By Margaret MacGillivray
The number of women in office in the United States Government has greatly increased following the midterm elections. Among many electoral firsts were the first Native American and Muslim congresswomen, first lesbian mom in Congress, and Tennessee’s first female senator. The number of women running for office greatly increased, with nearly 60 percent more women declaring plans to run for the House and Senate this year compared to the 2016 election. Despite the increase, many women faced sexist remarks and stereotypical remarks.
One example is Jess Phoenix, a woman who was running for Congress in California, who was shamed for having a tattoo on her stomach. When hearing a Twitter user say, “Apparently, your sleeves aren’t the only thing you’re willing to roll up.” Phoenix replied it, “doesn’t faze me too much,” (Phoenix). Apparently, women will not only face difficult races for office, but must cope with the harsh stereotypes that all women face on a public scale.
There was a study done at Iowa State University comparing the effect gender has on how voters view candidates. Researchers tried to simulate a real election environment with both men and women on the ballot. In addition, the women and men had the same political views and opinions. The study showed that the more women on the ballot, the less likely they were to receive votes over men. While if there was just one woman on the ballot, they were judged equally to men, the more women added onto the ballot, the lower their chances were of getting votes. This shows that the stereotypes of women being “weak” and “incapable” still apply in elections.
Many women faced questions on the campaign trail about toughness and whether they could “handle” the job. Dave Anderson, who studies political science, states that before an interview, many women needed to prepare for “questions about whether she’s tough enough, if she is capable and competent” and female candidates had to “understand those questions are not going to go away.” However, many are hopeful that as more women run for office, the stigma around women in office will slowly decrease and women will be seen as men’s equals.
Overall, while there are many more women who ran for office, they still faced the stereotypes engraved in society. It is important that everyone is aware of the struggles that women face while running for office. Hopefully, as more women run for office, the prejudiced rhetoric and stereotyping around female candidates will diminish, and women can finally be represented in government. The election results show a bright future for women’s rights on a legislative level, yet women were still forced to fight a harder battle to get to the White House.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/us/politics/jess-phoenix-congress-climate-change.html
Food for thought! Thank you, Margaret!
Well done Margaret, yes it does continue to be a long road, but we are making ground.( future politician?)