7 Questions with NWLC's Kristina Gupta

by Jessica Lauredan, Outreach Intern
National Women’s Law Center

This post is part of a weekly series profiling our blog authors.

Kristina Gupta is a Policy Fellow for the Family Economic Security and the Education and Employment Departments of NWLC.

Q: What are your fears for women and their families as our economy continues to take a downturn?

Kristina: Low-income women and their families are already struggling to make ends meet. As the economy enters a downturn, the struggle will become that much more difficult. In addition, social supports for women and their families have eroded over the past seven years – sacrificed in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy and funding for the war in Iraq.

Q: You wrote in a recent blog post that more than 1 in 100 American adults are confined in a prison or jail, and that this prison population is increasingly including women. Do you think there is a correlation between this and the feminization of poverty?

Kristina: Well, women do have higher poverty rates than men – in 2006, the poverty rate for women was over 12 percent, while the poverty rate for men was just under 9 percent. Economic status is related to crime and incarceration rates. Another, and perhaps more immediate, factor driving the growing incarceration rate for women is the so-called “war on drugs” – about one-third of women are incarcerated for drug crimes, compared to about one-fifth of men.

Q: What should young women know about their rights?

Kristina: That they were hard fought for and are never guaranteed. And that feminism can be about more than a narrow conception of rights – Cherrie Moraga said, “Third World feminism is about feeding people in all their hungers.” Add something about respectful living within a community, and eliminating constraints based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, etc. and I think you might be close.

Q: You seem to have always been ardent about women’s rights; you devoted your education to women’s studies and have been very active in feminist organizations. How did you become so interested in and passionate about women’s issues?

Kristina: Georgetown is a Catholic University and does not provide access to contraceptive services on campus. When I got there, I became involved in reproductive and sexual health and rights activism. I also began to take classes in the women’s studies department – which gave me new tools for critically looking at and engaging with the world. The rest, as they say, is her story.

Q: As a young feminist, what do you make of the “quasi-feminist movement” present in popular culture that glamorizes women who use their sexuality as a form of power?

Kristina: A lot of second wave feminism was about women claiming their sexuality and seeking sexual fulfillment. Perhaps the problem with current popular culture is that women are using their sexuality to sell consumer goods and make money for themselves and their corporations, without focusing either on the well-being of women or on making positive change for others.

Q: When will you feel that you've succeeded in the work that you do?

Kristina: It won’t be a point in time. I feel like I’m succeeding everyday if I keep doing good work, and if my work is part of a well-balanced, full life.

Q: If you won the lottery, how would you spend your millions?

Kristina: Start my own university. Of course, I won’t win, because I don’t buy lottery tickets. Lotteries are regressive ways for states to raise revenue.