Today, women are STILL unpaid, overworked,
and have a small voice in politics
Women earned only 77 cents for every dollar that men
earned in 2012 and this wage gap has stayed at this level since 2007 (Bassett).
According to writer Laura Bassett, “Within
some minority groups, the wage gap is even worse: African-American women earn
69 cents for every dollar paid to African-American men, and Latinas earn just
58 cents on the dollar compared to Latino men.” Kimberle Crenshaw attributes
this disparity to a concept called intersectionality. Crenshaw explains, “Because of their intersectional
identity as both women and of color
within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are marginalized within both.”
In spite of significant progress made for women's rights,
women are still confined to stereotypical gender roles, namely, bearing
significant responsibility for childcare and household affairs (Gonzales).
According to Elizabeth Hill, “Single women who head families bear not only
domestic and child care responsibility, but primary financial responsibility as
well. Married mothers, even if working full-time, bear disproportionate responsibilities
for home and children” (Hill).
Thirty years ago, women only held 13 percent of all state
legislations seats in the United States. Today, they hold 24 percent of the 7,383
seats nationwide. Here are the facts as
of 2014 according to the National Foundation for Women Legislators:
Congress:
Women currently hold 18%
(78) of the seats in the 113th Congress.
- Senate - women hold 20% (20) of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate.
- House - women hold 17.9% (78) of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Statewide Elective Offices:
Women hold 23.4%
(76) of the 320 statewide elected executive offices across the country.
- Governors - 5
- Lieutenant Governors - 11
- Attorneys General - 8
- Secretaries of State - 12
State Legislatures:
Currently 24.2%
(1,788) if of the 7,383 state legislators in the nation are women. Since 1971,
the number of women serving in the state legislatures has more than quintupled!
- Women hold 20.8% (411) of the 1,972 state senate seats.
- Women hold 25.4% (1,377) of the 5,411 state house seats.
Municipal Offices:
The number of women serving as
mayors, on city councils, and as county commissioners and supervisors is on the
rise. As a result of the large number of offices held at the local level, data
is still being compiled, however key statistics include:
- Among the 100 largest cities in the country, 12 have women mayors.
- Of the 252 mayors of U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 and over, 17.6% (44) are women.
- Of the 1,248 mayors of U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 and above, 17.4% (217) are women.
Reference:
Bassett, Laura. (2013). Women Still Earned 77 Cents on Men’s
Dollar in 2012: Report. Huffington Post. Retrieved
from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/gender-wage-gap_n_3941180.html
Crenshaw. Kimberle. Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality,
Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color. Retrieved from http://socialdifference.columbia.edu/files/socialdiff/projects/Article__Mapping_the_Margins_by_Kimblere_Crenshaw.pdf
Gonzales, Ella. (2013). The Lack of women in Politics. The Blog. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ella-gonzalez/women-in-politics_b_4077687.html
Hill, Elizabeth M. (1990). Gender Differences in Child Car
and Work: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. The
Journal of Behavioral Economics. Retrieved from http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/28632/0000446.pdf?sequence=1
National Foundation for Women Legislators. (2014). Retrieved
from http://www.womenlegislators.org/women-legislator-facts.php
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