Women must become more politically active

Decades ago, some Kirksville citizens were not able to go to the polls. This wasn't because they were physically incapable or because they didn't want to exercise their right to vote. They were just women.

Today, women are welcome in the political spectrum. They can even run for office. Yet, despite all the history, all the women's rights movements and yes, even women's suffrage, not many women take advantage of this right, especially in Kirksville. This year, not one woman was running for City Council until professor of French Betty McLane-Iles decided to run when she heard about the situation.

Kirksville isn't alone in this trend. The U.S. currently ranks 72nd in the world for the number of women elected into office, tied with Turkmenistan, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union as of Jan. 31, 2011.

The percentage of women in this political paradigm actually has decreased for the first time in 30 years, from 17 to 16 percent in the House, according to NPR's news blog, "The Two- Way." Yes, you read right — decreased. So what if it isn't a drastic drop? Any decrease is disgraceful. Women everywhere should be ashamed and disgusted. More importantly, they should be working toward equal representation of gender in government — even in Kirksville.

Progress is being made, I won't deny that. For the first time, three women are serving together on the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet, despite all the hoopla, three out of nine doesn't pass my test.

Now, I'm not suggesting that all three branches of government need to be fully female. You should never vote for a person based solely on their sex. Then again, our government has been made up of males for an excessively long time. Why not let someone else have a turn?

I also don't mean to criticize my fellow females. I want to better understand the reasons why they shy away from politics.

Are they too busy? Many American women do work the "second shift," which is the housework that begins after the nine to five job ends. It makes the task of reading up on political events rather difficult.

Are they uneducated? Hardly. Men now are less likely than women to receive bachelor's degrees, regardless of socioeconomic status, and men also earn worse grades compared to women, according to a 2006 New York Times article.

So what's the problem? I think women need to get the conversation in the political arena started. They also need to be given more opportunities to do so.

And when it comes to running for office in Kirksville, or beyond, look to previous U.S. politicians. Consider Victoria Clafin Woodhull, a businessperson and women's rights activist. She was the first woman to run for president, and she ran in 1872, according to NPR in 2008. She waged her campaign before women even gained the right to vote. That makes running for office seem a little less intimidating today, doesn't it?

Women do belong in the house. But they belong in the Senate, too.

Hannah Douglas is a senior communication major from Springfield, Ill.