Women and Politics

Twitter has been going wild all day. The tweets?

I signed petition to support legislation for presidential commission on women. Have you? http://twurl.nl/ezeuxi #womencount

photo: AP

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) has launched an initiative to set up a permanent federal commission on women. Some are questioning the necessity for this commission since Obama started the White House Council on Women and Girls weeks ago. But Speier says they would work to complement each other and work together. WomenCount says:

“We need to bring together the efforts of the many organizations devoted to women’s issues and causes, and create a common movement to benefit the future of all women.”

Pointing out the great gains made in recent years, WomenCount also points out what we learned in 2008:

The election exposed extreme gender bias in the media, in politics, and throughout our culture.  This demonstrated that although women in the United States have come a long way since the last Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, we still have far to go.

Rep. Speier agrees, saying, ““I would say, ‘We’ve come a long way, baby’ … not.” True true. It seems that despite our gains, whenever women initiate concrete steps to change women’s leadership in society, we inevitably encounter opposition. (What, you can vote - aren’t you happy yet? You’re serving in Congress, what more do you want?)

But thanks to leaders like Hillary Clinton, President Obama, and Jackie Speier, the fight for women’s equality will not fade into the background. If you see any coverage (good or bad) about the women’s commission, post a comment!