If only a soapbox were enough...
Mongolia. Liberia. Latvia. San Marino. Panama. Haiti. Burundi. Chile. Bangladesh. What do these countries have in common besides being hard to locate on a map? They have all elected female leaders. Last week's election in Chile of an agnostic single-mother and the swearing in of Liberia's new female president to end the horrors of the Charles Taylor era brought me such joy which quickly turned grim when I thought once again about the sad state of affairs in this country when it comes to elected female leadership.
We have a female president on TV, but even she wasn't elected. We haven't ever had a major party nominate a woman as its candidate for the presidency. We've only had one legit female vice presidential candidate. It breaks my heart.
And it doesn't get much better in other branches of the federal government or in state and local governments. Women are 51% of the American population, yet according to the Center for American Women and Politics, women make up only 15% of the U.S. Congress, hold 25% of statewide offices and fill only 23% of the state legislative seats in the nation. Only 12 of the 100 largest American cities have female mayors.
The American debate about women in public office too often focuses on PMS and motherhood, and not often enough on the qualities and policy positions that make a great leader. It is well past time to stop talking about the effects of estrogen on a commander-in-chief and start talking about the real issues. In a political world dominated by self-funded millionaire candidates, our parties need to break the cycle and start encouraging women to run for office in their communities, building a strong roster of candidates with the experience to hold higher office, so that our government can look more like our population and less like the world's most exclusive club.
Contact your party, get involved in local politics, and support groups like The White House Project and EMILY's List (and if anyone knows what the Republican equivalent is, lemme know and I'll post it), and maybe someday America can inspire the kind of joy that Chile and Liberia already do.
We have a female president on TV, but even she wasn't elected. We haven't ever had a major party nominate a woman as its candidate for the presidency. We've only had one legit female vice presidential candidate. It breaks my heart.
And it doesn't get much better in other branches of the federal government or in state and local governments. Women are 51% of the American population, yet according to the Center for American Women and Politics, women make up only 15% of the U.S. Congress, hold 25% of statewide offices and fill only 23% of the state legislative seats in the nation. Only 12 of the 100 largest American cities have female mayors.
The American debate about women in public office too often focuses on PMS and motherhood, and not often enough on the qualities and policy positions that make a great leader. It is well past time to stop talking about the effects of estrogen on a commander-in-chief and start talking about the real issues. In a political world dominated by self-funded millionaire candidates, our parties need to break the cycle and start encouraging women to run for office in their communities, building a strong roster of candidates with the experience to hold higher office, so that our government can look more like our population and less like the world's most exclusive club.
Contact your party, get involved in local politics, and support groups like The White House Project and EMILY's List (and if anyone knows what the Republican equivalent is, lemme know and I'll post it), and maybe someday America can inspire the kind of joy that Chile and Liberia already do.
posted by lunchbox at 8:43 PM
1 Comments:
aah, liberia....we have a lot to live up to!!
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