Let’s encourage more women to go into politics

Are we helping collegiate women pursue a political career?

It wasn’t very long ago women couldn’t vote for our country’s leaders — less than a century still. Since the passage of the 19th Amendment though, women of all backgrounds have not only used their vote to voice their opinions, but have taken up the mantle of governmental leadership as well. Unfortunately, the number of women in elected positions is still too low — in the U.S. Senate, there are only 20 female senators out of 100, and the current percentage of women serving in the House is around 19%.

According to the political organization Women for Tennessee’s Future, the number in our own State Legislature is even lower at 17%, which makes it one of the most male-dominated state legislatures in the country. This year, there are 23 women candidates seeking a spot in the State Legislature, all but two of whom are currently campaigning against incumbent men. Being a woman interested in running for state office someday, this bothers me a lot. Without more female elected officials breaking down barriers, how will men — whether in the classroom, the workplace, or even the Legislature— ever respect our opinions?

Samantha McCarty, a fellow freshman Political Science major at UT, remarked on this disparity, saying “The different politicians can talk and talk about the wage gap and things like that, and still nothing is taken care of about it.”

She then added, “The women can try all they want, but still when you look at it, the women have a less number of seats.”

But as Feroza Freeland, the newly elected president of the University of Tennessee’s chapter of College Democrats, said in our interview, “There’s always room for us to grow!”

Feroza herself is no stranger to the Legislature; in addition to her involvement with the Democratic Party and other campaign work, she has personally lobbied legislators on various issues from UT’s Office of Diversity funding to charter school vouchers. And while she clearly enjoys her political work, she admits that at times she doesn’t feel like male students, or even male politicians take her seriously.

Feroza recalled a time she “went in for a handshake with one after meeting with him in his office, and he went in to give me a hug and he was like ‘Thank you, baby girl’.” These kind of instances are the times when she wonders how seriously men in office take her, adding “I’ve come all the way to Nashville with this group of students to talk to you about serious issues, and it’s kind of demeaning.”

Samantha also remarked upon not being seen as an equal by her peers within her own classroom. Even in her own Political Science 102 discussion, she noticed, “Whenever a guy would talk in the class, everybody would pay attention, all eyes would be on him.”

This was not a two way street for girls in the class though. “Whenever a girl would answer a question, people would be on their phones and not paying attention. Even my TA would give shorter or briefer answers.”

Despite these setbacks along the way, both women say they are still very excited to be involved in politics. Both enjoy participating in events on campus such as debates between the College Democrats and College Republicans, lobbying in Nashville, and volunteering for different campaigns. Though Feroza wishes there were more female lawmakers—pointing out “that number needs to be 50 or more”—and less people overall in politics for “the wrong reasons,” or lacking compassion, she brings up some advice she got from Gloria Johnson, a former State Representative she’s worked with many times in the past.

“It’s always about the work. It’s not about you, or your individual power or your pride or your title. It’s just about the work and about helping people.”

This election cycle is especially unique to years past, since now women might have the option to vote for a female president come November. This is not a feat unnoticed by either student, with Samantha saying, “Since Hillary Clinton is running for president, she’s made it very far. She’s a great example for a woman to want to pursue politics.”

Feroza also adds that the women currently running for office in Tennessee right now, though they might not win, “Just the fact that they put themselves out there, and are running and talking about these issues as women—that’s very powerful to me.”

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