Nearly a century after women fought for and won the right to vote, there remains a dearth of female representation in the world of politics.
That needs to change.
The numbers are eye-opening. Following the 2009 elections, just 17 percent of the 992 seats on county legislatures in New York state were held by women.
According to Nora Bredes, director for the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership at the University of Rochester, the differences between women and men may account, in part, for women’s reluctance to enter the political ring. It’s passion for issues, not ambition for power, that moves women to action, Bredes maintains.
Women are natural healers and negotiators. Their sensibility often lends itself to bringing people together for the common good. They often make decisions from a heart-based intellect that takes into account the possibility of evolution, from desperation to inspiration. Watch a dedicated single mother with children to feed and you’ll see this concept in action.
In the political realm, take Ida Sammis, the first woman to run for the New York Assembly.
Hailing from Long Island, Sammis became involved in politics through the women’s suffrage movement. She was elected in 1918 as a progressive Republican.
Upon being elected to the Assembly, it was tradition for all members to receive a spittoon for their chewing tobacco. Sammis, not one to chew — or turn a gift down — reportedly polished her spittoon to a clean shine and used it as a flower vase.
“It’s a wonderful metaphor for women’s tendency to change government,” Bredes said.
In higher education and in the private sector, women are making strides but men continue to outpace them when it comes to earnings, bringing home a dollar for every 77 cents a woman earns.
And The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923 to affirm that women and men have equal rights under the law, is still not part of the U.S. Constitution. The ERA was passed out of Congress in 1972 but was ratified by only 35 of the necessary 38 states.
We strongly encourage women to continue to consider seeking public office as a way to champion issues they care about. If Bredes is correct about the motivation of women, and we think she is, that’s even more reason to bring the feminine perspective to a dysfunctional government.
Women are healers. It’s what they do. And this is a country, a state, and a political culture, that could use some healing.
