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Give A Gal A Chance
November 3, 2006
Election Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I love to vote. I love that every two years, every American over the age of 18 has an opportunity to have a major impact on the world we live in. Today – maybe more so than ever. While women make up 51% of the U.S. population, we represent just 15% of Congress.
There are only 80 women serving in the U.S. Congress. We are No. 67 in the world for women’s political representation. We trail Bosnia, Zimbabwe and China. Not something we should be proud of.
Social scientists say that a tipping point occurs when one constituency accrues a critical mass of 20% of a population. We are at the highest percentage we have ever been at in terms of women in congress, and yet we’re still only at 15%.
When people talk about the leadership skills required in the 21st century -- collaboration, strategic planning, consensus-building -- they are female skills. Women have a lot to offer. Think about how cable programming has been the beneficiary of the fact that so many women are at the helm of cable companies (for those of you who aren’t counting, there are 20 women who head cable networks).
Women have proved themselves in business. At a meager 15% of the Congressional leadership, the highest level we’ve ever achieved, we’ve hardly begun to make our mark. What if Congress was as good to women as the cable industry has been? Is this our year? If every woman running for office -- Democrat and Republican -- were to win (a girl can dream, can’t she?), women would comprise 28% of Congress. But we only need to gain 27 seats to hit the 20% mark.
So today, as you’re making your decisions -- give a gal a chance.
Posted by Geraldine Laybourne on November 3, 2006 | Comments (4)
