- Is The Media Treament of Women Candidates Unfair? Many Say Yes
Women in politics are still scrutinized by the public, and that scrutiny often occurs in the media. Sadly, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Once upon a time women were attacked by newspapers and tabloids the second they entered the political world, and not much has changed, though social media and the Internet have certainly made it easier to scrutinize the private lives of female political figures.
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- Women Are Actually Discouraged from Running
Many women—even women who are in political office—feel they aren’t encouraged, or perhaps are even discouraged from running for higher office. In 2014, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research conducted 60 interviews with female candidates, and “fifty-one percent of the female candidates and elected officials said they had never received a suggestion to run for higher office from party leaders, and 71 percent said they had never had such encouragement from other power brokers. Some candidates even spoke of having been “bullied” by political party leaders or other elected officeholders who attempted to talk them out of running for higher office.”
- The Number of Women Elected to Executive Office Is LOW
In 2016, 75 women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country, which is 24% of all available positions.
