Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Rebecca Freedholm, WCF Communications Fellow

Kathleen Parker from the Washington Post disapproves of Obama’s approach to the BP oil spill. In fact, she thinks that Obama has been passive, appeasing, ineffective, and downright feminine! That’s right, apparently our president’s biggest fault is that he is acting like a woman.

Last week Parker deemed Obama “our first female president,” and it certainly was not meant as a compliment. She primarily criticized Obama’s communication style, claiming that the president is “suffering a rhetorical-testosterone deficit when it comes to dealing with crises.”

Although Parker insists that her description of Obama’s alleged gender-swap is not a dig at women, linking femininity with ineffectiveness and passivity can be construed as nothing but what it is: sexist and insulting.

How else could you interpret one blaming Obama’s supposed futility on his stereotypically female qualities? And as Rose Afriyie observed, Parker refuses to cite examples of how this form of “feminine communication” can be anything besides disastrous:

“…nowhere in her analysis of the BP oil spill does she speak to how this alleged feminine communication style has been an asset. In this way, her analysis is more of a slight against women in leadership than it is of the President. And it begs the question, when is being called a woman going to be an affirmation instead of an offense against one’s competence?”

Afriyie’s question is essential, and one that should have been running through the minds of all Washington Post readers. When will calling someone a woman cease to be an insult? The more we disparage men for acting “womanly” or women for displaying masculine qualities, the more we perpetuate the use of toxic gender stereotypes.

The more misogynistic language is used and sexist arguments are made, the more our society’s destructive gender hierarchy is reinforced. Mary Curtis reflects on the harm of these stereotypes in her response to Parker’s column:

“Criticizing the president for policy or demeanor or anything else is fine. But emasculating him based on worn-out stereotypes is depressing. If he isn’t the angry black man he must be a gentle white woman. We are all prisoners of what others have decided we must be. Might as well give our little boys trucks and our little girls dolls and forget about it.”

Parker is right about one thing: We have “come a long way gender-wise.” But the anti-woman ideas expressed in her column hurl us backward. Sadly, we can be sure that she isn’t the only one in America holding these sexist beliefs.

And it’s exactly this archaic line of thinking that prevents women from running for and entering public office. If we equate feminine qualities to being intrinsically negative and ineffective, why would anyone want to support a woman candidate?

These destructive ideas about gender must end now.

At WCF, we believe that conformity to traditional gender roles should not be the key to the Oval Office. Moreover, we believe that women bring valuable and vital perspectives, experiences, and qualities into the political arena.

The longer we allow such denigration of women to persist, the harder it will be for women to rise to leadership in all fields. As it’s been demonstrated that women’s increased participation in decision-making creates better outcomes, preventing gender equality isn’t just a blow to women—it’s devastating to our entire country.

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

On Friday, Vice President Joe Biden announced that Lynn Rosenthal has been appointed to advise the president on domestic violence.  In her newly-created position, Rosenthal will advise President Barack Obama and work with government agencies to ensure that violence against women is made a major policy priority and the perpetrators are held accountable.

Rosenthal previously served as the executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.  She also previously worked as director of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence and managed a domestic violence shelter.

According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Rosenthal has extensive experience with the issue:

Rosenthal’s expertise includes housing, state and local coordinated community response, federal policy on violence against women, and survivor-centered advocacy. She most recently served as the Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and was Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence from 2000 to 2006. She partnered with The Allstate Foundation to develop a highly successful national initiative to promote economic empowerment for survivors of violence.

Biden called the work Rosenthal will do in this new position “incredibly consequential.”  Biden said there are 48 million reported cases of violence done by an intimate partner and said that while there’s no count on how many are unreported, more women are coming out of the shadows.

Furthermore, the White House said that domestic violence would be placed higher on the policy agenda than it has been in recent years.  President Obama has assembled a team, including Rosenthal and Valerie Jarrett, which will fulfill his campaign pledge to make domestic violence a priority.

WCF applauds President Obama’s effort to include more women in his administration.  We hope that the White House will continue to make issues affecting women policy priorities.

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?

Finally, our president is pro-woman and pro-choice. Moreover, he actually cares about helping people. After eight long years of the Bush administration’s anti-woman, anti-choice policies, I find myself feeling surprised when Obama takes a stand for women. After reminding myself that, yes, we now have a progressive president, I can’t help but smile and bask in the feeling of pride and optimism.

One of the most recent acts of the administration that filled me with hope was Obama declaring April Sexual Assault Awareness Month. According to The Women on the Web:

Calling sexual assault “pervasive” in the United States — 18 percent of women reported being raped at some point in their lifetime — Obama stressed that such attacks not only take their toll on the victims, but the family, friends and others, as well.

Given the current focus on the failing economy, I think Obama’s willingness to go to bat on this issue really speaks volumes about his dedication to women’s issues.

Another move that evoked pride was the Obama administration launching the Act Against Aids campaign. Partnered with the CDC and HHS, the White House will bring attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the next five years. Not to mention:

To help achieve widespread use of the campaign messages within African-American communities, the Obama Administration also announced today the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative (AAALI), a partnership with 14 of the nation’s leading African-American civic organizations to integrate HIV prevention into each organization’s outreach programs.

So, let me get this straight - our president is actually concerned with taking concrete steps to address national and worldwide equality and health issues? Pinch me.

Is everyone rested up from the 2008 elections? Great - time to get ready for 2010 - and this year.

Women are stepping up to fill vacancies left from those who joined the Obama administration. Via Allison Stevens from Women’s eNews:

In Illinois, Republican Rosanna Pulido will represent her party in an April 7 contest to replace Rahm Emmanuel, who left his seat to serve as President Obama’s chief of staff. It is an uphill fight for Pulido, a conservative Republican running in a Democratic stronghold in Chicago.

And in California, two women–Democrat Judy Chu and Republican Teresa Hernandez–are vying for the right to replace former Rep. Hilda Solis, now secretary of labor in the Obama administration. The primary will be held on May 19 and the special election will be held on July 14.

And let’s not forget that 2010 is right around the corner. Though we’re psyched that women like Hillary Clinton and Hilda Solis have joined the Obama administration, it also poses a challenge for increasing the number of women in Congress. Political observers are also predicting possible retirements of women in 2010.

Those potential departures could offset some of the gains women have made in recent years. Slow progress and possible retirements in 2010 leaves as a far-off goal the 20-percent benchmark that political scientist Sue Thomas identified more than a decade ago as the number needed for a political minority to influence the majority.

However, it does seem that women’s participation in politics is picking up steam, and we intend to keep that momentum going. Stay tuned to find out who WCF is endorsing in the upcoming elections!