In the times of today the percentage of underrepresented woman in high offices, has decreased drastically in the past years. We can all agree that as a whole, many people are more open to voting for woman for president. Even though this is true women participation is politics in general is still very low. Many have come to believe that there are several factors that explain such a low percentage. After much research it is concluded that there are at least four different factors that explain the underrepresentation of women in elected offices. The first of many factors is the most obvious one of all, children. Having a family is in most peoples’ life plan, right? Now when one thinks of this they think that most, if not all of the responsibility of taking care of these children is solely on the mother. Because of this it is seen that women feel the need to stay home close to the children, so …show more content…
According to Danielle Kurtzleben “Women are much less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office.” (Kurtzleben) By her stating that one can see that woman at the beginning, may be very open to the idea of running for any elected position. It is as though once they actually start to finally go through with the idea, they begin to doubt themselves. This not only causes damage to the percentage of women in any higher offices but it also shows the people that maybe woman are not fit for the job, leading into the typical stereotype that woman are not as equal to men. Basically, this causes doubt. Now while there is still people who would vote for a women to run for president as an example, the people who have that high doubt, will do anything in all means to push the women down just to prove their point. Women must be stronger and build up their motivation, especially if we want women to be more represented. It is time to step up and take the lead once
The initial effects of women’s suffrage on the national level was limited. To a great extent it remains limited; women have always been underrepresented at the federal level. In the first election after the 19th Amendment, 25 states failed to elect a woman, (Rothschild, p. 11). Currently, 26 states do not have a women in their congressional delegation, (Gendergap, p.1). There are also six states that have never elected a woman to federal office, (Rothschild, p.2). They are Alaska, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Mississippi. While women represent 52 percent of the population, they represent only 21 percent in Congress. Thus it can be seen that women still have steps to take to achieve true political equality with men.
On November 1912, women won the right to vote in Arizona. This period of time marked a lot of changes for women and politics in Arizona. Women had to struggle against a male dominated society that influenced their vote despite their new freedom to vote as they saw fit. The right to vote eventually led to a proliferation of women running for local, state, and national offices. Those running for office faced skepticism about their capabilities as a politician, concern over whether they had the drive, intelligence, and strength to face down opponents within the political arena. Despite these obstacles, women have proven to be successful politicians and have infiltrated the ranks of male dominated government systems, both within states and nationwide. Today, women are virtually equal to men as far as their capabilities are concerned, yet are still under-represented in the national political scene. By reviewing a brief history of a few women in politics in Arizona and examining current political themes, a platform is formed that allows an understanding and recognition of the struggles and progression of women in politics today.
When asking the question, “What are the differences between men and women?” what things come into mind? When asking friends what their thoughts were they stated things such as men are stronger, women are weaker, men are bigger, women are smaller, men make more money, etc. Due to the obvious assumptions that people have been making for centuries it is thought by some Americans that males are the dominant sex. Before watching Miss Representation I had always gotten so upset at certain men for the way they treated women or the things they would say to them. After this film I realized that their actions might have stemmed from “rules” that they were taught an early age; those rules being the rules of masculinity. After reviewing the rules it finally clicked to me why
society, women are expected to be at home doing the chores and taking care of their family. The
Women have always been stereotyped as being the mother who stays home and has the responsibility of the household and maintaining the children. Presently mothers work outside the home, but they still have the responsibility of taking care of the household. “One study of 20 industrialized countries ...
The American Government was designed to represent the people who are voting members of society. When analyzing the makeup of government, one could find that women have become an integral part to American politics. With the rise of female politicians, minority female political leaders still tend to come in low numbers. One could argue that the inclusion of minority females in politics is solely up to women. The responsibility of representing the American population as a whole should not be solely placed on one designated person or group but rather a collective effort of all. Minority females are typically seen at the negative end of statistics rather it is in education, health care, employment and the economy.
Women are numerically underrepresented in United States politics. Though people may see famous faces of women in politics around them, a mere 17 percent of leaders of the Federal government in the United States are women. Not only, at the Federal level are women underrepresented, but also at the state and local levels. Only in six states are there female governors, and members of city hall are predominately male in 92 out of the 100 largest cities in the continental U.S. Since the 1970’s the percentage of women in high political offices had been increasing, but in the last several election cycles there has been no net increase. The United States House of Representatives has plateaued in its percentage of female representatives and Senate suffered the first net decrease in the percentage of women serving since 1979. In terms of progress of women’s representation in politics, the United States is falling behind many nations. As of 2011, 90 nations have a higher percentage of women in office. (Lawless and Fox) Women in the United States have not achieved political parity, and are falling behind many nations in the election of women to office.
Women have been discriminated against since the beginning of time, as early as the first people, Adam and Eve. Eve was called the evil one, who ate fruit from the tree of knowledge. Once she had the knowledge to know right from wrong, she chose to do wrong and give the fruit to Adam. Examples like these can be shown all over history books, in stories, tales and legends across the entire world. Women have been subordinate to men in virtually all societies throughout history.
The underrepresentation of female’s interests and values is a global phenomenon as there is no country where women are equally represented on all levels of government. Since most women in the Western World gained the right to vote, there is no area of human life or development sector which is immune from the impact of inequitable gender relations. The central thesis of this paper is that women’s underrepresentation in elected office creates serious problems. This paper begins by analysing the key barriers of women to get into politics, especially into leading positions. It will then go on to the argument that women have special interests and needs, and that male politicians cannot represent those concerns adequately. Additionally, this paper describes further problems in today’s political world, such as women’s identification with
One major factor in why women did not reach equality in America in the past century was their underrepresentation in local, state, and federal politics. Between 1917, when Jeanette Rankin became the first woman to serve in the United States Congress, and 2000, only 219 women have been elected as US representatives or senators. Of these, only 28 have been women of color. In contrast, in the 20th century over a thousand men served in Congress, and 132 men of color. In the 106th United States Congress (which met from 1999-2001) only 58 of the 535 legislators were women, and only 18 were women of color. As a result, laws that benefitted women faced heavy opposition before they could be passed. In addition, women made up the minority of Supreme Court justices and presidential cabinet members at every point in the 20th century, and of the 15 presidents...
Women of power are treated very poorly. These women of power include politicians, doctors, lawyers and businesswomen. Arguably, female politicians receive the worst treatment of all. Everything they do is constantly under media scrutiny, like what they wear and what they say, much more so than their male counterparts. The difference in the number of men and women congress members is vast, almost 5 to 1. Many women shy away from the political light for these reasons. An article, “Women in Politics”, written by Kenneth Jost, he explains the feats of women in the past 100 years:
About eight decades ago, the United States Constitution granted American women the right to vote. During the same era, only men ran for office and decided what is best for American citizens. Many females in the world today are becoming politicians. Today, many women will consider running for local offices in their communities. The “Women Rights” article states “women were excluded from the electoral process for more than 140 years”. The “Women Rights” article also states that women did not have the opportunity to attend college. Women in their communities are considering running for president, commissioner, secretary, etc. American citizens will decide who should hold office. The three reasons why I believe women should consider politics are
Electing more female officials into Congress and state legislature to fulfill the gender gap in the American legislation will give women more pathways to equal rights in laws and policies. Currently, women only represent twenty percent of the American national legislation, and even less in many state legislations. Furthermore, this underrepresentation in the American government leads to a gender gap and misrepresents America’s body of approximately fifty percent female population. The general belief that the overwhelming amount of men in American legislation office causes women not to participate in politics. However, according to the American University in D.C. their study showed the perceived gender gap in government prevents women for running for political office. Nevertheless, the study found that novice politicians are more likely to run for office if encouraged by a fellow incumbent politician to run for a competitive seat; thus, it only takes more encouragement to fulfill the gender gap in politics
According to the report, women have been running for public offices in ever increasing numbers. Nevertheless, it can sometimes be a daunting task, as women can sometimes encounter violence or prejudice in the field of politics. However, it seems that women’s difficulty in participating in government and politics is an issue which is being tackled in many areas. It seems that it is (or has been) an international issue, which is consistent across many cultures. The types of obstacles women face may vary from are to are, but there usually exist a few obstacles. For example, the report cited an example concerning the 2007 Kenyan general elections where a record number of women sought parliamentary seats, however, there were also unprecedented levels of violence. Women across the world have been grossly underrepresented in government for ages. Of course, certain things are...
There was a time when the woman 's expected role was based on staying at home. Now there are many more working mothers. This has caused changes in many attitudes. Those that