When Donald Trump came into office in 2017, women in Lincoln, Nebraska and across the country took to the streets to protest what may have seemed like new threats, but were age-old grievances about how half the population is treated by lawmakers, political administrations, their cities, states and country.
We have a new administration now, and have elected a woman to the second highest office. And things seem to have quieted down.
I hope not.
Our country is still facing crisis after crisis affecting women. Job loss, a pandemic that hasn’t gone away, unequal justice, racism, erosion of reproductive rights, expensive child care, sexual assault.
Also subtle offenses, like low numbers of women on corporate and nonprofit boards, the myth of “Supermom,” and those language slights, like the propensity among men and women alike to reduce full grown women to children when they label them “girls.”
Womensmarch.com says Biden’s win – and control over the House and Senate – is a win for women, and while they can celebrate it, women must also keep fighting.
We’ve had a lot of serious things to take up our attention in the past 18 months, but these centuries old issues are still with us.
A 2018 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research gives Nebraska a grade of C and a rank of 29thon its employment and earnings by women, a D and rank of 37th on political participation, an F and rank of 50th on reproductive rights; a C and a rank of 19th on work and family.
At the current rate, Nebraska women will not reach equality in pay with men until 2066. One-third of employed women work in low-wage jobs.
In politics, Nebraska’s two biggest cities – Lincoln and Omaha – have female mayors. But for statewide offices, the picture is bleak.
There are only conservative white Republican men in the top elected roles in Nebraska, technically known as state constitutional offices, elected by a statewide vote. They are Pete Ricketts and Mike Foley, governor and lieutenant governor; Doug Peterson, attorney general; Bob Evnen, secretary of state; John Murante, state treasurer; Charlie Janssen, state auditor.
Of 49 senators in the unicameral Legislature, 13 are women, down from 14 a year ago. Out of 14 standing committees in the Legislature, only two are chaired by women, the Education Committee and Revenue Committee.
What if the numbers were reversed? What if 36 women served in the Legislature and 13 men? What if the chairs of standing committees were two men and 12 women? What if there had never been a male Speaker of the Legislature, as is the case for women? What if the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and attorney general were all women?
In the 2020 primary for 25 legislative seats, 23 candidates were women. Eighteen made it to the general election and nine were elected, seven of whom were incumbents. One male incumbent was replaced by a woman.
“The Guardian” newspaper reported in May on research by the Reflective Democracy Campaign that showed “a pattern of systemic gridlock fortifying white male minority rule.” The Reflective Democracy Campaign describes itself as an organization that investigates and confronts the demographics of power in the United States.
Its research showed that although, demographically, white men make up 30% of the population, they hold 62% of all elected offices. They exercise minority rule over 42 state legislatures, the House, the Senate, and statewide offices from coast to coast.
They benefit from an incumbency advantage, in which sitting officials almost always defeat challengers, and a partisan demographic divide in which Republican candidates do not reflect the demographics of the country.
At 51% of the population, women are 31% of all officeholders. And at 40% of the population, people of color are 13% of all officeholders.
The report shows that once in office, state legislators control election laws and districting, and that power can be used to obstruct the political progress of women and people of color.
This is no time to become complacent.
I keep thinking of a 1776 letter from Abigail Adams to her husband, John, sent before the meeting of the Continental Congress, which drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation for the United States.
“Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could,” she wrote. “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice.”
As the famous naturalist John Muir once said, "The world, we are told, was made especially for man - a presumption not supported by all the facts." Thank you, JoAnne, for bringing facts about women to the forefront.
ReplyDelete