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Where Are All the Women?

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Image from NOW.org

By Kristina Gardner

I recently found this article in USA Today about the political institution in the United States and how women are only represented by 17% in Congress and that number is declining.  It shocked me that out of the 186 countries on the list we ranked 90th for representation of women in our political system. Believe it or not, even developing countries, and countries that are not even known for equality or human rights like RwandaUgandaTajikistanSouth Africa and Cuba,  ranked higher than us. I find this completely ridiculous, in a well-developed country, which has fought for women’s rights and is known for being more accepting, that we still don’t have as many women in our political system as we should. Schmitz also says that, “In fact, the total number of female congressional representatives could well decline for the first time in three decades.”  The article also talks about how women only make up 17% of Congress, but make up about 51% of the population; definitely not equal representation.

 What can we do? Encouragement! Encourage women to run of Congress, encourage women to run for local government. Support websites like the two they listed (sheshouldrun.org and runningstartonline.org.) And most importantly vote! Make sure your voice is heard.  In a country that strives for equality, we need to see more women speak up and be representatives for 51% of the population.  Majority rules, right?