Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Rebecca Freedholm, WCF Communications Fellow

I have to admit that I was startled when I first read the title of Katrin Bennhold’s New York Times article, “Feminism of the Future Relies on Men.” Despite the evocation of the future, I braced myself to see the archaic rhetoric of women’s dependency masked in the guise of Palin-inspired “conservative feminism.”

Fortunately, my defense was unnecessary. Instead of the antiquated discourse I had expected, I received a thought-provoking account of the obstacles to gender equality that still exist in the Western world.

The picture that Bennhold paints of women’s stance today is an accurate one in that it is full of confounding contradictions:

“Women earn more doctorates, but less money. They are overtaking men in the work force, but still do most housework. They make the consumer decisions but run only 3 percent of Fortune 500 companies.”

As a stalwart feminist working for women’s advancement in public office, I find myself constantly confronted with the same message: “We have come so far, and yet we have so far to go.”

Why has gender equity proved so difficult to achieve, especially when women excel in so many areas? How is it that we still have such a long way to go?

The answer is perhaps an obvious one.

“In the Western world, motherhood remains the barrier to gender equality. Until they have children, young women now earn nearly the same as men and climb the career ladder at a similar pace. With the babies often come career breaks, part-time work and a rushed two-shift existence that means sacrificing informal networks like the after hours beer-and-bonding experience often crucial at promotion time.”

Unequal division of labor in the household still thwarts women’s advancement in the workforce. Women get pregnant and have to take time off from work. Women go on maternity leave and have to put their careers on the backburner. Women are responsible for the post-work “second shift” of housework and child rearing.

Where are all the men?

When it comes to household division of labor, women have become content with the status quo. Surely feminists have fought valiantly to change the dynamics of the workplace to better accommodate women’s needs—women have negotiated for adequate maternity leave policies, argued for more flexible hours, and opened up avenues for part-time work or work-from-home opportunities in order to balance their roles in the workplace and the home.

As significant as these steps may be, they have not yet yielded sufficient solutions. Women have already proved that they can enter into the “world of men.” What they need to do now, Bennhold postulates, is concentrate on “pulling men into women’s universe.”

“The only thing that can level the playing field at work is a level playing field at home. And that requires a major shift in public policy and corporate culture.”

Gender equality should apply to all realms, in and out of the office. Moreover, gender equality should be important to all people, men and women alike. The solution, it seems, is to inform men of their role in perpetuating gender inequality, to show men how they can benefit from gender equality, and to ultimately engage men in the feminist movement.

As Joanne Dreyfus claims, “Men have a lot to gain from the rise of women.” Men deserve more time in the home with their families, and if the corporate environment were to accommodate men by including paternity leave policies and more flexible work schedules for all employees, both men and women could benefit from a more manageable work-home balance.

Furthermore, employers need to recognize that accommodating all of their employees will aid the advancement of women in the workplace—something companies can be sure to profit from. Research continues to demonstrate that women’s increased involvement in leadership positions positively influences decision-making processes.

I was, therefore, slightly disturbed by Bennhold’s assertion that “guys are the more effective feminists because other guys are more likely to listen to them” (Is feminism yet another realm where men supposedly exceed women?). This claim implies that it’s not important for women to hold leadership positions because men can more effectively push these policies on their own.

Certainly it is vital to convince men already in power of how gender equality will benefit all people. But men alone cannot accomplish the task at hand any more than women alone can. It is crucial to have men and women participating in leadership roles together, constantly in dialog to create policies that help all people reach their fullest potential.

So yes, we must persuade men that gender equality is worth fighting for. But as we enlist men in our cause, we absolutely cannot cease in our endeavor to achieve equal representation in leadership. If we fail to usher more talented women into leadership roles, gender equality will never be realized and our country will suffer the consequences.

This post was submitted by Jamie Bence, one of WCF’s Summer 2009 Fellows.

The National Journal reports this week that the Obama Administration has a larger proportion of women in top positions than any of its predecessors.  Currently, President Obama’s team is 34% female, compared to 26% of President George Bush’s administration in 2001.

The new administration also brings unprecedented racial diversity to the White House.  Only nine of the 22 officials designated by Obama as having Cabinet rank are white men.

Here are a few outstanding women working in the Obama Administration:

• Melody Barnes: She serves as the President’s Domestic Policy advisor and Director of the Domestic Policy Council.  Barnes has been charged with issues relating to health care reform, civil rights and women’s health.
• Cassandra Butts:  As Deputy White House Council, Butts performs a central role in White House Legal Affairs.
• Hillary Clinton: Obama’s former challenger is currently serving as the Secretary of State, the third woman in U.S. history to hold that position.
• Lisa Jackson: As administrator of the EPA, Jackson leads a nationwide staff of just over 18,000 civil servants.  She is the first African American to hold that position.
• Katie Johnson: Just 27 years old, Johnson serves as the president’s personal secretary.  However, what Johnson lacks in age she makes up for in experience, having previously worked for Rahm Emmanuel, Hillary Clinton and Parris Glendening.
• Valerie Jarrett:  She is a Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration.  Jarrett was also pivotal in the Obama-Biden Transition team.
• Janet Napolitano:  The former Arizona governor serves as the third Secretary of Homeland Security.
• Susan Rice: The US representative to the United Nations was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in the first days of the Obama Administration.
• Desirée Rogers: A former Chicago business tycoon, Rogers has taken on the East Wing.
• Mona Sutphen: The White House Deputy Chief of Staff is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Despite the Obama Administration’s commitment to gender equality, women have still not reached parity in the White House.  At the current rate of increase, it will take almost 100 years until women reach gender parity in politics.  At WCF, we can’t wait that long.  Can you?

The news of Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s retirement has dominated the news, blogosphere, and twitter world this morning. Speculation of who President Obama will choose to replace this liberal-leaning justice, of course, ensued.

But refreshingly, the overwhelming prediction for Obama’s nomination is: a woman. From Our Bodies, Our Blog:

Among the names mentioned were former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, who Obama named as his solicitor general; Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit; Judge Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit; and Stanford University law professor Kathleen M. Sullivan.

While the general consensus is that Obama’s replacement won’t radically change the ideological makeup of the Court, it does present him with an opportunity to bring some much-needed diversity to the bench. It also gives him a chance to uphold his pro-choice beliefs - that the Constitution supports a woman’s right to privacy, and that Roe v. Wade was rightly decided - by nominating a pro-choice justice.

Obama’s first 100 days included great strides for women being appointed to office as well as protections for our rights and health. The president now has a unique opportunity to keep that momentum going and move toward the goal of achieving gender parity in public office.

The Supreme Court currently sits with one lonely, fabulous woman: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. One out of nine. Women make up over 50% of the U.S. population, yet we only hold 17% of congressional seats, and have one Supreme Court justice.

We can no longer ignore this giant disparity. It’s becoming increasingly more recognized that women’s equal empowerment and leadership is essential to the success and health of a nation. If the United States wishes to continue to move foward and solve the grave challenges before us, we need to make gender leadership equality a priority. It’s my sincere hope that President Obama will lead us into an era where woman have equal power and representation.