Essay Sample on Women in Politics

Introduction

Throughout history, women have been made to feel less than their male counterparts. Although many countries have become more progressive in their ideals over time, there is still a significant gap in the way females are treated versus men. This is because current voters and men in political power carry past perceptions on their shoulders; they take the outdated belief that women are incapable of successfully completing a job and push it on today's public agenda. Although females have protested for fairness and fought for legislation to be passed, the ideals of inequality shared by the public centuries ago are still very much alive today. As a result, women feel stuck in feelings of worthlessness and inferiority. Although this may appear insignificant at first glance, these emotions affect the terms of our everyday lives; In several cases, there is no gender requirement to hold political office. However, women are less likely than men to launch a political campaign, and when they do, they are often scrutinized by both the public and their male opponents. Females do not run for office at high rates because of these feelings of inferiority. We must alter the public's perception of women's potential and find a solution to this issue, or else we miss out on diverse opinions and beliefs. A nation guided solely by men is drastically different from one directed by both genders. Women choose to run for political office at lower rates than men because they are often discouraged by the public and are made to feel less than their male counterparts. 

Model Primitives 

The abovementioned model includes several actors with distinct preferences and places in society. The first set of actors in our model are women with political ambitions. They have two specific preferences: to hold political office and escape being scrutinized by the public and their male opponents. Females have just as much political aspiration as their male counterparts, yet the public and men in political power still doubt their electability and potential to succeed. This is a constraint that they must face when deciding whether or not to run for office. Facing this barrier often leads women to avoid launching political campaigns. To accomplish their goal of being seen as equal, women can protest and form interests groups. However, this strategy does not guarantee success. The second group of actors in our model is men in political power. Their primary preference is to remain in power. They may reinforce negative beliefs about women, specifically those with political ambition, to accomplish this goal. They may also pass legislation that hinders females’ advancements in society. Their constraint, therefore, would be females who do decide to run for office. The final category of actors in our model is the public. Their preference is to elect successful and knowledgeable leaders who will rally for their causes. However, in many ways, they are their own constraint. Their own outdated belief that women are not capable of completing tasks “designed” for men stop them from electing female leaders. To accomplish their goal of selecting the best leaders, the public must remove outdated prejudices from their thinking. 

Model 

Although, in many cases, there are no gender requirements when attempting to take hold of office, the inferiority women feel from public scrutiny and men in political power leads them to avoid launching a political campaign altogether. Females have had to fight for their fundamental rights that others have been handed so easily throughout history. The United States is a prime example of this. From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, the Suffrage Movement fought for women's right to vote. Although, by 1919, women were given this right with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, the limits that men in power have placed on females, and the public view of their capabilities have always made women feel subordinate. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 "prohibit[ed] sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment" (U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission 2014). Pieces of legislation such as this falsely make it seem like women are viewed as equal to men. However, in reality, the public still believes that females are incapable of specific jobs because those tasks are men's work. According to The Pew Research Center, despite the Equal Pay Act, "in 2020, women earned 84% of what men earned" (Barroso and Brown 2021). Statistics suggest that societies' thoughts on gender and equality have changed very little. Women are still treated and seen as fundamentally different from and less than men. Perhaps this notion explains why we see a difference in the number of men versus women who enter the STEM field, but this difference can also be seen in politics; women carry these feelings of unworthiness into their consideration to run for a political position of power. According to The Center for American Women and Politics, only three hundred and twelve women ran for a position in the United States Congress in 2016 (Zhou 2018). Although this was an increase from previous years, it does not compare to the number of men who ran for the same position. Women who have taken congressional positions in the last decade, like Kirsten Gillibrand (a senator from New York) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (a representative for New York's 14th congressional district), note feeling unworthy and less than their male counterparts. Each has been scrutinized by the public and men in political power before and during their time in office. In an interview with The New York Times, Senator Gillibrand notes that she felt so unworthy that '"It took 10 years volunteering to have the actual self-confidence to say, 'I can run for office'" (Miller 2016). Congresswoman Cortez experienced the same. During her campaign, the public often criticized her for being a bartender with political ambition. The reality is that Congresswoman Cortez worked at a local bar to support herself; however, the public spread that information on social media to say that we should not elect a woman bartender as our representative (Hartzell 2019). In 2020, she had a conflict with a fellow congressman who attacked her with stereotypical rhetoric strictly because she was a woman with a strong opinion. According to Cortez's account of the situation, Representative Ted Yoho made an effort to stop her during one of her breaks to call her "crazy" and "a fucking bitch" (Grant 2020). Women with political ambitions see scenarios of scrutiny such as these and begin to rethink their decision to run for political office. From Representative Yoho and the public's comments, it is clear that many individuals still believe that women are not capable of successfully being in a political position of power. In the presidential election of 2016, Hillary Clinton experienced similar hostility. Throughout her campaign, opponent President Donald Trump made comments about Clinton's gender. According to an interview he did with Vox, Trump said that "'the only thing [Clinton's] got going is the woman's card" (Steiger 2016). This was only one of many negative gender-based comments made about Clinton throughout her campaign. By claiming that she would only receive votes because she was a woman, Trump undermines her ability to do the job successfully regardless of her gender. Additionally, during this time, the public did not have a favorable view of Clinton. According to The Atlantic, "fifty-two percent of white men held a 'very unfavorable' view of [her]" (Beinart 2016). Men in positions of political power never receive the unfair and unequal treatment women with political ambitions must combat. When females interested in running for office see the scrutiny their fellow women in politics face, they are turned off by the idea of following their ambitions to be political leaders. Without the public's perception that women are incapable of completing specific tasks and without the mistreatment women face from their male counterparts, perhaps their feelings of inferiority would disappear, and we would see a higher rate of females running for political office.