Why aren’t more women in politics?

In today’s society woman are in power roles in the world of entertainment but why is this not consistent in politics?

There are currently more women citizens in America than there are male and in the last presidential election, the majority of voters were female. In the 2016 presidential race, each party has a female candidate: Hillary Clinton for the democrats and Carly Fiorina for the republicans. But why has it taken so long for women to reach this milestone?

“Well for so long a period of time, women were written out of that world so I think you have the custom, the tradition that wrote women out probably due to the fact that many early governments were based more on strength and force rather than intellect,” Dr. Hedtke, professor of history and political science, said. “Men being physically stronger made then able to control women which then evolved into cultural and sociological and societal institutions that have encompassed this ideology.”

According to an article on theconversation.com written be David McLennon, the number of women running for and serving in political office has reversed and decreased in states like North Carolina and California. The number of women in politics has increased at the na- tional level, but that is still not enough to have full gender equality in politics.

“The idea is creating a society of equality and just like in any regards to any aspect of society minority groups have historically made gains to move to equality,” Dr. Owen, professor of sociology, said. “It is very important that we continue to strive for true equality and don’t fall back to complacency. We have to keep striving for equality and even if it has been accomplished it should be maintained.”

Research done by Richard Fox and Jennifer Lawless reports that women are only half as likely to be motivated to run for office than their male counterparts.

“The gender construct could be in their way because if a woman is assertive she’s bossy and if she’s emotional she’s a wimp,” Hedtke said. “When you flip that to a man, if he’s assertive he’s a leader and if he’s emotional he’s compassionate. It’s the gender construct that has to be broken in order for women to be seen as leaders.”

Females are held back by traditional gender roles of being a good wife, mother and caregiver, as well as feeling illegitimate in the political realm.

“I think on one hand, it’s about credibility that in the 19th century the idea of female members voting was laughed at by men in congress calling it emotional suffrage and a great danger,” Owen said. “I think for us right now the problem is that female political candidates could potentially be ridiculed for the same reason. Gaining credibility in a place that is so male dominated is still very difficult.The patriarchal minute is something they have to fight against.”

Having two female candidates betters the chances of America’s first female president. Women have the numbers and the potential power to make that happen.