Social Justice and Neighborhood / Community Mapping (Research Paper Sample)

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Women in Politics
If you pay attention to the American politicians in Washington D.C., you will find out that most of the influential people are males. As for females who are active in D.C. politics, most of them are wives of those powerful men. They are present at international meetings, fashion balls or public social activities for companying their husband. They are dressed as beautiful as flowers; simultaneously, they are served as decorative flowers for the formal public occasion. Typically, they just quietly stand behind their husbands who are influential in shaping U.S. society policy, and continuously keep a smile. Why does this phenomenon happen? Because women can hardly take a space in a government office. More accurate, the public would not readily accept a female governor. The public becomes much more strict and harsh when they examine if a woman is qualified to access power. Take a look at human progress history; women had been kept silence for thousands of years in policy formulation, lawmaking, and social resource distribution. My research is to state that women should be considered as same as men by the public for leadership. Because women do have the excellent ability just like men. Also, egalitarianism can efficiently reduce social contradictions, like feminism and racism.
In this project, I hope to find out, firstly, the important reasons why American women have a lot of pressure to be leadership. Second, what did those successful women go through, and how did they get over it. Third, what does those experience teach us? Fourth, how the harsh public judgment effect on women's spirit and life
The concept of male dominance in the leadership positions has been a key characteristic of many political setups across the world. Many countries in the past and contemporary still have a male dominated leadership and political platforms. In the past, many scholars and researcher spent most of their resource and time documenting the underrepresentation of female in leadership positions. Most notable examples of such individuals are Hills and Lovenduski (1981), Duverger (1955), and Coser (1981). In the last three decades, the research about this particular issue has accelerated significantly (Nielsen, (Kristina and Rikke, 2016). The key reason for the growing popularity has been the increase in divergent views about the politics. Also, the society has evolved considerably thus eliminating the traditional perception of the role of women in the community. Most notably in many different nations across the world, the community has welcomed the participation of women in politics (Young, 2015). Countries such as Argentina, Rwanda, and Sweden are the best examples that underpin the new trend. However, in other nations, male gender is still expressing dominance in the major government and management positions. Examples of such areas are the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Micronesia, Kyrgyzstan, and St. Kitts. These countries are characterized by male dominance in a political setting. On average, in 2008, only 19.2 percent of leaders in the National Legislatures across the world were women. The 2008 women leadership data by the United Nations also underpins the argument. The table below represents a sample of the information about women and political involvement.
Table 1: Women in National Legislature (2008)
Country

Percentage of women

Rwanda

56.4

Andorra

53.5

Sweden

45.1

Cuba

44.4

South Africa

44.3

Finland

42.1

Mozambique

39.1

Costa Rica

38.5

Denmark

38.4

Argentina

38.1

Spain

36.5

Tanzania

36.1

New Zealand

33.3

The United States

16.8

Source: Researcher computation from (Weatherford, 2012)
During the same period, the political setting and governance in the United States also illustrate the argument of this research. The statistics indicated that male were still a dominant figure in the legislation of the country. In 2008, the percentage of women in the political offices and leadership in America can be summarized in the table below.
Office

Women (in percentage)

State legislators

23.5

State Governors

12.1

The U.S. Senators

17.1

Mayors of the 100 Big Cities

8.1

House of Representatives

16.7

Statewide Elected Officials

22.3

Source: Kerber (2016)
The above illustration concurs with the general argument in this article. In the U.S. there is under-representation of women. The implication of this is the raised concerns about the fundamental and legitimacy issues that impact the political representation. The recently concluded presidential election has also led to a similar pattern of female involvement in politics. According to Women and Politics Institute (2017), the women population was estimated to be around 50.7 percent of the total in the U.S. In yet another interesting fact; women have over 53% of professional-level careers in the job market. Despite this high number, they are still miles behind about leadership and political participation in the state and the federal government. The current statistics indicates that end of 2016, 24.3 percent of state legislature seats were female. They also had 18.5% in congressional seats, 10 percent in the governorship, and 20% in the U.S. Senate (Kerber, 2016).
The low number of women participation in politics can be attributed to some reasons. The causes can apply to the situation in the U.S. and the general world population. Examples of possible causes include the persistent sex discrimination, stereotypes and biasness towards women, choices, and lack of active mentors and networks. The negative public judgment and criticism of women is a good example of prejudice. The level of biasness may often be illegal and subtle. In the U.S. the incident in mostly witnessed in most offices and workplaces. Looking at the job vacancies posts and adverts, it is often a common thing for one to see a corporation that has explicitly stated their preference for the male employees. In another profession, like a receptionist career, the obvious candidate that will be preferred will be a female. The trend doesn't stop here; it continues even to management and leadership positions. The implication of this is the creation of hostility towards a person of a different gender. In 2015, over 30,000 cases were reported. They involved members filing for a complaint of favoritism to another in the central positions in the society. The number indicates how stereotypic behavior is a fundamental cause affecting female participation in the most sectors of the American economy.
In the political realms, the presences of stereotypic thoughts against women have often been highlighted by the media. The challenge has most specifically affected many successful female leaders. A notable example of this particular argument is the stereotypic messages sent to Hillary Clinton when she was vying for the party nomination and the presidential position. In an article by the Economist, Rush Limbaugh who is a radio presenter noted that there were refinements towards Hillary. According to him, many media houses focused on discussing the hair, cleavage, and clothes rather than highlighting the key issues that Hillary’s campaign was going to address. The social media platform was the most used area where such prejudiced debates and negative views were highlighted. Women leaders are often seen as weak people who are not in a position to oversee development. They are also stereotyped as lesbians. Since the early 1900s, people have often debated the sexual orientation of Hillary Clinton. Individuals have also derogatorily termed her as a lesbian. Many studies especially one by Falk (2010), indicated that the general perception of the public and media biasness on female candidates played a significant role in influencing their contribution in the political arena (Wilcox, 2012). The opinion is seen as a key element that has changed the elective race in most senatorial and gubernatorial races.
Women’s choices and caregiving are also key elements that pose a challenge to their participation in politics and leadership practices. The balancing of family and work responsibilities poses an obstacle to many female individuals. It is tough for people to participate in campaigns and social welfare engagements while they still have the responsibility to look after the young children at home. Such domestic responsibilities have often made women decide to participate in more part-time career opportunities. According to the indication by the bureau of statistics, in the U.S. women participation in work-related activities is often limited as compared to the male counterparts (Harrison, 2015). The key reason for this development is that they often take time off due to other commitments such as family and social. By so doing, it becomes difficult to participate in political settings which are often time consuming to engagements and campaigns. The requirements of great responsibility, resources, and time consuming often discourage most women and influences their choice not to join the profession.
In the United States, female individuals are often aspiring to join politics often face the challenge of lacking enough and effective mentors and networks. Networking in government is an important tool that helps a person to get the necessary support in selling their ideas to the general public. Networking also helps politicians to move up the leadership hierarchy. Many scholars and political analysts have indicated that networking is a crucial source that politicians use to raise campaign funding. They al...