Women in Politics

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The political arena is a tough place to be part of, especially during a campaign. Your opponent and their supporters are constantly watching your every move with the hopes that you will make a mistake, or that somebody will find some detrimental dirt on you. Now imagine also being a woman, not only will you have to face the hardships that male candidates cope with but you will also have to handle the adversity based on your gender and the stereotypes that go along with being a female. Women have to be prepared to confront the fact that they may not even be wanted in that setting. For example Margaret Carlson stated,

Do you ever get the feeling that the men in the world might not care if the door closed and there were no women in the room? Ever suspect many men still think that when a woman argues a point she's being combative, while a man is being analytic; that women are motivated by emotions and the need to be loved, while men are driven by facts; that when a woman asks for a raise, if she has the temerity to do so, she is grasping, unlike male breadwinners, who are simply collecting their due? (1996)

Not only do women have to accept the fact that they are women trying to become part of the old boy network, but they also have to face the stereotypes, double standards and the sexism that comes along with the political system.

Stereotypes is an issue that women politicians will unquestionably come across in any attempt to become a political representative. These gender specific expectations place the emphasis of the woman as a candidate and focus all the attention on the simple fact of the candidate’s gender. According to Deborah Carol Robson, socially desirable traits f...

... middle of paper ...

...President to put himself on the line and take a huge step for the woman of the United States.

At the end of the movie Senator Laine Hansen made a statement that was inspirational, she said “Principles only means something if you stick by them when they are inconvenient, if I ever did answer the questions even to exonerate myself that would mean that is would have been okay for them to ask them in the first place, and it isn’t.” With that statement she made me realize that being a true leader is complex, it means not taking the easy way out, it means standing up for what you believe and not letting anybody take your dignity away. Senator Laine Hansen is a fictional character in a movie, but she had what it took to be a leader and still inspired me and gave me the hope that maybe one day there won’t be a double standard for women in the United States.

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