Alec from Prose Before Hos sent me a link to this great article about disproportional representation in politics which discusses various groups, including women:
Women of voting age represent 51.6 percent of the voting age population yet are 16.3% of the Congress, putting America below the global average of 17% female representation at parliamentary level. As of 2007, the US ranks 68th in terms of women holding office in the legislature ” this puts the US just above Turkmenistan, and just below El Salvador and Panama.
Eeek! That’s not so good. In a country where women supposedly have equal rights, we are sorely underrepresented. Why do you think the numbers look so bad here? Do Americans put less faith in women as politicians or are there just not enough women running for office?
8 comments
gretchen
Good question – if there were a man and a woman with equal values, which one would you vote for? I would agree that I’d vote for the woman for the same reasons Amy stated. Women have an intuition and a discernment that is sorely needed in the political arena these days. :)>-
Zupko2001
I agree with the rest. If there were a man and a woman who both shared my values and I felt would do the job they are appointed to do. I think I would vote for the woman for several reasons.
One I think women can sense things from others. Women can read how things are being said and it has been proven that we “read between the lines” much better than men.
Second, women will stand and fight harder for what they strongly believe in. It is said that women are strong willed, bull headed and picky when they know they are right….that is who I want to see leading my country/state etc…
Kel1
It’s a ditto for me in that I don’t vote for women who don’t share my key values. I don’t vote for MEN who don’t share my values, either, in the things that are most important to me in a moral and political sense.
But running for public office is kind of a cutthroat business, and you have to be a special kind of person to take that on, at any rate. I don’t know why women are so under-represented, but that may have something to do with it. It’s no fun being dragged through the mud, or having your family in the public eye, etc. Which is probably why many women choose to enter politics much later in life, if at all.
These are just guesses, because I am not in politics. :P
gretchen
Oh – and Beth – I just started a gallery of folks showing off their Girls Can’t WHAT? gear. Feel free to send me a photo. ;) I love that design, too. I had a lot of fun drawing it. :)
gretchen
Beth – I have to agree. I can’t vote for someone just because they are female. I have to share their views as well. I, too, am perplexed as to why some female politicians don’t take on some of the bigger women’s issues. It’s irritating to say the least.
Alec – good point. Women are not encouraged to be the frontrunners in politics. As for Hilary, I admire her ambition and all, but I don’t share her poitical views and therefore I will never vote for her, even tho I think it would be cool to have a woman President. I think politics is perhaps another area where women are intimidated by their counterparts. :-?
alec
I think it’s for the reasons you listed, and for the fact that rich white males feel entitled to positions of power. I also don’t think women are for the most part encouraged to be politically ambitious (Look what happened to Hilary Clinton when she was a strong female political figure in the 90’s).
Beth
Oh yeah, by the way…I bought one of your t-shirts…the health care one….I LOVE IT!!! I get a lot of inquiring looks when I wear it!
Beth
You know, I’ve thought about this a lot. I vote as much as I can, but there are some women who run who I cannot share their ideals. I come from a very conservative state and the women who run seem to be anti-feminist in the approach to topics that affect my state. I sit back and wonder how, as a woman, they can honestly think that way! I’m not judging or condemning them for their beliefs. They feel as strongly about what they believe as I do. But I think for me, it all comes down to platform. And sorry to say, I will vote for the man running against the woman if her platform does not agree with what I hold as important.