Where Are All the Women?

November 4, 2010 Written by Women

With my first post, I head back to my roots if you will.  I spent four years working on political campaigns.  After transitioning to the nonprofit world I gained free time, hobbies, and saw the return of my friends.  When not working I make jewelry, read constantly, and explore my amazing city.  I am a political news junkie, an historian by education, and trying to figure out my place in the world as a millennial and feminist.  As a recovering campaign staffer, election coverage can be hard to walk away from.  It’s almost a relief it’s over. 

Before Tuesday’s election, there was a lot of talk about women losing ground, losing seats to men.  There are so few women in elected office to begin with; especially in statewide or federal offices it is scary to think we might take a step backwards in terms of representation.

When you look at which states have never had a woman serve as governor, senator or congressperson, the picture looks different.  While we have come a long way, there is still so much road ahead of us!  Two states have never seen a woman serve as governor, or Congress: Iowa and Mississippi.  The list of states is surprising, but there is little overlap, you can analyze all you want about the reasoning.  For example, California, currently sending two women to the Senate, has never seen a woman serve as governor.  We all know women have run for the job, so are they just waiting for the right candidate?

I know several women who were torn in during the 2008 presidential primaries as to who to vote for.  None of them appearing to be natural Hillary supporters, they were struggling to decide between voting for the woman – cause hey – this could be our chance! or voting for the candidate they agreed with the most.  When Sarah Palin was first announced as the VP candidate, I heard a lot of women talk about potentially supporting McCain – that is until they got to know her better. 

Are we expecting too much of women candidates over men?  Is there still a good ‘ol boys club in these states?  In some cases maybe, in others, it may be the right women are just not running.  I personally find it hard to support a woman for elected office when her position on many issues will actually move us back in time.  But the states that have not elected a woman to these positions are literally all over the map.  What does it take to increase women in elected office?  What is it we expect from them? 

Below is something for you to think about as the election analysis I am sure will continue for few weeks. 

States where a woman has never been elected Senator:
 
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,

States where a woman has never been elected to the US House:

Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, Vermont

States where a woman has never been elected governor:
 
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

We are pleased to welcome Maggie to the Fem2.0 blogging team! Maggie works in nonprofit management in Washington, D.C., and formerly was a campaign fundraiser. Outside of work, she regularly volunteers with local organizations around the DC area, and makes jewelry for Southern Yankee Design, her jewelry business. Originally from Chicago, Maggie moved South for college, where she has remained for several years. Maggie has recently moved closer to the Mason-Dixon line, inspiring her blog about life caught somewhere between North and South. Maggie is an avid reader, political news junkie, foodie, and alum of Elon University. Find her on Twitter here.

Facebook Twitter Email

Tags: ,

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Where Are All the Women? at Fem2pt0 : society’s issues + women’s voices -- Topsy.com

  • http://patriarchaldisorder.blogspot.com MadamaAmbi

    Hi Maggie–good to meet you. It really is jaw-dropping to look at lists like you’ve generated in your post–numbers don’t lie! But let me ask you your own question: where ARE the women? I’m talking beyond politics. We know that women have moved in great numbers into the work force and into academia–so where are they? What disciplines have they moved into and with what success? How many are heading up research institutions, universities, corporations, non-profits, small businesses, think tanks, banks, global conglomerates, hospitals, medical practices, PR firms, advertising agencies, law enforcement, military units, governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, beauty shops (as we called them in my mother’s day; I wear my hair wild and UNdyed, so I don’t spend my money there). What about nail salons (don’t do that, either). Shoe stores? Big box chains? Tech start-ups? Day care? School boards? Transit companies, labor unions, sweat shops, prostitution, sex-toy shops, bookstores, publishing? In the 1980′s there were maybe 5 publishers dedicated to works by feminists. Right now I think Seal Press, recently acquired by Perseus Books, is IT.

    Where ARE the women? Right now I’m reading a fascinating book by Candace Pert who did groundbreaking work in isolating neuropeptides in the 1970′s. Her book “Molecules of Emotion” is half about what neuropeptides are and half about how she fought the old boys’ club in science. The list of women who did groundbreaking work without recognition, much less without Nobel Prizes in Science, is a long one.

    I’m asking a genuine question. Where ARE the women? What industries recognize our smarts and our leadership styles (assuming we don’t ape the competitive/exploitive/top-down style of patriarchy). Do women even want to go into politics? Candace Pert talks about how she learned to play the game and how she went up against the boys, often taking big hits to her career for doing it. And then she got pregnant with her first child and she didn’t want to play the macho testosterone game anymore! Maybe we can chalk it up the oxytocin flowing through her or maybe she woke up. She continued to do research and when she got her own lab, she ran it collaboratively, not competitively. She described her managerial style as “nurturing.”

    Do women WANT to go into the land of gridlock, character assassination and perpetual stumping for one’s job? There are many ways to be a leader and to be a force for good in this world: do women really see politics as the platform for change? Disclosure: I don’t.

  • Maggie Arden

    What I’ve been reading lately puts most women in the non profit sector. More women owned small businesses have been starting each year, even during the recession. Women do make up a disproportionate number of retail workers as well. Does knowing where they’re working help explain why they aren’t in the political area though? Do women really value flex schedules and proximity to home above public service? Or is the public service job done locally? I do know it takes a certain type of person to run for office, and to run for re-election, and we all know the kind of attention it draws to your family.

    Politics is not the only place women are under represented; science, engineering, math, technology fields all draw few women. And even fewer stay with those careers.

    Are women choosing to serve in other ways? If that is the case, what happens to our representation? How well are we being heard by our government? If you choose to serve your community in another way, or not at all, you still have to make your voice heard! That does not end at the ballot box.

  • http://madamaambi.blogspot.com MadamaAmbi

    Maggie–I’m saying that in order to tip the scales and change the value system that devalues women, we have to understand the needs of women and how they respond to the workplace, political and family environment. I don’t think we’ll organize together effectively until we have a bigger picture. Yes, I’m saying knowing where they work absolutely matters! How do you think labor unions organize? They go into the workplace and change consciousness among the workers by talking directly to them, sometimes in groups, sometimes one-on-one! They communicate how different their lives and their bargaining power could be if they organized.

    So, yes, women’s movement needs to know where the women are if we are going to expand the tent and motivate women. Also, there are many, many, many women who think their voices don’t matter–do we just ignore them? Do we just keep shouting “HEY! Get out there!!! Lead, goddamit!!! Here’s how!!!!!!!!!!!!” We have to know where they are and WE HAVE TO GO TO THEM. I just received an email from SisterSong that they’ve gotten themselves into the Combined Federal Campaign, a huge, huge, huge charitable giving structure supported by our federal government. This means they have unprecedented access to massive groups of federal workers to present what they do and to get federal workers to assign a portion of their paycheck to their cause. Why are they doing this? They’re going to the workers.

    Some women are ready to be leaders, movers/shakers and need a certain kind of encouragement, perhaps most recently exemplified by Gloria Feldt’s book NO EXCUSES: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. But, as I said to Gloria in my interview with her, I don’t think women and girls at the bottom of the heap are going to be buying her book and getting inspired. They have some very basic survival/safety issues to deal with. Some of the most successful organizing movements are happening among women of color organizing domestic workers. This is really important stuff. In my opinion, organizing does not work top-down; it works bottom-up and you can’t build new structures until you’ve got a new foundation.

  • Maggie Arden

    I agree – let’s organize from the bottom up, and find those women who are ready to lead but need encouragement and training! As to understanding women and how they react family and workplace environment – check in on Thursday!

    How do you deal with family work, family, life and politics role?