Right after I breathed a sigh of relief at the defeat of the Romney/Ryan ticket, I feverishly searched for the election results from Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Missouri. I was utterly delighted to see that Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth and Claire McCaskill won their highly contested Senate races. Several other female candidates won their races as well which means that the number of female Senators will increase. So, was this another Year of the Woman in the Senate?
No and, by the way, I hate that phrase. It suggests that we only get one year which is, of course, quite ridiculous. The phrase also hides the fact that women, by virtue of being at least 51% of the population, are in no way a minority. We shouldn’t get A year; we are here EVERY year. Yet somehow that major point keeps getting lost. If we are such a large part of the population, why in the world did we have only 17% representation in the Senate and even less than that in the House? In 2012, women legislators comprised 16.8% of the U.S. House of Representatives and 23.7% of all legislators at the state level. Only two states – Colorado and Vermont – even approached a 50% representation level. This is unacceptable.
Last night gave us some hope. I was absolutely thrilled with the women we added to the group (only one is a Republican) and I love the fact three states – New Hampshire, California and Washington – will be represented by two female senators. I also am delighted that New Hampshire in January will have women in the governor’s mansion, in both Senate seats, and in all House seats. Way to go, New Hampshire! All of this shows that groups like Emily’s List are working and that having powerful female mentors, like Senator Patty Murray (who shepherded Tammy Duckworth to a win), is important.
However, even with last night’s gains by women politicians, I am not celebrating as much as I would like. The advances are too small and I am concerned that the only reason we got even this far is because of the huge backlash against women this electoral season. As Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York pointed out: “There’s no group that will be impacted more by this election than women. Look at the bills the GOP House has passed this Congress: they voted to redefine rape, they voted to defund Planned Parenthood and Title X funding.” Yes, they did all of that partly because of the lack of female representation but mostly I think they did it because they knew they could.
Many women in the United States mistakenly believe that we are liberated, that women here are free. We are not. If we were, our representation in the halls of power – in politics, the legal arena, business and the places where decisions are made – would be much greater than a pittance. But it isn’t. If we were, we wouldn’t still be fighting over our bodies, our work, and the violence leveled against us. But we are. If we were, mothers would have 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, access to high quality, affordable childcare, and a family friendly corporate environment. But we don’t. If we were truly free, male legislators would be so afraid of the power of women that they wouldn’t dare messing with those things that we hold so dear. But they do. And all of this is true in large measure because women are not united.
Women come out whenever our rights are threatened but we do not stay to build upon the gains we obtain. We come out whenever a particular battle looks like it might not go our way but then we don’t stick around to heal and rebuild. We assume that because we live in one of the most powerful nations on Earth, that we are able to vote, go to school, work outside the home, and seek legal redress for our grievances that we have it good enough that we don’t have to worry (much) or work (hard) for all the rights and services that should be ours. And that is exactly why we keep having the same fights, that we see rollbacks in gains that we’ve made, and why many of our female leaders tend to be tokens or traitors. We should all say: enough.
It is time, sisters, for us to stop being reactive and start being proactive. It is time for us to stop being separated from each other and start being united. It is time for us to roll up our sleeves, resign ourselves to doing the hard work and start building on what we’ve gotten. What we did yesterday in electing more women than usual was amazing. We cannot let that momentum wane. If we do, if we slack off for even a minute, I may be writing about yet another Year of the Woman after the next electoral cycle. If it’s all the same to you, I’d really rather be writing about our first female president and at least 50% female representation at all levels. Now that would be something.
Riley Holden
—————————————————————————————