Posted on September 27, 2007
Until 1920, women in the United States were considered second-class citizens and were given no voice in the government. With the passage of the 19th Amendment, millions of voices were finally given the right to speak. Even with this right, however, women have been given less of a voice in our government than they deserve. Women are approximately one half of the electorate, yet they still make up significantly less of our elected representatives than men. Only 16 of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate are women and Sen. Clinton is possibly the only female presidential candidate.
At one point the disparate percentage of women in government would have made some slight sense. Until recently, women were underrepresented in higher education. This would mean that a smaller portion of women were qualified for political office than the portion of men. Clinton, however, has her Juris Doctor just like half of the male candidates for president. Women make up 56 percent of college students, with some schools having significantly more than that. It would seem that today’s women are just as qualified for political office as their male counterparts.
Though women are still woefully underrepresented in our government, they have been making great strides in the past few years. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the house is the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. The 16 female senators still make up the largest percentage ever found in the upper house of Congress. In the past two presidential administrations, we have had the first two female secretaries of state. These are great steps forward and as a country we should be proud.
Unfortunately, whether or not a woman is qualified to be the president is a difficult question to answer. Because there is only one major female candidate for president, it is nearly impossible to argue for my position without appearing to support Clinton. This is not the case, as there are other candidates I find equally qualified who happen to be male. While I have not made a final decision as to who deserves my vote, I urge readers to not let a candidate’s sex get in the way of their decision. Women are as intelligent and as capable as men and should have the same opportunity to fill the highest government office.
David Schultz is a sophomore biology major.
I’m extremely intrigued whenever I ask a male what he thinks of a woman being elected to presidential office. He usually becomes very solemn, checks briefly to make sure there are no girlfriends or possible love interests in the vicinity, and then replies without hesitation, “It would have to be an extraordinary woman to be elected over a man.”
This answer, although it is the most common response I get from males, is consistently shocking. Why, I wonder, is it that a female would have to be some sort of wonder woman in order to govern a nation that prides itself on its open-minded and democratic nature?
Countries that have elected women as heads of state have no mandatory requirement for the females to wear capes, have superhuman strength or an ability to fly. Unfortunately for the United States, there is still males that seem to be living in a different century in which electing a female president is not a celebrated or a positive milestone in history. This population that is still stuck in this mindset appears to be cowering at the thought of a potential female candidate earning her place on the ballot.
The most perplexing issue is the nonsensical fear plaguing the minds of many narrow-minded men as they recoil from the thought of a woman daring to sit in the Oval Office. The White House, contrary to popular belief, is not a “boy’s only club” just because a female has never been invited. The demand for an extraordinary woman to fill the position is not only absurd, it’s completely contradictory to the standard our society holds for male presidential candidates.
The reality that some members of the male population neglect to acknowledge is that many nations have had female heads of state (Iceland, England, Indonesia and Germany) and that other countries are currently run by female presidents (Ireland, India, Chile and Finland).
I realize that not all men are as closed minded and shortsighted as those I have had the misfortune of debating this topic with. But to the individual male who has accumulated a certain amount of doubt and mistrust in a female candidate before she is even elected, I question not their fear, but the fact that they simply have no desire to see a woman doing a job that a man has done for so long.
Sarah Delia is a junior English and art history major.
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