We need to elect more women – one thing we can do? Ask them to run for office.
Happy International Women’s History Month! I am continuing to share feminist content. Today, I am talking about something I’m very passionate about, which is getting more women in politics – especially getting more women elected to public office. Women have made strides in progress toward gender parity in politics. After all, we do have record numbers of women officeholders. But we still have a long way to go.
The Statistics
Here are some of the statistics about women elective officeholders. All information was sourced from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, which is a great resource that I highly recommend looking into.
- Black women are 4.9% of all Members of Congress
- As of 2021, women hold 26.5% of all Congressional seats
- In 2021, women hold 30% of statewide elective executive offices across the country
- Women make up 30.9% of state legislators
As you can see, we still have a lot of work left to do.
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The Candidate Gender Gap
It turns out that when women run, they win at the same rates as men. So, why don’t we have more women elected officials? There are many reasons, but part of the problem is that people are simply not asking women to run. Peers, family, colleagues, or established political leaders do not ask often enough. On the other hand, people are much more likely to encourage men to run. Even when we do ask women to run, there is still a disparity. On average, you have to ask a woman 7 times before she even considers it.
Our government should be representative of the diversity of the country. It’s important to young women and girls who will look up to these leaders and believe that they can be that, too. And we need women at the table. Our communities need their voices, their experiences, their strength, their knowledge, and their skills. And we especially need women of color, queer women, disabled women, transgender women, and Native women in elective office.
See also: Suffragette White: The Interesting History to Know
There are so many things that we can and need to do to close this gender gap. But there is one easy thing we can do to start: ask a woman in your life to run for office. She could be a friend, a family member, a mentor, or even an acquaintance. I’m not going to pretend that doing this one easy thing will fix everything because it won’t. But it’s a start.
If you know someone who is an advocate, activist, or community leader, ask that person. And ask her several times. We need her voice.
Thanks for reading my post!
-Kyndal “Elect More Women” Sowers