Women possess an enormous amount of power in this country. The census tells us that from a sheer numbers perspective we rule. This is not news. I can remember, embroiled as a kid in the early 70’s in one of those classic “girls are better than boys” debates, being exceedingly proud to cite this statistic. In 2010, for the first time ever, we evened the workforce playing field in terms of representation by numbers. In 2011 we surpassed men in earning advanced degrees. It’s no secret we’ve held the buying power in our households for generations. And there isn’t a man out there who can give birth to a baby.
So if we have all of this power, why are we still allowing men to be our mouthpieces in government?
So much of what I write about socializes the challenges of women in business; I was happy to receive from one of my loyal readers this perspective on women in politics: “Why The White House Glass Ceiling Remains Solid” http://www.npr.org/2012/10/30/163951288/why-the-white-house-glass-ceiling-remains-solid?sc=emaf. It asks the timely question of whether the United States will ever elect a woman president.
Women appear to be even more underrepresented on the political front than in business. While we talk of the deep bench and pipeline in corporates, it’s not the same in politics. The representation of women in statewide elected offices in the past 30 years has increased negligibly from 11% to 23%. It doesn’t take an actuary to calculate that at this pace it will be decades before we break even.
What leaps out at me in this article is these two statistics: In every election since 1964 women have cast more votes than men. And while more than 80% of women plan to vote in this election, less than 40% of women surveyed think that those in office represent their interests. If the men aren’t getting it done for us, why aren’t we jumping into the fray?
The writer doesn’t attempt to answer this question, and maybe I shouldn’t try either, but I have to believe it has a lot to do with the fact that men have historically dictated the methods and behaviors associated with attaining these jobs.
On the very same day I received the White House paper, another reader forwarded me an HBR blog I hadn’t seen (is that possible?) titled “What Women Know About Leadership That Men Don’t” http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2012/10/what-women-know-that-men-dont.html. This post speaks to men’s natural tendencies toward aggression and the fact that positions of power are won primarily by those who are willing to overinflate their achievements to prove they are big and bad. Isn’t that what the campaign trail is all about? It’s no wonder the natural approach of women, connection, doesn’t stand a chance in this arena. This could very well be one of the reasons why women are not lining up to take office, and why we can’t help but feel on Election Day that we are picking our poison, choosing between two disingenuous candidates saying whatever they need to in order to win.
I’ve often felt that the political candidate with the stomach to handle the campaign could in no way also possess the qualities I’m looking for in a leader. Aren’t women’s inclinations toward collaboration, empathy, diplomacy and mediation just what the doctor ordered when it comes to managing through today’s growing minefields and keeping the peace? I wonder how often war would be used as a tactic if more countries were run by women.
It’s a shame that the road to office precludes most women, paved in such archaic one-upmanship. Maybe it’s time our so-called democratic selection process had a make-over. When the constitution was written by a bunch of men wearing powdered wigs way back when, wasn’t the intent of the House of Representatives to address equal representation? Our forefathers attempted to prorate by population so that the voice of the people was balanced. It made sense at the time.
But times have changed. When this country was born, it was unfathomable that women would ever be anything more than barefoot and pregnant. We’ve come a long way, but our political process is sorely behind.
As women I bet more of us would feel like our elected officials had our best interests at heart if they looked more like us. Our leaders in government are as different from us as the leaders above us on the ladder in Corporate America. The path to positions of power is a complicated obstacle course favoring the males who have always been the predominate navigators.
The government could stand a solid inclusion program. The political gates need to somehow be opened to women. Maybe it means mandating representation prorated not just by population, but by women and minority groups. Maybe it means an overhaul of the malicious alpha dog fight that is the campaign. Maybe it’s a little of both. What’s certain, though, is that a group of men can’t represent women’s interests any better than a group of women can represent men’s interests. We all need a say if we’re all going to be heard.
A government for the people and by the people needs to be truly representative of all the people. That, by the way, includes the girls.
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