A Look at Women in Politics

This country has evolved from a nation where it was acceptable to own slaves to a nation that through the years gave all men and women the opportunity to be equal. Not lone ago women were suppressed to being housewives. Men thought that their place was in the kitchen and finally women became tired of it and fought for their rights. It was not until 1920 that women earned the right to vote. It is now amazing to see how many women hold governmental positions or are involved in politics. We can still see skepticism in men and their thoughts on the ability of women to lead especially now that there is a possible chance for a women president. I believe that over the years women will be showing up in politics through governmental positions more. Uncertainty might exist towards the ability of the female gender to execute a governmental job yet as the years pass women will show that we can perform a governmental job just like men or who knows maybe even better.

Looking back at when women began to show their presence in politics I found that the first woman to serve in the Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton (at the right.) According to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, she was appointed by the "Governor as a Democrat to the United States Senate on October 3, 1922, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas E. Watson." The interesting fact about her term was that she only served for twenty-four hours. However, one can conclude that she opened the door for more women to feel like they can take on such a position. The first woman to be elected to the Senate was Hattie Wyatt Caraway. She was elected in a special election to fill the remaining month's left in her husband's term. Hattie Wyatt Caraway was then elected by Arkansas to serve for two more terms. Her terms as Senator were important because she held important positions in the Senate which had never been held by a women before. For example, "Hattie Caraway in 1933 became the first woman to chair a Senate Committee and in 1943 became the first woman to take up the gavel on the Senate floor as the Senate's presiding officer." I think that this was important because women start to show that they really are equal to men. Here we begin to see that the positions men once thought only a man could do were not only for men after all. "To date, thirty-five women have served in the United States Senate, with sixteen serving at this time."

Women have also showed up in the House of Representatives. The first woman elected to the House of Representatives was Jeannette Rankin, in November 1916. She was the first woman to be part of Congress. The fact that she was elected to Congress was remarkable because women did not get the right to vote until 1920 so we can safely assume she was elected by men. Since then "243 more women have served as U.S. Representatives or Senators." Two hundred and forty three is a remarkable number considering the fact that women were oppressed by men for so long. According to the women in congress website, "In total there have been 209 women Representatives, 28 Senators, and seven women who have served in both chambers." The numbers also show that thirty-seven of those women who have served in Congress come from minority ethnic backgrounds. This shows the way America is evolving and accepting change in old conservative ideas in where the women had no place to belong to but home.

Now we see another commotion begin because we have Hillary Clinton, running for President. It should not be shocking to America that a woman could have the capability to run a country when throughout the years women have shown they have the capability of taking on leadership positions. In the 1984 elections Geraldine Ferraro (shown in the left) became the first woman to run for vice president but was was defeated by the incumbent Reagan and his running mate Bush. Who is to say she would not have been a great leade? Twenty-four women in the House of Representatives have chaired congressional committees. "Nancy Pelosi (shown at right) of California made history by breaking the "marble ceiling" to become the first woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives." She has been the only woman to "hold the top three leadership positions in a major political party." Looking at these facts is it really a shock to think that a women is ready to lead a country. I think that America needs to continue on the road of change because it is change that can lead this country into a better road. If we can leave the prejudices we have against each other because of gender, and work together as intellectual men and women than this country can become a better nation to live in.