Chapter 10 Gender, Politics, Government, and the Military.

Chapter 10

Gender, Politics, Government, and the Military

History of US Gender and Politics

• In 1776 Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John asking that the declaration of independence include “the ladies”.

• John Adams wrote back “I cannot but laugh…we know better than to repeal our masculine”

• You know the outcome-only white male property owners were mentioned

ortions © Copyright 2012 Alan S. Berger and other portions © Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, inc

2

History of US Gender and Politics

• Indeed the Constitution took away some rights that women had including the right to vote in some states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey

• When we talk about politics we’re talking about power

• Power in the sense of distributing resources, institutionalizing values and the legitimatization of violence


3

Power

• A more sociological definition of power is the accumulation of sufficient influence to alter or select the goals of a group or an institution.

• Influence is accumulated by the exchange of things of value.


4

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Politics of Gender

• The different political roles and attitudes of men and women primarily in the US

• American women have long been excluded from politics on the grounds that:– They were too stupid, too frail, too emotional,

and too irrational– This situation is finally beginning to change

Political attitudes and activities

• Women were not granted the right to vote until 1922 of the United States

• Between 1920 in 1960 men voted much more often than women– Since 1960 women and men have been about

equally likely to vote– Frequently attributed to increasing education

of women– In 1980 women and men voted differently and

generally have continued to do so


6


• The reasons for the difference in voting patterns are exceedingly complex and include– Economics– Foreign policy– Social welfare– Environmental and public safety.– Healthcare– childcare


7


• Men are more concerned about– The federal deficit– Taxes– Energy– Defense and foreign policy

• Strong and consistent gender gap having to do with war– Except after 9/11


8


• Both men and women in 2005 supported the death penalty although men more than women

• Women are much more likely to support gun control

• Women are more likely to oppose nuclear power plants than men


9


• A majority of both men and women are in favor of a women’s right to choose whether or not she wants an abortion under some circumstances

• More women than men report that a position on this issue would affect their vote

• Nevertheless, many factors other than sex influence political attitudes and behaviors– Race, ethnicity, education, marital status, social

class, and sexual orientation among others


10


• Sexual orientation has played an important role in recent elections– Especially since the lesbian and gay political

organizations have been successful in both public relations and influencing candidates with fund-raising.

• Causes for the gender gap might include – women’s greater caring, sensitive community

and connectedness– Men’s greater focus on competition


11


• Differences between various groups of women’s voting such as– Labor force participation color– Differences between lesbian and straight women– Marital status

• Old stereotypes die hard so some include– Women may be more moralistic or humanitarian

than men– These stereotypes may be applied to candidates

as well as voting choices


12

Gender and Political activity

• Lester Millbrath set up categories of political activity as follows– Spectator: votes, wears buttons, bumper

stickers and requires minimal effort– Transitional: writing to public officials, making

campaign contributions, attending rallies were meetings

– Gladiator: working on a campaign, taking an active role in a political party, running for office


13


• There appeared to be very few differences between the sexes as unfair level of political activity.– Most people are uninvolved in politics

– Historically women have been slightly more then men spectator rather than transitional activities.

• Perhaps because men had more money to spend on politics

• And perhaps women have been overlooked in their role


14


• Much of women’s activity may have been focused on grassroots community actions

• And on fighting to preserve women’s rights which have been eroded by local legislation and budget cuts

– Much of the activity of scholars studying political action has focused on the highest level of political activism-the gladiators

• Especially national candidates

– Women have served as for the gladiators by going door to door, stuffing envelopes, making phone calls


15


• Women’s representation at national political conventions has been low historically and only began to significantly increase in 1972.

• If men and women are roughly equal in political interest and activity at least by voting, they are not equally represented in holding public office.


16


The Gender Gap: Political Attitudes and Activities

• Gender gap– Differences in voting patterns and political

attitudes of women and men

• The gender gap is far more complex than it at first appears to be

• A strong & consistent gender gap emerges with respect to issues of war and peace


The Gender Gap: Political Attitudes and Activities

• Women & men share similar views on:– Protecting the environment & women’s rights

• Gender and Political Activities– Spectator activities– Transitional activities– Gladiator activities


Table 10.1 The Gender Gap in Presidential Elections, 1952–2008


Table 10.2 Voters in the 2008 Presidential Election


Table 10.3 Gender Differences in Political Activities, 2004

Gender and Political Office

• Throughout the world have had a virtual monopoly on public offices

• 191 countries in the world in 2000 only seven had ever had female heads of government– Women are underrepresented at all levels

political decision making in countries that have parliaments

– In 179 countries with parliaments only 11% of the members are women


22


• Women’s representation in elected positions in the United States increased considerably during the 1980s and 90s– Putting the United States 39th female legislators

as of 1997

• One explanation for this gap has been the way boys and girls are socialized

• However studies of school-age children find little difference in boys and girls political views


23


• A second explanation for the gap is that women devote more time to their domestic responsibilities children are young and thus don’t have time for politics.– There is evidence that women enter politics

later than men– European politics the women involved are

less often married and/or have fewer children than male politicians


24


• Child rearing responsibilities of women hold them back (probably) where women prefer political careers and men don’t.

• A third, possibly unlikely explanation is that men outnumber women in political offices because women are less qualified.– Female officeholders however are more likely to

have attended college– The number of women in public office who are

lawyers and business people has increased.


25


• Note that a majority of federal legislators are lawyers.

• Another argument for why women don’t hold lots of offices because of discrimination.– Surveys show that discrimination against women

has declined years

• As more and more women have run for office is no longer considered unusual for women to run for high public office


26


• The role of the media– Lots of questions about women’s ability to

raise money and to be elected– Media tends to focus on what women think of

women’s issues– Even worse on what women wear and

whether or not they cry

• There is also discrimination against women in the internal politics of political parties.


27


• The majority of party leaders are male, and many subscribe to traditional gender stereotypes

• Such prejudice is strongest in the South and states were small number of people make a majority of the decisions

• Historically when a party was about to lose an election it nominated a female “sacrificial lamb”


28


• Money is raised from a variety of sources– Individual contributions

– Political action committees (PAC)

– Female and minority candidates have received relatively little money from the PACs or from other donors

• Women became more prominent in forming their own political action committees and other fundraising sources in the 1990s.


29


• The number of women in state and local governments in 2002 was substantially then it had been in previous years. – 22% of state legislators– 21% of mayors and cities with 30 or more

thousand people• In 1993 the number of women in the U.S.

Congress both the Senate and the House increased remarkably– As of 2001 13% of the Senate and 41% of the

house were women


30


• When race and ethnicity are taken into account 1992’s election was a watershed for both women and men of color.

• Women in the house and the Senate have rarely held leadership positions– Until three years ago when Nancy Pelosi

became speaker of the house and thus third in line for the presidency

– Women have chaired major committees in the Senate since the early 1990s


31


• One of the reasons that women have had difficulty becoming congressional leaders is that it seems to take a minimum of five terms (10 years in the House, 30 years in the Senate) to rise to powerful positions.

• We’ve had a number of candidates for president and vice president who have been women, but a small number


32


Gender and Public Office

• Women and men, it seems, have a similar interest in politics: – If we use their voting rates and political

activism as indicators

• Explanation for the gender gap in officeholding


Gender and Public Office

• Incumbent

• Political action committees or PACs

• Women and Men in State and Local Government

• Women and Men in the Federal Government


Table 10.4 Seats Held by Women in Parliamentary Governments


Table 10.5 Women in State and Local Government, Selected Offices, 2011


Table 10.6 Women in the U.S. Congress, 1949–2011


Table 10.6 Women in the U.S. Congress, 1949–2011

Gender and Appointive Office

• There are a little bit less than 300 and government jobs that the president appoints but which require Senate confirmation– The first woman appointed to the Pres.’s Cabinet

was Frances Perkins in 1933 appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to head the Department of Labor

– There have been many more since then particularly since Bill Clinton was president

• He was also the first to point gay men and lesbians to high-ranking federal positions


39


• Among the most important offices the president appoints are members of the Supreme Court.– Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman

nominated and approved by the Senate as a member of the Supreme Court

– President Clinton also nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg

– President Obama is nominated and succeeded in getting approved to women


40


• Women on the Supreme Court don’t seem to have made much of a difference in court decisions.

• Recent Supreme Court appointees have also selected or women as their clerks than earlier appointees

• Research indicates that women in elected and appointed offices have a positive impact on women’s legal rights


41

Gender in the Military

• There is evidence from earlier times and other societies in modern times that women have been accepted as combatants in armies– The discovery in Kazakhstan that women who

had defended their country and property in historic times use bows and arrows from their horses in defense

– In the 19th century the West African nation now known as Benin had an all female fighting force of at least 4000 people


42


• During World War II women in Russia served as machine gunners and other combat roles as well as snipers

• In Israel in the 1930s and 40s women were active combatants even though they weren’t officially acknowledged

• In the 1980s Eritrean women fought with their men driving tanks and heavy artillery.

• In the United States women fought (disguised as men) in the Revolutionary war and later in the Civil War.


43


• For the most part however the American armed forces do not accept women– The belief is that war and the military are male activities

and things that are feminine are derided.• In the 1990s the superintendent of the Virginia Military

Institute refused to accept women because “military training is not for the faint of heart” until he was ordered to do so by the Supreme Court in 1996

• Women were first recruited by the Armed Forces during World War I but were limited to nursing and clerical jobs– Therefore they did not get veterans benefits


44


• During the second world war women were recruited for service in the Army Navy and Air Force.– But they’ll roles were limited and men were

admitted with less abilities, less education than the women who were recruited

– The women were frequently in danger zones and some were wounded or killed

• However is some servicemen and the media continued to hold a gender stereotypes and derided the women


45


• The media continue to report on whether the women were issued girdles.

• Many were derided as wars or lesbians in search of partners

• Until the late 1960s women were in the reserves because they were a cheap source of labor and were dismissed when men were available to replace them

• Shortly after World War II 98% of the women in the army were discharged but did not get the right to get their old jobs back


46


• The Veterans Administration is still male oriented

• Women have to meet higher enlistment standards than men

• It’s only been recently that women reach the rank of general or captain in the Navy

• As part of a training women were instructed how to maintain a lady like appearance despite the tight skirts they had to wear


47


• The political actions in the 1960s such a is removing the limit on the number of women allowed to enlist in the military, the wide publicity given the rights amendment even though it didn’t pass.

• The draft was ended and the military became all volunteer

• The Supreme Court overturned the military policy of awarding dependence benefits to personnel on the basis of different criteria based on sex– And another court decision prevented the Navy from

banning women from sea duty


48


• There has been a long history of sexual harassment in the military.– First came to public attention when Navy

pilots at a tailhook convention where naval officers abused female naval officers.

– Military personnel have been convicted of rape

– It seems clear that not all sexual harassment and complaints are recognized and properly dealt with by the institution


49

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

• There have probably been gay men and lesbian women in the military as long as men and women have been in the military.– Until 1994 such people were drummed out of

the military– 1994 the don’t ask don’t tell policy was

implemented which allowed gay people to serve as long as they weren’t open about their orientation or engaged in homosexual acts


50

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

• This was supposed to reduce harassment and witch hunts.

• It was declared constitutional in 1996

• It is being essentially eliminated in the practice of banning homosexuals from serving in the military whether or not they are open about their sexual orientation is currently being eliminated.


51


Women and Men in the Military

• Historical & cross-cultural research shows women have often supported militarism: – And have even engaged in combat and other

military activities

• Women’s Army Corps (WAC)

• Frontiero v. Richardson


Women and Men in the Military

• There are accounts of women who disguised themselves as men – And fought at the front beside their husbands

or brothers

• Homosexuals in the U.S. Military

• Women who joined the military had to meet higher enlistment standards

Chapter 10 Gender, Politics, Government, and the Military.

Documents

portions copyright

pearson education

mentionedortions copyright

soortions copyright

education of womenin

attitudes of men

incpolitical attitudes

usamerican women