Do women want to elect a female president?

Do women base their support for a candidate on the type of gender?  Will the female vote swing towards senator Clinton over Obama?  Obviously not since the democratic election is over and Senator Obama won.  However my question is that do you think the majority of the women vote would sway towards the women candidate?  I’m pretty sure there are a lot of men in the United States that would sway there vote away from a female candidate because they are female.  I have personally heard people say things during this years election about how America isn’t ready to have a women be president.  There are many old fashioned people in this country that are firm believers that women have no place in office and they should leave the “real work” for the men to take care of.  Coincidently these old fashioned minds happen to make up one of the larger age group of voters in our country.  Do you think the women in this age group would then support a female candidate because she is female or side on her husband’s side of the issue?  According to various Pollsters mentioned in Aida F. Akl’s article Women Influence U.S. Politics, women do not show any difference in there vote based on whether the candidate is male or female.  Victoria Budson, Executive director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University claims that women voters are more tuned into the issues that are meaningful to their lives rather than which candidate will push for women’s rights more or which gender each candidate is.  I personally feel that a person should vote for whom will best benefit there lives, however wouldn’t supporting a woman candidate help every other woman in America’s cause.  It would defiantly make sense if the majority of women votes when to senator Clinton in her push for the presidency.  I would feel that during the women’s rights movement in the 70’s a firm majority of registered female voters would have voted for senator Clinton just because she was a female and would have brought more power and voice to women across the country.  Does this mean women are happy with the rights, privilege, and equality standards they have now?  Are they still out to gain complete equality in all acts of life?    

Women Influence U.S. Politics

By: Aida F. Akl’s

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-01/2008-01-15-voa6.cfm

Beyond the Double Blind

According to a top scholar on politics in the United States there has been a “seismic change” in the cultural assumptions of women and leadership.   I feel that this is obvious sense there are an increasing amount of stories being published about women winning positions as mayor of their towns or cities.  Also with the bigger name women leading the way are obviously Hillary Clinton and Sara Palin.  In Article  “Making a Difference in the U.S.A. Women In Politics” Kathleen Hall Jamieson author of Beyond The Double Blind Women And Leadership  she Speaks about women who have of lately made a push to gain leadership positions not only in the united states but around the world.  Women have increasingly been winning positions of governors, seats in congress, in presidential cabinets, as heads of major philanthropies, and as university professors, all of which have demonstrated there ability to be leaders to the public (Jamison).

 It seems to me that the days of women being forced into stay at home jobs and child caring are coming to an end and with every it seems that more women are pushing the envelope to gain higher positions politically and professionally.  This is undoubtedly paving the way for a louder and more influential female voice in the United States.  Jamison also said in her interview that women should look to the other countries that have been lead completely by women as an example that shows that eventually the day will come that the U.S. elects its first women president. 

My understanding to this is that with more and more women over coming the sexual biases of our culture and political system eventually something will give way to the age of women having an equal say in our political endeavors.  Take for example our presidential race right now.  Twenty years ago no one thought there would ever be a black president even running for the office, however 20 years later we have a black candidate about to win.  It’s only a matter of time that the women’s movement becomes so strong that they too will push a leader into the oval office.   

 

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womenpolitics/jamieson.htm

Why not fight for your rights?

Sara Palin is a national icon right now and you would think would be fighting for further women’s rights; however she is extremely conservative, and I feel that this might be a prime example of gender socialization in Alaska where Palin is from.

Gender socialization plays a big role in our society, it tells a person what identity to create by influencing how people act, think and look.  It also shows you how the other gender is different and also how they are the same. Gender Identity and ideologies about gender are shaped by society’s influence in someone’s social life.  When children are young their gender identity is shaped largely by parents and school.  Later in their lives it might change from school to their places of work, friends and other forms of their social lives.  For example I was taught at a young age that as a boy I was to do different chores than those of my sisters.  I had to take out the trash, feed the dogs, and help out with repairing sain nets when my  nets would get holes torn in them after fishing trips in Alaska.  To most people these jobs are described as more masculine jobs that are usually more suitable for a male to do.  Where more feminine jobs consist of more indoor jobs that are less physically demanding.  In Alaska this is the case but at a higher extreme.  Living in Alaska for my entire life I sometimes feel that Alaska is behind the rest of the country at least a decade when it comes to women’s rights.  The views in Alaska are extremely old fashioned and I feel that these views have shaped some of the ideas that Sara Palin has fought for, some of whom have not necessarily been in favor of women’s rights.  I feel that this Is a prime example of how socialization through a persons life can affect there views on life even if those views are somewhat non beneficial to themselves.  

Main target... Palin

I would think that since we have a women running for vice president of our country it would prove that the problems women have faced with sexism over the years would be close to eliminated.  However that is simply not the case.  With a new face to lead the women’s rights surge, there is also a new name to slander.  It seems that even though she is running for one of the most prestigious jobs in the history of our country, she is gaining no credit from both males and females.  After the latest debate between Palin and Joe Biden all I have heard from friends, news papers, and television is that Palin is a joke and should probably quit.  It seems the most recent attack on Palin is about her eye batting in the vice presidential debate and how unprofessional it was.  Time magazine quoted a women speaking about Palin’s wink “I think it’s hysterical.. I think women can relate with being in a situation where its very serous, you kind of have to sep back and add that humor, whether it’s a wink or it’s a shrug.”  Why has this tiny gesture taken such electoral importance, after all it was only four years ago that our current president for the last two terms was cracking jokes about his own mistakes he made in many of his speeches and debates, however no one took the time to blow up his jokes and acts of humor into acts of unprofessionalism..

Intro

Im sure you all recognize that there are very few women in the U.S. that hold high ranking position in U.S. politics.  Since 1789 only 2% of the members of congress have been women, from 1922-2006 only 33 women have served in the senate: 20 Democrats and 13 Republicans.  Women have only been allowed to vote for the last 88 years.  I felt that this would be a good issue to examine seeing how Sarah Palin, whom is from my home state is running for vice president with John McCain, and because this is a more relevant issue being discussed today.