Women and Last Week's Election

Perhaps one of the most exciting results of last week’s election — for women, at least — is that the United States now has the highest number of women in Congress than ever before. Unfortunately, that only means 20 women in the Senate out of 100 seats, and 78 out of 435 seats in the House (although a few races are still undecided). This is a net increase of seven women (we lost two female senators to retirement). So while we are certainly breaking records here — just look at the fact that in 1991 there were just two female senators for proof — the representation of women is still far from equal.

I don’t mean to downplay accomplishments, as there were a number of them. We elected Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay senator, and Elizabeth Warren, the first female senator for Massachusetts. In addition, we elected the first Asian-American senator, Mazie Hirono, who is also Buddhist. These women are certainly shaking up the status quo, and I personally find that pretty freaking exciting and inspiring. Even more exciting is that New Hampshire’s entire delegation is now female, as is its governor. Talk about girl power, huh?

Over the last year, there has been a great deal of fuss made over the supposed “War on Women,” a term coined by the Democratic Party. The last congress had, in many ways, one of the most anti-women agendas in many years. It felt like almost daily we were presented with elected officials who wanted to curb women’s access to birth control and healthcare, limit abortion rights and block equal pay. The entire crusade against Planned Parenthood as a supposed abortion-factory, when in reality the organization spends the majority of its funds on general women’s health issues such as mammograms and check-ups and only spends about three percent of its funds on abortion services, is another such example.
Our electorate was bombarded over and over this election cycle with inane and dangerous falsehoods coming out of the mouths of incumbents or candidates. Luckily, a whole slew of these guys weren’t elected or reelected. These legislators and candidates, or, as a number of feminist blog christened them, the “Rape Caucus,” lost pretty much because of their fallible logic. Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comments pretty much resurrected Senator McCaskill’s campaign. Even the Republican Party backed away hard from Akin after those comments.  These scattered losses culminated in the ultimate refusal by Americans to accept their logic when the public rejected the Romney-Ryan ballot.

But I digress — let’s get back to the new female candidates. What does an increase of three women mean in the Senate? To be honest, I’m not totally sure, especially after considering the following facts: the balance of the Senate still remains essentially the same, without either party holding a filibuster-proof majority, and the senate is an infamously slow-moving body that defers to seniority. So, does this increase in women in our legislature truly mean anything? Does it imply real progress? Does a fifth of the senate mean a critical mass? I’m not sure.

I think this upcoming Congress will give us our best look at how bringing more women to the table can change the discussion. I’m hopeful that the net gain, although relatively scant, can start momentum to change longer-term trends towards greater female inclusion. Perhaps we can move away from our “tried and true” strategy of old white men legislating for women (and everyone else). I think, as Senator Gillibrand has said, that bringing more women to the discussion can only be a good thing. Perhaps more will get done with more women. I’m hopeful and excited about this possibility. I am inspired by these women who have beat the odds and succeeded in bringing wholly new voices to a pretty staid institution. I have tempered but optimistic hopes for the 113th Congress. And I’m certainly excited to watch the next season of our favorite melodrama. Fiscal cliff be damned.