Essay Example on The Role of Gender in American Politics

For decades women in United States are considered important in the history of the nation besides taking care of house working or the home front In the last few decades women in the United States have made an enormously impact in politics Higher percentage of women have registered and voted in presidential elections than men since 1984 Women now also win election at rates comparable to their male counterparts In Congress women have made substantive policy changes that positively influence women Hillary Clinton almost gained the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 and won it in 2016 Sarah Palin was the second woman to be a major party vice presidential nominee and Condoleeza Rice served as the first black woman Secretary of State The successes of women in politics raise a few important questions First is the political glass ceiling broken Do women still face barriers in participating in politics based on their gender If there are barriers what are they and how can they best be minimized And second when women engage in politics whether as participants in local city council meetings as voters or as members of congress does their behavior make a difference Do women have distinct political preferences from men And if so what explains this Finally what potential value lies in more women engaging in politics Before we answer all the question above let us review the background of history to see how the gender roles especially women roles change over times 

After the World War II family has been a center of American life Average marriage age of women back then was 20 They They raised large families Many moved to sprawling affordable tract housing developments in the suburbs bought modern conveniences ranging from cars to dishwashers and enjoyed more leisure time Postwar Gender Roles and Women in American Politics And thanks to the priority of house working has made women in families became less difficulty but also cost more for the ones that gave up their career to maintain the family life In 1920 47 percent of college students were women by 1958 that figure stood at 38 percent despite the availability of more federal aid to pay for university education Postwar Gender Roles and Women in American Politics Because the expectation of society of women s role is constrained in house working and it shows the first difficulty for women to step up their game in the world of politics Maurine Neuberger who served for years in the Oregon legislature before succeeding her late husband in the U S Senate Richard Neuberger replied Definitely A woman enters into a man s world of politics into back fighting and grubbing Before she puts her name on the ballot she encounters prejudice and people saying 

A woman's place is in the home She has to walk a very tight wire in conducting her campaign Congresswoman Gracie Pfost of Idaho observed that a woman seeking political office must be willing to have her every motive challenged her every move criticized and added that she must submit to having her private life scrutinized under a microscope and the subject of devastating rumors everyday Postwar Gender Roles and Women in American Politics Not only that the revolution of 1960s challenged many of the traditional of being a mother and marital relationship Many women against their marriage arrangement from their parents generation Birth control became widely Especially after the Roe vs Wade decision in 1937 the Supreme Court upheld on the grounds of privacy a woman's constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy Due to this women has gain more advantage for the one who wants to choose both careers and marriage Young women started to pursue careers in traditionally male dominated fields such as law medicine and business loosening their bonds to house work and family take care and preparing the way for a new and larger generation of women in state and national politics

 And that is when the women barriers in participating in politics became minimized We continue by looking at the question when women engage in politics whether as participants in local city council meetings as voters or as members of congress does their behavior make a difference in the decades between 1955 and 1976 a new type of well educated professional candidate emerged Women's pre congressional experiences choose by specialized training lengthy resumes and elective experience 10 of the women elected to Congress were lawyers and several were graduates of law schools Of the 39 women who were elected or appointed to Congress during this period 34 had postsecondary education From 1955 through 1976 Postwar Gender Roles and Women in American Politics We can clearly see that women started have consious to focus more on their education and experiences on their professional Citation History Art Archives U S House of Representatives Office of the Historian Women in Congress 1917 2006 Washington D C U S Government Printing Office 2007 New Patterns http history house gov Exhibitions and Publications WIC Historical Essays Changing Guard New Patterns January 12 2018