Women demonstrate on International Women's Day in Mexico, which has achieved gender parity in government. Karen Melo/Getty Images
Dear friends,
Tuesday marked the day, each year, that is set aside to celebrate women, so in that spirit, this week's blog will highlight some perspectives on international women's representation.
March 8 was International Women’s Day, established by our foremothers in 1910 as a day for women to join together and fight for equal rights. Although it has essentially evolved into International Virtue Signaling Day by governments, corporations and groups across the globe that aren’t actually doing much for women’s rights, I think it is an important opportunity to reflect on the status of women.
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Judge Katanji Brown Jackson
Dear women's representation enthusiasts,
President Joe Biden nominated Judge Katanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed Judge Jackson will be the first Black woman on the highest court in the land. According to
this piece in
The Grio, women leaders from a number of key organizations are featured in a
video urging swift confirmation:
The 30-second ad, released on Thursday by liberal advocacy group Demand Justice and exclusively previewed by theGrio, features MoveOn Executive Director Rahna Epting, National Women’s Law Center President and CEO Fatima Goss Graves, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, Advancement Project Executive Director Judith Browne Dianis and National Education Association President Becky Pringle.
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Dear friends,
I was reminded today of Joni Mitchell's opening lyrics to
California:
Sitting in a park in Paris, France
Reading the news and it sure looks bad
They won't give peace a chance
That was just a dream some of us had...
The ongoing health crisis, the challenges to democracy, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine dominated the news cycle this week. Women presidents, prime ministers, cabinet ministers, and members of parliament have
signed a letter urging an "immediate ceasefire in Ukraine" and calling on the government of Iceland to host peace dialogue:
Dear fans of women's representation and leadership,
According to
Encyclopedia Britannica about 70 of the world's 193 countries have had a female head of state. Interestingly, the United States is one of a handful of the world's most populous countries (others include China, Russia, Nigeria, and Mexico) that have never elected a woman leader. While there are many reasons that a woman hasn't been elected president in the U.S. it's clear that there are many binders brimming with women who are more than qualified.
Putin, Erdogan, and Xi with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders at the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China, September 2016 Stephen Crowley /The New York Times / Redux
Dear fans of gender balance in politics,
The promise of representative democracy is what drives the work of so many of us so I thought I would lead this week with an
excellent essay in
Foregin Affairs that discusses the relationship between women's rights and autocracy - here is an excerpt:
As an engine of genuine democratic progress, activism by women and gender minorities threatens authoritarian leaders. Although many autocrats and aspiring autocrats no doubt believe the sexist and misogynistic things they say, their campaigns to restrict women’s empowerment and human rights also seek to undermine potential popular democratic movements that would oust them.
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Happy Black History Month!
While there are countless Black women whom we should celebrate in February, the team at RepresentWomen has chosen four to highlight this week:
Shirley Chisolm began her legislative work when she was elected to New York's state legislature in 1964. In 1968 she ran for her district's seat in the United States House and won, becoming the first African American woman to serve in the body. Once in Congress, Chisholm championed expanding welfare programs such as food stamps and worked to protect reproductive health. She also co-founded the National Congress of Black Women. In 1972, she was the first African American woman to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination, winning 152 electoral votes.
Marsha P. Johnson was an outspoken advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and was a crucial figure in the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Johnson was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and co-founded the activist group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. Johnson was active at gay rights rallies throughout life and was present at the first Gay Pride rally in New York City in 1970. Johnson was also a familiar presence at other radical political actions. Johnson actively spoke to raise awareness about violence against the LGBTQIA+ community and participated in AIDS-relevant activism with AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP).
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Dear fans of gender balance in politics,
While women's representation has increased slightly in state houses in Virginia and New Jersey, according to
data compiled by the Center for American Women and Politics, the United States continues to lag behind nearly all established democracies in the percentage of women elected to office. As of January 2022, the U.S. is tied at 72nd with Egypt and the Philippines and ranked just ahead of El Salvador and Kazakhstan.
Contrary to what one might think, countries ranked above the United States are not necessarily more liberal and they don't focus on programs that prepare individual women to run for office. Higher ranked countries have embraced systems strategies like gender quotas and proportional voting systems that are the most efficient way to create more opportunities for women to run and win as
this NPR story on success for women in Mexico explains:
Stacey Abrams, painted by Melanie Humble
Dear fans of gender balance in politics,
There was
an encouraging story on NBC News about the number of Black women who are running for statewide executive office in 2022, including democracy reform champions
Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor of Georgia, &
Danielle Allen, who is running for governor of Massachusetts:
Black women’s representation has steadily increased in Congress and state legislatures, but they have still struggled to win statewide races. No Black woman has ever been elected governor, and there are no Black women serving in the U.S. Senate after Kamala Harris vacated her seat to become vice president.
That could change this year.
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NY governor Kathy Hochul
Dear fans of gender balance in politics,
Barbara Rodriguez wrote this
interesting piece in
The 19th* about NY governor Kathy Hochul's proposed term limit legislation that could well provide more women the chance to run and win - especially in conjunction with targeted recruitment & other reforms:
In New York City, where the new 51-member city council is women-majority for the first time ever, organizations like 21 in ‘21 intentionally focused their attention on races without incumbents. More than 30 council seats were open because of term limits.
“Open seats were the only places that we chose to play, because those were the places that we knew there was tremendous opportunity,” said Jessica Haller, executive director for the group.
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Front row (from left): Althea Stevens, Marjorie Velázquez, Lynn Schulman, Gale Brewer, Kamillah Hanks, Vickie Paladino, Sandy Nurse, Tiffany Cabán, Shahana Hanif, and Julie Won. Middle row: Farah Louis, Joann Ariola, Linda Lee, Julie Menin, Darlene Mealy, and Mercedes Narcisse. Back row: Amanda Farías, Alexa Avilés, Rita Joseph, Crystal Hudson, Carmen De La Rosa, Nantasha Williams, and Pierina Sanchez. Not pictured: Adrienne Adams, Diana Ayala, Selvena Brooks-Powers, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Kristin Richardson Jordan, Carlina Rivera, Sandra Ung, and Inna Vernikov. Photo: Victor Llorente/Victor Llorente
Dear friends,
As of this week, women hold 31 of the 51 seats on the New York City Council. While there was no single factor that led to this outcome the newest ingredient in the mix was the
introduction of ranked choice voting and organizations like
21 in 21 that focused on using RCV in every part of the recruitment and endorsement process so that the women running knew how to use the system to their advantage.