"Gender Gap in Politics Is Invite for More to Run" - Womenenews March 3, 2009

[Captain_Nemo]

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3938


(WOMENSENEWS)-- As I reflect on Women's History Month and the gains we have made in the political world, I see a future with plenty of room to improve.

Yes, more women hold elected office; yes, there is still work to be done.

While over two-thirds of adults think that, in general, women and men make equally good political leaders, women are only 17 percent of U.S. Congress. Of the 50 states, female governors lead only eight.

Voters point to many reasons for the lag in female officeholders, including a lack of receptiveness to such women as well as a sense of different standards for male and female candidates.

Last year's campaign by Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination and Sarah Palin for the vice presidency on the GOP ticket may move the needle on that. Those candidates showed women can make serious bids. They are expected to mightily inspire other women to run for office.

Yet the low numbers of women in office and some polling data still speak to the challenge that remains.

Is America Ready?

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans think the country is not ready to elect a woman as president (51 percent say this is a major reason), while more than 4-in-10 say women in politics are held back by men.

A sizable proportion of Americans--roughly 4-in-10--also see discrimination against women as a major factor in the scarcity of high-ranking female lawmakers."

~snip~

"Women considered it more challenging for female candidates to be taken seriously by media and the voters. Seventy nine percent of women said men had less trouble expressing their seriousness to the electorate and 71 percent said it was less difficult for them to convince the media of their legitimacy."

[Captain Hilts]

1. 51% think the country is "not ready." Wow!

ER: Well, that sucks!

[Captain Hilts]

2. Hey - this was written by Celinda Lake. She rocks. nt

[terisan]

3. Male Supremacy thinking dies hard--but we need more women fast-the status quo is killing us

and the country.

We can't afford universal single payer health care but we can continually bailout bad actors in the financial sector?

I think if we had gender parity in government we would get single payer, and we would not be so quick to take on the debt of bankrupt Wall Street investment banks or General Electric.