Looking Forward
January 19, 2010
by Contributor
|One way or another, the special election in Massachusetts is about to be resolved. I have to admit, previous to this election, I knew very little about Massachusetts politics and politicians. I saw this clip on the news the other day and was shocked to learn how poorly women politicians have fared in that state.
Although the Massachusetts election is about a myriad of issues other than electing the first woman Senator and has unfortunately gotten nasty, maybe something good can come from it. We are moving into a year that will feature a lot of election opportunities for women. Please go to this site and check on women’s progress in your state. Then tell us about women in who are running in your state, what you like – what you don’t… Being aware of women who are running or might be considering a run is an important first step to getting more women in office. Are there women in your state you can support? Even if you can’t support them in the general elections can you support them in the primaries?
We’ve discussed here before, in regard to the media and “insiders” treatment of Palin, some of the many reasons women don’t even run. I think we can all agree that makes it a lot harder to vote for them. Please read why women don’t run for office, and think about ways we can help women both nationally and in our own states. The Coakley race reminds me that the more women who we can support and encourage to run, the closer we can get to the ideal… Women running against each other of ALL parties!
What a fascinating link, Thia. Very happy to say that my state of New Hampshire ranks above 30 percent! It would be interesting to know the trends by state and region. I’m wondering if certain states/ regions are more pro-women when it comes to politics and other states and regions are more hostile toward women in politics. The cultural climate can be so important when it comes to empowering women.
Alison,
It doesn’t seem to make as much difference as you might think. For example New York, Florida, and Texas are tied. So are Ohio, Wisconsin, and Georgia.
All are within a % point or so but couldn’t be more different. The oft mocked as backward Montana does better than New York and WAY better than Pennsylvania. It just proves we need to make all the parties put their money where there mouth is. Talk is cheap, we demand more women!!!!
Great reference site. Thanks!
Thia,
Yeah, I agree those stereotypes are tired and not useful. But I was thinking more subtle cultural components. I used to live in New York and although their is a component that is very empowering for women (such as giving kudos to women who work, their careers, their independence etc.) theirs also a very misogynistic tone towards women and it was in New York that I saw some of the grossest displays of misogyny toward Hillary and Sarah Palin.
My new state of New Hampshire is very purple and the people here tend to be very proud of their independent spirits. I wonder what the cultural components are here in terms of how they view women in politics? New Hampshire came in first in regard to state representation.
I know this would be nearly impossible to measure but I do wonder what factors are at play that could make a state more pro-woman and accepting / encouraging of women in politics.
I wonder what you would see if you overlay that map with a map representing the percent of hispanic/latino or Catholic voters. I think culturally both groups (which overlap a lot) have a value of respect for women as mother-figure which I would think would be a big factor.
hi Thia, i think we might have a lot of chances in 2010 to vote for women. so many male democrats drop out and women pick up. but in that position they will run as the establishment candidate, to be slaughtered just like in Massachusetts.
Hi votermom,
I would be very surprised if you were right with your hypothesis. I think the catholic church is very conservative especially when it comes to roles for females, at least as much as overall society I would think.
I would like to see the rating of what states have women in Sr. positions in their Senates and Houses. I know that the head of the Mass. State Senate is Therese Murray (http://www.theresemurray.com/).
The thing with Catholics is the men who think they are in charge are mostly anti woman or “women are great as long as they stay in their place which is below me” types. But the church has far more female members and they do pretty much what ever they want. Catholics are generally good at selecting the parts they can accept and ignoring the parts that they find ridiculous. At my kids Catholic primary school there were still a few large families but mostly only children or two kids per family meaning the anti birth control rules are being ignored. I was also surprised at the quietly subversive nuns at the Catholic girls high school my daughter was in.
The Catholic church is very patriarchal but Catholic women have carved out a separate space within it for centuries. Historically there has always been a quiet power struggle between how much authority the Vatican has over the various religious sisters and nuns and how much independence they have. They are outside the priesthood and its direct chain of command, you see.
Plus there is the worship of Mary, which I think is a strong reinforcement of the female ideal. (Yes, officially, Catholics don’t “worship” Mary, but as a cradle Catholic, I assure you it is worship in practice).
I think it is not so good, but unsurprising, that the Protestant movement got rid of both of those in their reforms.
Alison, If there is a trend it escapes me. Maybe the states that are farther along had a strong woman run for office very early who led the way?
Marille, Maybe women will run against those women and then ahhhh… the best imaginable world!
Votermom, I have a Catholic friend who says exactly the same thing about women’s carved out place in Catholicism. According to her a lot of Catholic women in the church just “let the men think they are in charge because it’s easier to keep them out of our way.” It seems similar to the Southern Baptist women I grew up around. “Yes husband dear, whatever you say, now go on to the friday night football game, we have important things to do here.” I always wondered what went on in the “women’s” meeting after they ran the kids outside too. I’m glad those women only plotted and fundraised etc to do good, because had they applied those skills to evil they would have been organized and efficient enough to destroy the world. Hmmm… maybe I should ask them to join TNA?
Reading your comments here, I remembered my research paper last semester. Women’s history was being recognized at the same time as men’s history in the panhandle of texas; and the founder of the Panhandle Plains Historical Society which established the Museum and who led the charge for preserving history was a woman, Hattie M. Anderson. Texas has already had women in the senate, governorship, etc.
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