Senator Barbara Mikulski hosts a dinner every month for ALL of the 20 female U.S. Senators.

-snip-

... and they still meet monthly for off-the-record dinners, which Mikulski organizes.

In fact, in these polarizing political times, the dinners are one of the last bastions of bipartisanship.

"It's a very important way for us to know each other as people," she says.

Despite partisan differences, Mikulski has used the dinners to help the female senators forge relationships, which she says help them understand each other across party and regional lines when it comes to policy.

"We do know each other and we have developed real affection and respect for one another," she says.

-snip-

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/27/mikulski.senate/index.html?hpt=C1

-snip-

The women of the Senate meet about once every six weeks for a dinner on Capitol Hill, organized by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), known as "the dean" of the female senators. Mikulski is a trailblazer for female senators: she is the longest-serving woman in Congress and this year became the first-ever female head of the powerful Appropriations Committee.

-snip-

McCaskill credits Mikulski's dinners with helping break some of the stalemate that has come to define Congress.

"We have a very, very respected rule that what we talk about there never leaves the room," McCaskill said. "So these are pretty free-wheeling discussions, and we have averted some legislative logjams by some of our discussions at those dinners. I think we're all determined to use those opportunities to try to move things along."

-snip-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/03/women-senators-113th-congress_n_2405299.html

More about the female U.S. Senators' dinners on the link below

Mikulski makes history while creating 'zone of civility' for Senate women

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/16/politics/mikulski-history/index.html

Thank You Senator Mikulski

[bunnies]

1. ahh, yes. A dinner once a month or so is the reason.

heh. :nosmilieisappropriateforhowifeelaboutthis:

[Tx4obama]

2. It IS the reason. I've seen a few interviews of the Senators that attend the dinners...

... and they HAVE said that their get-togethers have helped them to see all sides of the issues they discuss,
and it helps them to work with the other female senators in a more civil way.

This is no different than the 'male' congress folks that have stated in the past that in the old days they used to get-together with other legislators more often in DC and when friendships formed everyone got along much better.

[bunnies]

3. I find that incredibly degrading.

One meal once a month makes women see eye to eye. Such bullshit. Such degrading bullshit.

[Tx4obama]

4. Degrading how? They meet 10 to 12 times a year for many years ...

... and by spending time together they discuss issues and form friendships.

What the hell is wrong with that?

No one said that they agree with each 100%.

I am finding your comments a bit hard to understand or to believe.

[bunnies]

7. Yeah. Spending 12 or so hours a year together foments closeness.

Its clearly the lunches, not the intelligence, that make the women quicker to find solutions.

[Tx4obama]

8. They don't just show up, eat, and go home.

Apparently you've never spent an evening, on a regular basis, with folks and formed friendships.

You should try it sometime - it's a wonderful thing to do.

I organized our local Italian language group get-togethers for several years.

We'd meet up for dinner and conversation - our dinners lasted three to fours hours each - once a month.

Many good friendships were formed - and we even have two folks that met in the group that eventually married

[SharonAnn]

5. It doesn't make them see "eye to eye". It helps them understand each other's views.

When you understand another person better, you can be more productive in negotiations.

War doesn't solve things. Working together, respecting differences, negotiating in good faith are ways to solve things.

Each of these women has her own perspective, party loyalty, and issues she supports (or opposes). That didn't change.

[bunnies]

6. Right. And one dinner every six weeks makes that possible. nt

[Tx4obama]

12. Yes, it does make a big difference.

-snip-

“The 20 women in the Senate have formed such strong friendships of trust, even though we come from different places, that I’m very hopeful as we go forward with Patty Murray, head of the Budget Committee, Barbara Mikulski, head of Approprations,” Klobuchar said. “Those relationships are going to make a difference as we get into what matters, which is the long-term budget.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/shutdown-women_n_4110268.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

[MFrohike]

9. That's a good idea

It's easy to demonize a hypothetical other. It tends to be harder to do it when you actually spend time with the other. Trust based on personal relationships is one of the stabilizers of politics, especially in this ideological age. It has its drawbacks, but I'm willing to take those drawbacks over a pack of tea party jihadis who want to blow up the world because they believe their own hype.

[Tumbulu]

10. It makes all the difference having social interactions with others regularly,

and being women in a male dominated patriarchy which has taken a big step backwards lately also would play a role in allowing fruitful and honest discussions to occur.

It is not sexist to recognize how marginalized females who have attained powerful positions feel. And how they counteract that by staying in touch with each other as people rather than as vessels of their political parties.

[a kennedy]

11. D*mn right, women unite, and tons of stuff gets done.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/shutdown-women_n_4110268.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

[Tx4obama]

13. Yep. And it is going to be great to see even more and more women elected to Congress in the future

[starroute]

14. There's also some evidence that women cooperate better than men

It probably goes back to the chimpanzee days, when the females hung out together and shared child-rearing tasks while the males were competing for dominance.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3308347/Study-finds-women-cooperate-better-than-men.html

Women play a more central role than men in a successful society by focusing more on cooperating than competing, suggests a study published today.

In what could be taken by some as an endorsement for more powerful women such as Condoleezza Rice, Nicola Horlick and Angela Merkel, the study suggests that while women seem more skilled at making people work together, at peacemaking and dealmaking, men tend to excel more at bamboozling, cheating and two timing.

The evidence has come from scientific games that simulate the conflicts that exist in real life between the selfish desire of each person to pursue the ''winner-takes-all'' philosophy and the necessity for compromise to advance that self-same need by building a cooperative society in which people work together for the greater good.

[BlueMTexpat]

15. I remember attending talks by Dr Deborah Tannen,

a linguistics professor, who found this an incidental aspect of her studies. She went on to write several - quite entertaining - books about that. She has moved on to other aspects since. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/tannend/

Of course, one can always find exceptions, significant ones in cases of people like Palin, Coulter and their kin. But talking, interacting and working on building up mutual interests on a regular basis and with respect certainly does break down a lot of barriers.

[BlueMTexpat]

16. I am proud to have Senator Mikulski as one

of my Senators.

[joetoryt]

17. women

We shud send more women to congress

[gopiscrap]

18. welcome to DU

[flamingdem]

19. It sounds a bit too much like a coffee klatsch

OK we'll take what we can get to have a tiny amount of attention given to women in politics. Meanwhile the real issues of inequality and sexism remain off limits.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

20. Sen. Mikulski makes me proud to have once visited Baltimore...

That's pretty much all I got. But it was cool city for a history nerd.

And, seriously, good on her to keep the spirit of bi-partisanship alive!

[agentS]

21. It works well because many of them are nice, AND...

They don't have to be around assholes like Rand Paul/Ted Cruz Missile trying and failing to Mansplain shit at them.

If those 2 weren't around, shit would get done quicker.