Women in Politics

With our current knowledge of media and how it affects our society in a variety of different ways, I wanted to examine how women in politics are represented.

Women are underrepresented in all forms of government.    For the first time since 1987, the United States has made no progress in electing more women to Congress.  According to the WCF foundation, women only hold 17% of the seats in Congress.  This percentage is extremely low when you think about how females make up 51% of the population.  Only 6 out of 50 states have a female governor.  And only 22% of all statewide elective executive office positions are currently held by women.

Even with the United States striving for equality for all, gender stereotypes seem to be holding women back from being active in politics.  The old stereotypes that men are to hold leadership positions while women tend to housework and blindly support the patriarchy must change.  Media depicts women as sex objects and influences young girls to only focus on their appearance.  If women are being taught to only worry about their looks, how can they be successful and actually make something of themselves?  A study found that voters evaluate women politicians more on beauty and approachability, while they look for competence and dominance in male politicians.  

Women in power, such as Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, tend to be asked question on plastic surgery scandals rather than worldwide issues.  A male politician would not be asked such questions. The reporter spent about a minute talking about actual politics and the rest of the time asking Palin about breast implants.  Sarah Palin calls it a waste of time to be asking about implants rather than real issues.  I agree with her. I believe this is another example of how gender is portrayed in the media and how it greatly influences and shapes our society.