Having recently applied to law school and talked to my dad about the “optional essay,” which usually asks a diversity related question: i.e. “How can you contribute to the diversity of this campus?,” I realized women still have a long way to go. Speaking with him on the phone, I asked him what angle I could take on my diversity and how it will add to Georgetown Law School’s campus. I’m a white girl from the Midwest, so I didn’t think I had much to offer. “Well you know, women have made progress, but you’re still not equal to men,” my dad so brilliantly remarked. And, ding-ding-ding, a light bulb went off. Female political science students here at the University of Wisconsin- Madison—this column is dedicated to you, but male political science students should listen as well.
Women have made great strides toward equality since the first Women’s Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls in 1848 and the 19th Amendment, granting women the constitutional right to vote, was passed in 1920. However, almost 100 years later, in 2013, women are still not equal to men. In fact, the United States ranks only 23, behind countries such as Nicaragua and Cuba, in the 2013 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report. This report measures women’s gender equality by their economic, political, educational and health equality.
The United States is ranked 23 out of 136 and considering our world rankings in other categories, this ranking is not high enough. Just as we strive to be number one economically, we must also strive to be number one with regards to the equality of women.
Though we are tied at the top spot with regards to education, we are 33 for “health and survival,” and a horribly low 60 for “political empowerment.” Calling all political science majors who are women (myself included). We need to get out there and close that gap, and men need to help us.
Women did make a small gain in Congress this year, as there is a record high of 101 women total, accounting for 20 percent of the congressional make-up. I am happy we have reached this record high, but it’s not good enough, being that over half the population of the United States is women. The United States Census Bureau concluded in 2012 that 50.8 percent of the U.S. population was women, having a slight majority over men. This means women are being vastly underrepresented in politics, which the Global Gender Gap Report shows us with the number 60 rating in “political empowerment.” Why is it important to have women in politics? Couldn’t it be argued that the men are doing a fine job of protecting our rights? I would say the Democratic party is doing a pretty good job of protecting women’s rights, but this doesn’t go without saying that the majority of the women in Congress are members of the Democratic Party. Conversely, the Republican Party in Congress has much fewer women, effectively under-representing women’s views in that party. Perhaps this is why it takes a longer time than it should to get common sense acts such as the Lilly Ledbetter Act and the Violence Against Women Act to pass congressional votes. If there were more women in both parties, in both the House and the Senate, maybe these types of acts would be easier to pass. Though partisanship is one issue to tackle all together, gender representation is not something that should differ between party lines. It’s common sense.
I also must bring into this argument the fact we haven’t had a woman president yet. While Iceland, which ranks first in the Global Gender Gap Report, has had a woman leader 20 out of the last 50 years. Something must be working well over there. The United States has always been considered a progressive country, one of equality. So why are we only ranked 23? No, this isn’t the worst ranking. We certainly aren’t 136. The point is a ranking of 23 is nowhere near good enough. We need to hold ourselves up to the standards of Iceland. Eliminating the gender gap in the “political empowerment” category can be an extremely important step in increasing our overall ranking. Women have made significant strides in the workplace. It has been found that more women have a slight majority over men in the workplace, as well as in colleges. This only further stresses the point that more women are needed in politics than ever before because politics directly affects workplace conditions, income and business practices.
So what can we do about this? We continue to make progress, but even getting the idea out there is important, which is why I’m writing this. In 2013, it’s absurd that I can still write a diversity essay to a law school about my disadvantage in politics as a woman. So, political science female students, more power to you. You picked a major that, though some may say is useless, may be a challenge, but is important to the progress we can make as women in politics. If all else fails, let’s move to Iceland. (Kidding, don’t give up!)
How else can women make strides in politics? Do you think Congress could be run more efficiently if it had better representation of women? How about a woman president? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
