MY REGULAR readers might be surprised to learn that my fellow Opinion columnist Christa Byker and I attended the same political conference last weekend in Cambridge. Don't worry, both of us lived to talk politics for another day. The Harvard Institute of Politics led a Women and Politics Political Leadership Training, which was cosponsored by the UVA Center for Politics. The mission of this event was to give young women of all political persuasions the encouragement and knowledge to become more involved in politics, from working on campaigns to perhaps one day starting one's own.
Certainly every young woman at the conference has a passion for politics and has entertained the thought of serving in elected office. No one at that conference, though, wanted to honestly discuss the chronic reservation almost every woman has before she decides to seek higher offices -- what about family? What about kids, the husband, the white picket fence? I too wrestle with this concern, and I have finally concluded what is sure to be impolitic. If women want to go after major executive office, they have to be willing to pursue this dream at the cost of putting one's private life on the back burner, at least during campaign season or during one's term. If women truly want to change the world, they have to reconstruct what is traditionally seen as a woman's world.
In order to win statewide or national office, people often need to serve in a local elected position first to gain political experience. Women traditionally wait to run for office much later than men. Men often have no qualms with the time-consuming rigor of campaigning, but women are much more hesitant to put this intense stress on their families. For example, men may run for state delegate in their late 20s to begin their political career. This age often coincides with the age at which women decide to have children. Thus, women interested in running for office need to have children earlier or later, or marry someone willing to assume a greater responsibility for raising children.
According to a Rutgers University study, in 2006 only 67 women are serving in the 435-seat United States House of Representatives. Fourteen women are serving in the United States Senate. In contrast, 22.8 percent of state legislators in the United States are women, or 1,686 female legislators out of 7,382. This shows that women across the nation have demonstrated interest in governance, yet they seldom seek elected office at the state and national level.Less and less can be blamed on the male-dominated system, too. According to many of the campaign strategists and elected officials who spoke at Harvard, women candidates have achieved parity with men in fundraising ability. It looks like the electorate has become much more welcoming and open to the prospect of female candidates. This shows that the door is open -- women just have to decide to walk through. Again, running for major executive office entails grueling campaigns and sacrifice of time with family, but men too have to pay this cost when they run.
This argument obviously is not the reality-denying, "women-can-have-it-both-ways" opinion many people today voice. Limitations on time and energy are all too real. Most women will understandably devote their lives to their children, and this is certainly a selfless and noble decision. But not all women are satisfied with this life. Women need to accept this reality and decide what they are willing to sacrifice. The most important decisions in life never are easy.
Many young women end up dismissing their political ambitions and at most run for local office. However, if ever women want to break into the smoke-filled back rooms where national decisions are made, they cannot allow themselves to be sidetracked. This calling will demand unpleasant sacrifice, but if women of today ever hope to see women in high office tomorrow, they need to go for the gold. Indeed, if personal ambition is not enough, women need to chase their dreams for their daughters. Soccer games and preschool tea parties may be missed, but little girls will be benefited immeasurably by seeing their mothers refuse to back down from true realization of their political dreams. If we settle for the state legislature instead of chasing the U.S. Senate, it will be hard to meet the worshipping eyes of our daughters without pangs of guilt for denying our calling to make the world just a little better.
Marta Cook's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mcook@cavalierdaily.com.
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