Somehow I'm managed to float through about 20 years of life without giving much thought to the fact I am a female. I've always check the "F" box on job applications and walked through the bathroom door with the skirt on the sign, but I've never given the fact much thought until this summer.
Summer 2007. Summer of Jenny's giant NYC adventure.
I was offered a great internship with The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that aims to advance women's leadership in all communities and sectors, up to the U.S. presidency. The flagship program of this organization is called Vote, Run, Lead, and I was able to be a part of a huge groundbreaking on their home turf this summer: hosting the first ever Go Run training in New York City.
I started this job clueless about what I was going to be doing with my remaining eight weeks of summer, but quickly realized that I had jumped headfirst into a pool of a dozen female employees (plus two males) working to build a pipeline of "richly diverse and untapped" women in America.
Why you ask, is this mission so important? Well, I borrow from the organization's case statement when I answer: "By supporting women and the values that allow women to succeed—the full range of health options, security platforms that utilize all our resources, economic stability for all—we work to create an equitable culture."
Still, most people don't get it. And I didn't either before this summer. Why must our society attempt to boost women's participation in government or business? Isn't this the 21st century and aren't men and women finally equal?
Sadly, this is the misperception most Americans still hold regarding our "democracy". Looking at the political side of things, only 86 women currently serve in the U.S. Congress— 16 in the Senate and 70 women in the House. That's 16.3 percent of the 535 seats in the 110th Congress. Last time I checked women comprised at least 51 percent of the US population, so why is this majority a minority in politics?
For the Fortune 500 companies so closely studied by Wall Street enthusiasts across the country, only 15.6 percent of the boards of these companies are comprised of women.
And just to put a little J-School spin on this issue... Over the last five years, The White House Project has researched the absence of women on Sunday morning talk shows on the five major networks: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC. The first "Who's Talking" report was released in 2001 and found that men outnumbered women 9 to 1 on these agenda-setting shows. In their 2002 follow-up, they found that there was little improvement—women only made up 13 percent of all guest appearances on the shows. In the 2005 study, called Who's Talking Now, we found more than half of Sunday morning news shows did NOT include a single women.
So now you might be able to see why this summer suddenly forced me to pay a little more attention to my gender. When working for a gender-focused organization, one naturally gives more thought to the subject. I learned women must be pushed or invited into positions of authority while men confidently walk up to the podium, boardroom or microphone (kudos to TWHP Founder and President Marie Wilson for giving me this nugget of knowledge). At this internship, I had to face reality. I had been under the assumption that maybe if women ignored the fact we were under-represented in Congress or Fortune 500s, we could sneak up from behind and take the men by storm. But problems like don't solve themselves overnight. It's going to take organizations like The White House Project to bring attention to these very real gender inequalities through ongoing programs that promote women's leadership across all sectors.
But for me, it doesn't stop with that organization in New York City. I have a responsibility to bring attention to the facts— the facts that make women's under-representation so evident. So now when you are sitting in Western Civ II skimming Virginia Woolf you can analyze the reading to see if anything really has changed in the experiences women and men since her post-WWII timeframe. Have women become more equal? How does our patriarchal society shape your life experiences? Or you can sit back and wonder, like me, why articles like this try to make women out to be nimble and too ignorant to care for themselves. Give women some credit.
Sorry if I sound like a raving feminist, but c'mon guys, it's time to share the wealth.
Comments (4)
Jennifer, I’m excited by your internship and the horizons that it opened for you. Furthermore, I agree that it is a shame that women are underrepresented in both media discussions and the government.
I do, however, want to express frustration with one aspect of the feminism discussion that I think is catastrophic to any sort of equality or reconciliation. That is, the definition of terms and the drawing of lines such that it begins to look like a struggle of women vs. men. I absolutely hate that dichotomy: we’re not two separate societies or cultures that are warring for supremacy; we’re two halves of a whole, mates, even, who have serious issues to work out. We cannot approach this situation from two separate camps. I believe we must work it out and solve it together.
I didn’t notice you endorsing this mindset, but the topic of your post just reminded me of my sentiments.
I believe that the only way to have an equal society such that you describe is to level the playing field, making all opportunities equal (such as job interviews, salaries, etc), and then allow for an equilibrium to take effect naturally. I am not in favor of wresting men from their current posts simply to artificially induce a balanced society.
Posted by Will McCullough | August 23, 2007 11:45 AM
Posted on August 23, 2007 11:45
Congratulations on your internship--sounds like you did some amazing work, and, of course, nothing beats NYC in the summer(but that's beside the point).
As someone deeply involved in following politics, I do admire the non-partisan approach of your efforts, but I also couldn't help but wonder what happens in the (likely) case that you're helping a candidate whose views run counter to women's rights/issues. That is, it seems likely that you could end up training and preparing a candidate who eventually stood against a woman's right to choose, or, say, making the day after pill available...I just wondered immediately if you ever came across those situations and how you had to deal with them.
Anyway, as a minority, I understand the importance of making political involvement more accessible to everyone--so I really applaud your efforts.
Posted by Ranjit | August 23, 2007 11:59 AM
Posted on August 23, 2007 11:59
Will,
I completely see where you are coming from in your post. The common misconception of people who oppose feminism think that proponets of the idea are pro-women while being anti-men. This is definitely not the ideas The White House Project was seeking to promote. I can't speak for all feminists, but I for one, just want a little more shared power. I'm not seeking to flip the situation and send men retreating, but like you recognize, an equilibrium is needed.
Ranjit,
It's always great to share some NYC experiences with someone who has been there and done that. I see your concern, but I haven't encountered the situation. The trainings were bi-partisan, so it would seem this could occur... I'll have to keep my eye on the participants!
Posted by Jenny | August 23, 2007 12:50 PM
Posted on August 23, 2007 12:50
What I think is fascinating is how many women voters--right-wingers, natch--are absolutely driven by the idea of Hillary Clinton as president, and by extension, I think, just about any woman in that office. I think Chris Rock framed the issue nicely here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RlVtsAvKfs
Posted by Ryan McG | August 23, 2007 7:39 PM
Posted on August 23, 2007 19:39