Not an Old Boys' Club

thepoliticalnotebook: Meet the female leadership breakdown for...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:24:09 -0500

Meet the female leadership breakdown for the incoming 113th Senate, folks! (We also made gains in the House, too.)Large size graphic here.

[Via Feministing]

jillathrilla: We’ve made some incremental progress since 1992,...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:37:23 -0500

jillathrilla:

We’ve made some incremental progress since 1992, but to achieve gender parity in Congress and secure women’s rights more broadly, every year has to be a Year of the Woman. And not just in the campaign headlines, but on Inauguration Day. Women have to make steady gains not just at the upper echelons of government, but in the state legislatures where candidates are groomed for higher office. Looking further down the pipeline, it’s hard to see how we get to a legitimate Year of the Woman anytime soon. Nine out of every ten states has a male governor, and women’s representation in state legislatures has been stagnant since 2007, a year that Bennett calls a “veritable bloodbath.”

“This is the toughest country in the world for women to ascend through politics,” Bennett says. “We’re the world’s most powerful nation, and the stakes are high. The vitriol and the consequences are higher. The misogynistic portrayal of women in media fuels the tenor of sexism in political battles, which I would contend is higher here than in any other nation in the world.”

Someday, when we crack the parity point — 50 percent representation at all levels of government — with strong candidates who aren’t running against a surge of sexist rhetoric but on a proactive agenda, we’ll be able to accurately call it the Year of the Woman. But if we’ve made it that far, I’m pretty sure we probably won’t be using the label anymore.

Another ‘Year of the Woman’? Not So Fast by Ann Friedman for New York magazine

Wonderful, thought provoking piece.

think-progress: The White House goes pink for Breast Cancer...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:59:57 -0400

think-progress:

The White House goes pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month!

awesome!

Kirsten Gillibrand speaks to Daily Show host Jon Stewart about...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 00:25:09 -0400

Kirsten Gillibrand speaks to Daily Show host Jon Stewart about women in politics and the Off the Sidelines movement.

Women of the 112th Congress.

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:20:33 -0400

Women of the 112th Congress.: “I’ve painted all the female legislators in the 112th US Congress,...

secretaryofawesome: Secretary Clinton reunited with her...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:20:09 -0400

secretaryofawesome:

Secretary Clinton reunited with her friend Aung San Suu Kyi, who’s visiting the U.S. from Burma, yesterday at the State Department.

Original photograph from Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

"We work on macro issues and macaroni and cheese issues. When women are in the halls of power, our..."

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 01:20:53 -0400

“We work on macro issues and macaroni and cheese issues. When women are in the halls of power,...

Hillary Clinton on Being Asked about Her Clothes

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:28:00 -0400

bostonreview: Interviewer: Okay. Which designers do you prefer? Hillary Clinton: What designers...

“I would have loved to run for President.” Senator...

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:45:01 -0400

“I would have loved to run for President.”

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) discusses women in politics, women Senators and the path to the White House for National Journal’s panel Women 2020: How Women are Reshaping the Economy, Politics and the World.

Think it's Time for a Woman Moderator in the 2012 Presidential Debates?

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:56:03 -0400

Think it's Time for a Woman Moderator in the 2012 Presidential Debates?: Then sign...

missrep: Shoes And Bridal Registries: Sexism In Political...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:00:02 -0400

missrep:

Shoes And Bridal Registries: Sexism In Political Coverage

POLITICO chose to devote an entire article to the color of the pumps Pelosi was wearing the day the Affordable Care Act was passed. They were pointed-toe, lavender; her “lucky” pair, according to an aide. And in an almost TMZ-like manner, the curt piece concluded with some sarcastic speculation of their label: “Pelosi has been known to wear shoes from designers like Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo, so it’s safe to say they’re not from Payless.”

Click on the photo above to check out the piece I wrote for MissRepresentation.org! Any thoughts? Leave me a comment on the post or shoot a me message here!

From Boston.com: Here’s a lathery miniseries drama that gets...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:56:28 -0400

From Boston.com:

Here’s a lathery miniseries drama that gets off on toying with you. The setup of “Political Animals” looks a lot like it’s modeled after the life and times of Hillary Clinton. Sigourney Weaver plays Secretary of State Elaine Barrish, who ran for president but lost the nomination. Elaine is also a former first lady, whose ex-husband, former two-term president Bud Hammond (Ciaran Hinds), is a Southern good old boy with a strong liking for the ladies. Elaine and Bud get divorced, but still: It’s got to be Bill and Hill, right?

I loved the premiere of Political Animals last night, don’t get me wrong. It does a lot of things right - strong, high powered, three dimensional woman characters; a diversity of character types; political drama. And Elaine Barrish’s encouraging words for girls aspiring to the White House? The show had me hook, line and sinker and I’m coming back for more.

But I feel like Greg Berlanti took way too much from the Clinton playbook. I couldn’t help but think of this as analysis of Hillary the entire time. Even Elaine’s campaign poster is reminiscent of Hillary’s in ‘08. Of course, there are a few weeks of this miniseries ahead of us so its too early to make a judgement, but at this point, I think that the writers could have changed something to not make viewers and journalists think of our current Secretary of State.

What did you think of Political Animals? Shoot me a comment or message!

Thoughts?

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 23:17:08 -0400

Thoughts?

(via bbc03indisguise) Check out this informative graphic on...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:53:36 -0400

(via bbc03indisguise)

Check out this informative graphic on Women in Global Politics from CNN.com!

Photo of the Day: Hillary Rodham Clinton (from 69 Politicians as...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:37:42 -0400

Photo of the Day: Hillary Rodham Clinton (from 69 Politicians as they were in high school)

(via mixtapes)

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi weighs in the on the problems...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:42:00 -0400

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi weighs in the on the problems with increasing the numbers of women in politics:

I don’t think it’s really possible as long as we’re playing on a playing field created by others where money, money, money, money is the currency of the realm where it should be ideas, ideas, ideas, and that the stridency, the harshness, they suffocate the system with money, they suppress the vote, and they poison the debate. That’s not a good formula for women because women need to have a civil conversation. The minute a woman gets tough in the debate, you know what people say about her.

It’s clear that money drives everything in our political system, and with SCOTUS upholding the Citizens United ruling, it looks that aspect of the playing field is here to stay. But from what I’ve seen with the multitude of women’s political networks (on both sides of the aisle) that assist talented women candidates financially and in other ways, it seems like, at least until the next big change in campaign finance laws, that the challenge of money can be overcome this November.

Thoughts? Do you think its still possible to make 2012 the ‘year of the woman’ with money as the ‘currency of the realm’? Leave a comment or shoot me a message!

Photo of the Day: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:57:36 -0400

Photo of the Day: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of Denmark

Click here to watch her speech to the EU following an agreement between European heads of state for a ‘growth and jobs compact’. Denmark recently wrapped up its six month presidency over the European council.

Click here to learn more about Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

Today’s Photo of the Day ventures off of Capitol Hill,...

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:55:43 -0400

Today’s Photo of the Day ventures off of Capitol Hill, leaping across the pond to Westminster.

Photo of the Day: Yvette Cooper, MP; British Labour Party politician, currently serving as the Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. Cooper is being touted by many media sources as ‘most likely to be Britain’s next female Prime Minister.’

Learn more about Yvette Cooper here.

Photo of the Day: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:01:18 -0400

Photo of the Day: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)

Photo of the Day: Vintage campaign button for Geraldine Ferraro,...

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:58:00 -0400

Photo of the Day: Vintage campaign button for Geraldine Ferraro, the first ever female Vice Presidential candidate.