American women still hold little political power despite having the vote for 90 years
Although today is Women’s Equality Day in the States, marking the adoption of the 19th amendment in 1920 (giving women the vote), the Washington Times points out that American women are still lagging behind many other countries in terms of political power.
It says that women hold only 17 percent of the seats in Congress, well below Europe’s 22 percent and far behind the Nordic countries’ 42 percent, and the major parties have yet to nominate a woman for president. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2008 collected 18 million votes, but still fell short of victory, as did Sarah Palin’s vice presidential bid.
“The handful of women that you see near the top is just that a handful,” said Erin Vilardi of the White House Project, which seeks to expand women’s role in politics.
“At the congressional level, both parties have a hell of a lot of work to do,” Miss Vilardi said. “The culture is still very dominantly male.”
Misogyny (hatred/fear of women) is strong, wide-spread and dangerous, because a lot of it is unacknowledged and/or subconscious. Men discriminate against women is subtle ways, and women internalise the way they are treated by men, and treat other females with the same lower level of respect.
What can we do? Women need to stand up for their rights and treat themselves the same way as they would treat men. We need to get in touch with our inner sense of equality – and help men do the same. It’s not necessarily easy, but it’s how to cause much-needed change.
Thanks for that. I think it’s certainly a good idea to work with men so that they stop feeling so defensive when we argue for our rights.
We need to help them realise that empowering women automatically empowers men as well. Unequal relationships means both genders lose out. If men are really confident in themselves, they’ll want women as their equals. So female power is tied up with male power. We need to work together.