In 1848, a convention was held at Seneca Falls that kicked off women’s rights in America. On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution granting women the right to vote.
Ninety-three years later, women only hold 18.3 percent of the seats in the 113th United States Congress. In the Senate, women hold 20 out of the 100 seats and only 78 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. This means that in a country comprised equally of both men and women, men have 81.7 percent of the decision-making power.
Tessa Lane, a junior finance and international business double major, found these statistics to be “repulsive.”
“For certain policies regarding women and their bodies, men have absolutely no right to make that decision if they never have had or never will have those experiences.” Lane continued, “And yet here men are, making our choices that they know nothing of.”
Women have been fighting for their rights and the rights to make their own decisions since the beginning of time. When will there be a balance between the men and women? When will there be an equal voice in this shared government?
Sara Castle, a junior business management major, had some ideas on the issue.
“If we had a female president, it would create more of a need for women to be in politics,” Castle stated.
In the rotunda of the United States capitol sits an unfinished statue. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony, pioneers of women’s rights, are seated in a block of marble. The legend is it’s to remain unfinished until a woman becomes president as a reminder that the woman’s movement is ongoing.
It may seem like the movement has come a long way, but there is still much to be fought for. The objectifying of women politicians has become more evident through the media.
Kathleen Loach, a junior advertising and public relations and psychology double major, said, “Women will never be taken seriously, especially in politics, until men can stop objectifying us by what we are wearing and the way we look. Our society should be based on what we know and how we act, not by people’s misconstrued beliefs on what women should look like.”
But until our society can overcome that, women will still be fighting for their right to be heard just like Elizabeth Cady Stanton was in 1848.
“The best protection any woman can have is courage.” – Stanton
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