Argumentative Essay On American Women

     Throughout United States history oppression of people has always been prominent, whether through African American’s and segregation or Asian American’s during the Vietnam War. What is often ignored is our history of the oppression of women. No matter what time in history, there is always a case to be found of the discrimination over gender. Many people know of how African American’s came into freedom and the long perilous road it took, but few know the struggles, changes and hardships that women have perceived to get where they are today. As the civil war halted and industrialization and urbanization came into play, the role of women changed dramatically and their status

It is well known that there are fewer women serving in U.S. politics and elective offices than there are men. According to the 2010 census, women make up 50.8% of the population, yet in 2016 women comprise only 19.4% of Congress, 24.7% of statewide elective executive offices, and 24.5% of state legislatures (Howden and Meyer 2011; Center for the American Woman and Politics [CAWP] 2016). In fact, in the world ranking of women in national legislatures the United States comes in at number 95 out of 191 (Inter-Parliamentary Union 2016). Clearly there is a dearth of women serving in elected office, but it is not clear why this is the case.

One of the main purposes of the United States government is to make policy that is relevant and helpful to the people of the country. To this end, it is important that our leaders understand and reflect the values and concerns of the people they represent. It is important, therefore, that it is comprised of a diverse group of individuals to match the diversity of the nation’s population. It is concerning, then, that, despite the fact that women make up 52 percent of the population, they only make up 17-18 percent of the United States Congress. Not only are they underrepresented, but they also show lower interest in running for office to begin with compared to their male counterparts. It is important to address the causes of and solutions

Peace, freedom, stability, education, equality, and prosperity: the mere aspirations that every American wishes to achieve. The “dream” our founding fathers wanted every man to obtain. However, what we Americans forget to acknowledge is our own dreams. We are too myopic and are so apprehensive towards failure that we attempt to prevent others from succeeding. Every man desires equality; but where does this leave women? We constantly cast-aside the gender division that is prevalent in our country and dismiss intentions to move towards change. Men exists because of women. Women and men are of one entity: the human being. And we as fellow human beings must realize our place and demand change. But change for what? Change that we are too afraid

When considering potential factors that contribute to women’s underrepresentation in elected office, another thought may be that perhaps voters just do not vote for women. Research shows that when women run they tend to win at the same rate as men and, furthermore, there is little evidence to suggest any kind of systemic bias against women at the polls (Lawless and Pearson, 2008, 67). However, additional research into the matter has qualified this claim. There is evidence that voters tend to view “masculine” characteristics—being self-confident, assertive, tough, and

).The bias that arises against women in politics emerges on several fronts. The first form of bias that can be explored is in consideration of the idea that women are much less likely to have political aspirations instilled in them and nurtured from a young age ( Fox & Lawless, 2013). Even though women were just as likely as men to pursue political information and express interest in it as they are in high school and college, they are much less likely to be encouraged by parents and other close family members to actually run for office( Fox & Lawless, 2013). This works as a form of bias against females, where families do not provide the supportive context that is needed to propel women to seek election. This is troubling because it leads to an internal bias, where women doubt their own ability to function in the capacity as a successful politician. According to Fox and Lawless, over 50 percent of women who are finished school and established in their career still feel as though they are not prepared enough to run for office, where only 30 percent of men think the same (2013). This shows that women who are just as qualified, if not more, than men still underestimate their own ability.

Gender politics have for the longest time acted in favor of the male gender as opposed to the female gender. Despite, the U.S being a dominant political power, women in leadership have experienced great struggles to ensure that they are equitably represented. However, besides America being a democratic nation, America women still faces many hurdles in the political arena while very few have been able to rise to the highest executive offices. While some countries have had female presidents, U.S has never had a female president with Hillary Clinton coming close in 2016. However, Hillary took a hit from the Electoral College who chose a minority president in Donald Trump despite Hillary garnering the popular majority votes. This begs the question

Women for far too long have had a hard time being taken seriously, especially in politics. Historically, politics has been a boys club: we’ve never had a female president, of the 535 seats in congress just a little over a hundred of them are filled by female representatives and only 20% of the members of the senate are women. Even in our modern government, we still have such an underrepresentation of women, which poses the question: why is this? Why is it so much harder for women to be involved in politics? Regardless of whether we are comparing men and women in media, sports, business, politics, etc., it seems our society is often times much harsher on females than males, so we must ask our selves: What makes us more critical of women than

In the United States government, women have never been equally represented despite composing half of the population. For example, women only make up twenty percent of our national legislature. In consequence of this injustice, the United States ranks ninety-fifth in the world for the number of women in federal government.

This includes state party officials and executive directors, party leaders in the state house and senate, Senate Presidents, and House Speakers among others. It is important to consider the lack of women in leadership roles as a factor contributing to women’s underrepresentation as candidates and elected officials because of the role those in leadership positions play in recruitment. Since leadership roles are overwhelmingly held by men, the recruitment processes of state and legislative party leaders are not gender-neutral, disadvantaging women. Fewer women are recruited to even run for office, an obstacle they must overcome before even facing the many other obstacles that have already been

As many would say, men still rule when it comes to the world of politics. Female representation is down and fewer women are running for elective office. Due to the decreasing participation and the gender gap in political ambition, we are becoming farther away from aspiring young women to seek and hold office in our future generations. But women’s underrepresentation is likely to continue in office is likely to extend towards the future unless we all start taking a

Women make up a little over half of the U.S. population, and although there have been some great gains in the representation of women in politics; the progress seems to have stalled. In Men Rule: 2012, Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox say, “The political environment may have changed throughout the last decade, but the gender gap in political ambition in 2011 is striking, and just as large as it was a decade ago.” Of the 2% of Americans that run for federal, state, or local elected office, 25% are women. Women make up 24% of state legislators, 20% of U.S. senators, 18% of House members, and only 10% of governors. Only about 18.4% of mayors of cities with a population of over 30,000 are women. The United States ranks 2.4% below the international

Gender stereotypes are a huge barrier for women in politics. To give some background, Gender stereotypes are perceptions about the traits, roles, characteristics and behaviors that are deemed “appropriate” for both women and men (Bauer, 2015). Furthermore, common stereotypes pertaining to women can be describes as emotional, caring, passive, and compassionate. Compared to male stereotypes, which are tough, strong, and assertive. Often in politics the masculine, male point of view is favorable over the women’s stereotypical traits (Bauer, 2015). The question is, do gender stereotyped matter to voters?

A significant body of research has been developed in political science to demonstrate that the presence of women in political office changes the substance and process of policymaking and politics. From the state to the national level, women elected officials have expanded the scope of the policy agenda and brought more diverse perspectives into legislatures (Kathlene, 1999). We also know that at the state level women legislators work more on women’s policy concerns than their male counterparts and offer programs to support those concerns (Carroll, 2001; Thomas and Welch, 1991; Thomas, 1997; Little, Dunn, and Dean, 2001). Similarly, at the national level, women legislators broaden the issues under consideration and move women’s issues onto the agenda (Wolbrect, 2000 and 2002). Further, female legislators actually introduce most legislation on women’s issues and co-sponsor more such legislation than their male counterparts (Wolbrect, 2002; O’Connor2001).

There are several ways one can look at the status of women in any society. During the last decade at least three approaches, not necessarily mutually exclusive, were discernible. One was to examine the common demographic indicators that give an overall picture of women's relative standing vis-à-vis men. According to the 1981 census, the se ratio stood at 933 females per 1000 males. The literacy rate was 46.89 per cent for males and 24.82 per cent for females. The life expectancy at birth for females was 50 years and for males it was 50.9 years. The average age at marriage for females was 18.32 years and for males it was 23.27 years. The female work participation rate was 13.99 percent and the male work participation rate was