i shit rainbows

i’m totally a feminazi!!!!!

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL JK.

women’s issues are so fucking important oh my god and anyone who doesnt care about them is ignorant AS FUCK. 

The Role of Women in Politics and Society

The late Congresswoman Bella Abzug once said, “The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes” (BrainyQuote online). Her quote is a message that all should know. Someone who is the most qualified, regardless of his or her gender, should fulfill a job. Men and women should not be treated differently from each other in the work force but inevitably, they are. We live in a misogynist society that is thinly veiled as equal and fair to both genders. In reality, women are not more involved in politics because there is still bias against women. Our society still believes women lack the ability to understand or tackle national problems.

For evidence of these claims, one only needs to look at the number of women who hold major political offices in this country. The numbers are an astonishing indicator of how far away from equality women really are. Currently in the United States House of Representatives, there are 75 women representatives out of 435 overall representatives. Meanwhile, in the Senate, out of a possible 100 senators, a mere 17 members are women (This Nation online). These numbers are extremely disheartening. Women make up more than half of the population but are not even close to half of the total members in Congress. It is obvious that we are severely underrepresented.  Of course, it is important to acknowledge the great strides that women have made in the past 100 years. Women have achieved incredible things since they gained the right to vote, but there is still much more to be accomplished.

Before women are assured of their necessity in politics, one must be aware of the root causes that prevent women from participating in government. An extremely important reason for the lack of women in politics is the bias against women. Many men and unfortunately, even some women believe that women are too emotional and unstable to hold important public office. Society perpetuates the idea that women are inherently inclined to be interested in frivolous things such as shopping and cooking. While these activities are not bad by any means, they are used in a way to demean women. This is detrimental to society and to young girls who have the power to achieve great things. These young women are limited by the stereotypes imposed upon them. It is not true that women are naturally better at some things while men are better at others such as “serious jobs.” We are born with a clean slate and women are capable of holding extremely powerful jobs.

According to filmmaker Jennifer Newsom’s documentary, Miss Representation, The media also plays a huge rule in the bias against powerful women in politics. It tries to indoctrinate people with the belief that the “glass ceiling” no longer exists for women but this is simply not true. Newsom interviewed highly respected individuals from all different fields who agreed that the media and their advertiser’s agenda is to make money. They are not setting out to be morality coaches. That is fairly obvious to adults everywhere. Unfortunately, the media is focused on targeting a more naïve audience, for example, the 18 to 24 age group or even younger. These groups are more inclined to believe what they see without questioning the media’s intentions. Newsom also interviewed young girls who all said that the media instills in them that intelligence is unattractive. These thoughts lead to attitudes of lower self-esteem and that plague women throughout their adult lives. Although it may sound like a cliché, it is absolutely true that low self-esteem impedes women from pursuing things they would have otherwise tried. It is especially true of young women who feel that they are mere objects to men and their self worth comes from outward appearance.

The media also does incredible damage by the way they treat women who are involved in politics. Most times, women who are involved in politics are subject to more comments on their looks than on their policies. Some of the most powerful women in our country are constantly mocked and ridiculed because they do not represent the media’s idea of the ideal women, 25-year-old models. Miss Representation shows that Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi are prime examples of the bias against women. It is more common to hear opinions on Hillary Clinton’s wardrobe and Nancy Pelosi’s alleged plastic surgery than to hear the media discuss their policies. They have no respect for Hillary Clinton, who is the Secretary of State, a job with enormous power, or for Nancy Pelosi who was the first female Speaker of the House, another extremely powerful position.  It is disconcerting that according to Newsom, in the four years Pelosi served as Speaker of the House she never appeared on the cover of any national magazine despite her achievement. Of course, Pelosi’s successor, John Boehner, appeared on five national weekly magazines within the first two months of his new job.

While the media slams lawmakers like Clinton and Pelosi, they seem to praise people like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman because they are aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of the media. No one can deny that Clinton and Pelosi are highly capable and Palin and Bachman really have no discernable intelligence. Yet their credentials are regarded as one of the least important factors in their careers as politicians. That is an incredibly scary thought. Palin particularly was able to build a national career as the cute, ditzy, woman who was the foil to the Ivy League educated and serious, Clinton. Society frowns upon a strong woman like Clinton because contrary to what most say, people still expect women to be subservient to men in some ways. Palin and on the other hand is celebrated for being a stereotypical housewife. The message this sends to young girls is extremely damaging. The message perpetuates the idea that looks and personality, not intelligence is the only ways to success, particularly in a public arena such as national politics. When the national media cannot even respect some of the most powerful women in the country, it is naïve to think that young women would want to participate in a field like politics.

Young women need to become empowered by educating themselves about the media’s intentions so they can become immune to the toxicity spilled by the media. If more girls spent time thinking about how they could change policies in the nation instead of wasting their time focused on their appearance then great social changes could take place. Girls need to understand that their intelligence is nothing to be embarrassed about; on the contrary, intelligence is something one should be proud of and it should be put to good use. Because it is our basic right as citizens to participate in government, women need to become involved in politics. Women’s voices are just as important as the ones of their male counterparts. Women still face a terrible bias against them in this day and age but they can continue to break through these barriers with their intelligence and perseverance.

- JB