Gender in Relation to Politics

White men hold the power. Regardless of how you feel about this statement, it is an undeniable fact. This has always been the case thus far. However, many are hoping to rewrite this statement. Ideally, the statement would look more like this: power is held equally by all races and genders. The odds of the statement taking such a drastic edit after the 2018 midterm elections are slim. However, most of the minority and female candidates running for political positions this year are aware of this. Most realize that the process will take time.  In some cases, people like Stacey Abrams are finding success. Stacey Abrams is a black woman who won the Democratic nomination for governor of Georgia. Although many hope to see more successes like Stacey Abrams, for many candidates, just inspiring a movement is enough. To quote Linsey Fagan, "if I can inspire more people to run fearlessly and in a way that's authentic, that would be a positive outcome for me." For many female and minority candidates, inspiring other female and minority people to run is a success in itself. Gradually, the power will shift. Some day it may even be evenly distributed. 

In the Christensen article we read, Christensen talks about how lack of representation of certain groups in media teaches these groups to feel inferior. Women are quite clearly underrepresented in politics. When children hit the higher elementary school grades, they learn about the presidents. Sure, they don't quite explores details of presidents like policies, but don't think for a second that young girls don't realize that there has never been a female president. As these children grow older into young adults and better understand politics, they are discouraged from running for any positions because history is telling them they can't do it. However, women like Stacey Abrams and Linsey Fagan are telling them today that they can do it and it is possible. 

One of the first articles we read was the Johnson reading on power. In this reading, Johnson says that white, upperclass men have the most privilege and hold the most power. Looking at the demographics of political positions at both the state and federal level further proves Johnson's point. Women and minority groups lack certain privileges that men have, making it harder for them to gain power. 

When I was a child, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would never have responded "the President". I doubt many little girls who grew up when I did would have. However, after the 2016 election, many girls may have this dream. Hillary Clinton did not win, but she proved that it is certainly possible for a woman to become President. Women are making strides in politics and soon I believe there will be more female representation in politics. 

Here is a link with information on the 2018 midterm elections: 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2018-midterm-elections/story?id=58584336

My question for the class, how many of you recently registered to vote and what encouraged you to do so?