When Alanis Morrisette, Hole, Jewel, Joan Osborne and their female colleagues monopolized the MTV Music Awards in September 1996, they proved that the voices America has listened to this year have belonged to women. Music critics appropriately coined 1996 the year of the woman, an epithet which carries meaning beyond pop culture into the political sector. The female voices heard loud and clear in '96 aren't only those of rock stars. They are legislators, cabinet members and, especially, voters.
1996 saw women break numerous records and set some significant firsts. Last November's elections maintained the number of U.S. Senators at nine women out of 100 members -- a record established in the second half of 1996 according to a press release on The Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) website. The '96 record total of 48 women out of 435 House Representatives was surpassed by a minority of 51 women, according to the release. Newly-elected Senator Susan Collins (R) and incumbent Olympia Snowe (R) will represent Maine as the third state in the union to boast a fully-female Senate representation.
This November, a quarter of the candidates who defeated incumbents were women, although they comprised only 14 percent of the candidates for the House. 1997 will bring in the 14th-ever woman governor Jeanne Shaheen (D), quite a victory for New Hampshire, which has never before seen a woman in its statewide elected executive office, according to CAWP. She and Christie Whitman (R-N.J.) will be the only two woman governors next year.
Although the numbers of woman representatives are still embarassingly low and the progression from totally male-dominated executive government into significant female representation seems glacial, equality in government may not be as far off as it has seemed. Women are clawing their way to the top, and the results of this November's elections prove that we want them there.
Women as a voting block were perhaps the most coveted constituency this year. The power of female voters may have something to do with the rising numbers of Congresswomen as well as the election of Democrat Bill Clinton to the presidency. Why? Because they voted the issues. Women represent the majority of welfare recipients, minimum wage earners, Medicare beneficiaries and those eligible for tax breaks, all participants in government programs supported by the '96 party platform.
If the statistics seem imbalanced, that may be because women are the heads of household in many single-parent families and are still the victims of job-related sex discrimination, earning consistently lower wages than men and continuing to be locked out of higher-level positions. If the predominantly male political structure is an effective model of the gender/power relationship in this country, then this standard can also be applied to economics. The elections of women to office this year may reflect a hope that they will be the voices of reason in terms of women's issues such as women's health, reproductive freedom and economic status.
In the current climate, even the much-debated Equal Rights Amendment might stand a chance of radification. When Geraldine Ferraro (D) ran for vice-president in 1984, she was a strong advocate for the amendment, which faced much opposition due to overblown assumptions of what the ERA would entail (equal women's services in the military, unisex bathrooms). But that was the '80s and '96 was the year of the woman. Who knows what could have happened had someone like Ferraro run last November?
Women are inching toward the presidency. With Clinton's nomination of Madeleine K. Albright for Secretary of State, a woman holds the fifth-highest executive position in U.S. government. Albright, a hard-nosed diplomat who has advocated military action in Bosnia and supported U.S. force as a tool of diplomacy in Iraq and Haiti, is the first woman ever to head the State Department, and holds the highest position ever achieved by a women, according to a December 6, 1996, article in The New York Times.
Well, its about time.
Albright, who, according to The Times article, has expressed frustration with being bullied by the boys in foreign policy and has worked to involve women in the field of foreign service. Her appointment is a precedent and a sign that the President, and hopefully, the American people are willing to put power and their faith in a woman.
By now, it's only a matter of time before this country elects its first female President, destroying the gender dynasty of the past 220 years and breaking through the sexist stereotypes which still govern much discussion of the topic.
A website coordinated by "angrywhitemale" paid lip service to these ideas in its "Top-N" advantages of having a woman president which lists among its words of wisdom: we could pay her less, we could fire the White House cook, three days off every 28 days and our enemies would be more fearful of an unpredictable, emotionally unstable person.
The scary thing is these statements are based on what many still believe to be the truth.
Sexism aside, the first woman President will have a tough job in front of her. But, given the chance, she will be the kind of woman capable of rising to the challenge. Speculating as to who she will be, we can examine the women who already stands out. In the context of the 1996 election, Christie Whitman was considered as Dole's possible running-mate. Vying for the female voting block already leaning heavily toward Clinton, the Republicans considered the benefits of putting a woman on their ticket. Christie Whitman has a solid record. It is likely that she will reappear as a presidential or vice-presidential candidate in the future.
Another presidential possibility who has received mention is Senator Dianne Feinstein (D), whose career has already established itself as a boundary breaking one. She is the first woman ever to represent California in the Senate. She also escaped selection for vice-president in 1984 as one of the first three women to be considered for the nomination, according to her website. She was also the first woman mayor of San Francisco and became the Democratic candidate for Governor of California in 1990. As President, Feinstein would be no stranger to proving that a woman can do the job.
In 1996, women in America have proven they have power. Power to sway the votes toward their issues, power to establish themselves within the entrenchment of a male political system and power to demand that they be represented, not by men, but by those who understand their needs best: women. There is still much that needs to be struggled for to obtain equality of government in this country, but if we can learn anything from 1996, it is that all it will take is a little more time.
Copyright 1997 Bonnie Freestone. All Rights Reserved.