Women in Politics

The recent Presidential election was historically noteworthy not only because it marked the first election of an African-American to the highest office in the country (and arguably the world), but also because of some of the other contenders. Hillary Clinton very nearly won the Democratic Party's nomination, and Sarah Palin became an invigorating presence in McCain's Republican bid for the seat. Women have not always been granted such an equal place in politics, and as it turns out there is actually still a lot to be doe before true equality is reached.

Currently, only seventeen women serve in the hundred-member Senate, and approximately the same proportion of women -- seventy-three out of four-hundred and thirty-five -- currently serve in the House of Representatives (CAWP 2009). Despite making up slightly more than half of the population in the United States, women still make up significantly less than a quarter of our elected representatives in federal office. The situation in most state government is even worse, and there are currently only seventy-two women holding elected executive positions in the various states that make up this nation (CAWP 2009).

Times have certainly changed since women were forced to hold marches and rallies in order to earn the right to vote, which we now recognize as an automatic right for every citizen of a democracy. But it is equally clear that women are still not being heard nor taken as seriously as men in the political arena. Women like Clinton and Palin, though ideologically opposed on many issues, are unified in their largely successful struggle to be held equal to the men working in their field, who have a decided advantage. More women are sure to take their lead and continue to make their voices heard.

Reference

CAWP. (2009). Center for American women and politics. Accessed 24 September 2009.

http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/index.php