I Can Only Imagine

Imagine this: in the upcoming November election, instead of choosing a senile or psychotic elderly white man, we elect a 61-year-old Jewish woman whose grandparents immigrated from Eastern Europe. Pretend she comes from a family of distinguished scientists and teachers. Imagine she holds a PhD in energy engineering and served as the Secretary of the Environment and the mayor of her country's largest city.

Photo credit: Marco Ugarte / AP

This 'imaginary' person is Claudia Sheinbaum, the woman Mexico elected President a couple of weeks ago. Did I mention that she was part of a U.N. panel on the environment that won the Nobel Peace Prize? I'm freaking jealous of the Mexican electorate. Why can't we have nice things? Why does the world's most powerful nation have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for two candidates?

Sheinbaum will be Mexico's first female president but is not the first female president in Latin America by a long shot. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru have all had women presidents. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, fifty-nine countries have had a female leader as of 2023. Mexico makes sixty. Sadly, along with Russia, China, and most of the Middle East and most of Africa, the U.S. has yet to hand over the reins to a woman.

Correlation or Causation?

A lack of female representation exists at all levels of our government. Currently, in the U.S., 29% of congresspeople and 25% of senators are women. And that's a historic high. Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, and Andorra have legislatures comprised of 50% women. In Rwanda, their parliament is comprised of 61.3% women. There are twelve women serving as state governors (24%). According to CNBC, the U.S. ranks 75th globally in women's representation in government. Frankly, I find this shocking.

So, Is the lack of female leadership in the U.S. the cause of policies unsupportive of women or just an unhappy coincidence? For example, the U.S. is the only wealthy country that doesn't provide paid maternity leave. Even the vast majority of poor countries provide paid time off. It seems probable that this is related to our low number of female lawmakers.

In addition to a lack of paid leave, the U.S. has a maternal mortality rate three times higher than that of any other industrialized nation (most of which have universal healthcare.) We think of death in childbirth as an antiquated occurrence, but it's way too common in the U.S., especially for Black women. Again I ask, does this seem right to you? Unfortunately,

according to this article from the Century Foundation, things are getting worse, not better.

So have we made progress in other areas? Not so much. The Economic Policy Institute says the gender wage gap in the U.S. has not changed much in the past three decades. Women still make around 22% less than men. This gap exists at every education level. Even though more women graduate from college and graduate school than men, the wage gap is wider between men and women with a higher education than at lower income levels.

Need more stats? Only 10.4% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women. We do have the most female billionaires in the world: 97. Of course, that's out of 806 total billionaires, so about 12%. I'm not a Swiftie, but I am happy to see a young woman achieve the kind of financial success usually reserved for men folk. You go, girl.

The F Word

The weird thing is that I believe Americans feel like women are treated fairly and equally in this country despite all evidence to the contrary. In many circles, "Feminist" is a pejorative word, used to depict terrifying militant radicals bent on destroying the world of men. What if you just believe women should be paid the same as men, not die in childbirth, not get raped or beaten, and have paid maternity leave? Is that so much to ask?

I will not even venture into the topic of reproductive rights other than to point out the irony of forcing women to have children they don't want and/or can't afford without offering them healthcare or paid time off. Great idea for the future of the country. Another fun stat: 43.1% of single mothers live below the poverty line.

Mark Robinson, a candidate for governor of North Carolina, opposes abortion in all cases and blames unwanted pregnancies on 'women [who] can't keep their skirts down.' I have to admit that the idiocy of this statement enrages me to the point of near madness. The fact that this man could very well be elected despite his blatant misogyny is truly frightening.

To me, feminism is all about another F word: fairness. I was born with a deep intolerance of injustice. My least favorite statement is "Life's not fair." It may be true, but that doesn't mean we should accept injustices and inequities. Early in my marriage, my husband would say to me, "Why does everything have to be 50-50 with you?" Why wouldn't I expect fairness? It makes zero sense to me that having lady parts requires me to do all the vacuuming. I have a big brain and I'm not afraid to use it.

Lovely Men, Crappy Women

Trust me, I know there are many wonderful men and plenty of crappy women out there. However, since 50.5% of the U.S. population is female, it makes sense that representation in government should more closely resemble that number. No taxation without representation, ladies!

We are making progress in some places. Four of nine Supreme Court Justices are women (there have been a total of six women out of 115 justices.) We have a female Vice President for the first time. 48% of Cabinet positions are currently held by women, another historic record, compared with 26% in the previous administration.

When we go to the polls in November, we may not have our dream candidate on the ballot. However, we must vote for the best of what's on offer. Vote for the people who don't hate women. Vote for the people who don't belittle, objectify, or sexually assault women. Vote for the women. Except for MTG. Don't vote for her.