State government continues to underrepresent women
If outrage was your immediate reaction to the US Supreme Court’s late night refusal to block the Texas abortion ban, you agree with the majority of Americans who support the “right to privacy” upheld by Roe v. Wade. Yes, majority.
A Gallup poll in June found that most Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade. Last year, our own Tennessee legislature passed one of the most restrictive abortions laws in the country.
These draconian laws that affect women in the most personal ways are mainly being passed by men. Men who are failing the women of this country.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) states that the average legislator today is a white male baby boomer with an advanced degree. Tennessee’s legislative body is almost 80% White and 84% male.
Tennessee ranks 47 in the number of women in our state legislature with eight female Senators out of 33 and 15 Representatives out of 99 according to the Center or American Women and Politics. Only one female Representative is of childbearing age.
These are daunting statistics for women and even more so for women of color in our state. In 2022 Tennessee voters will be presented with a lengthy ballot with offices at all levels of government including many judgeships listed.
Now is the time to learn how the process works and how to be a candidate. Women must run for office in larger numbers to protect rights and their children.
Political Science researchers Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox summed up findings in a policy paper on factors that affect young women’s political ambitions:
For the last few decades, researchers have provided compelling evidence that when women run for office—regardless of the position they seek—they are just as likely as men to win their races. The large gender disparities in U.S. political institutions, …, do not result from systemic discrimination against female candidates. Rather, the fundamental reason for women’s underrepresentation is that women do not run for office.”
Tennessee was pivotal in granting women the right to vote as the it became the 36th and final state to ratify
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
the 19th Amendment. It passed by one vote. For the last decade, I was part of a nine-woman nonpartisan volunteer board comprised of women from across the state who worked to preserve that history. The culmination of that effort is The Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument in Centennial Park in Nashville.
According to an August 2020 Pew Research article, half of the adults in the U.S. surveyed say “granting women the right to vote has been the most important milestone in advancing the position of women in the country.” Now it’s time for women to not only vote, but to ask their fellow citizens to vote for them.
While the 1920 census showed the male population slightly greater than the female population, the 2020 census shows a similar trend in reverse with a slightly larger female population.
The Tennessee Women’s Political Caucus (NWPCTN) is hosting a three-part candidate training series, “Empowered Women Lead,” the next three Saturdays in September to introduce first time potential candidates to the process, powerful female elected officials across all levels of government, and experienced political consultants in our state and across the country.
The entire series is affordable and accessible from all areas of the state as each session will be virtual. The topics and speakers can help a woman learn the best leadership path to choose, how appointments are made for government boards, and campaign fundraising and management.
More information is available at nwpctn.org or at the Tennessee Women’s Political Caucus Facebook page.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” Women also shouldn’t be the exception on the ballot. If more women are on the ballot, more women will be elected and more women will be empowered to lead.
Adrienne Pakis-gillon is President of the Tennessee Women’s Political Caucus, residing in Germantown, TN. She currently serves on the Memphis Advisory Board for Facing History and Ourselves and the Tennessee Democratic Party State Executive Committee.