As an fairly liberal at-home Dad with teenage daughters, I wonder/worry about this.
The only legislative body with a female majority, and it’s in New Hampshire. Not liberal Massachusetts.
Why are we still so male in our elected officials?
What, if anything, can we do to increase the number of women in elected office in Massachusetts? Especially our nearly all male US congressional/senatorial delegation?
Comments?
Please share widely!
marcus-graly says
I wouldn’t read too much into the fact the Massachusetts isn’t there yet.
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p>There is one woman in our Congressional delegation: Niki Tsongas
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p>We have a woman in charge of the state senate: Therese Murray
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p>Female Attorney General: Martha Coakley
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p>Not explicitly political, but both Harvard and MIT have female presidents. (Drew Gilpin Faust and Susan Hockfield)
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p>While the old boys club is still fairly strong, we’re moving, if slowly, in the right direction.
joets says
UMass Dartmouth has a female Chancellor. Jean McCormack.
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p>KTHNX.
sabutai says
As the article says, the legislature is not exactly a lucrative meal ticket up there, meaning that it doesn’t result in a calcified ol-boy network. That’s probably one big factor.
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p>Also, the two-party system up there leads to more cycling through of officeholders, further breaking up the gridlock. Here, if you win a Democratic primary, you probably have a job for the next 20 years, regardless of the changes in popular feelings about electing certain groups.
hoyapaul says
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 24.5% of the MA state legislature is female, compared to 22.6% nationwide. So a bit higher than average, though not by much.
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p>I agree that it would be great to have more women serve in elected office, but I’m not sure why it’s a “liberal” issue for this to be the case. I’m not sure how our legislature would be improved if we had 200 Michelle Bachmanns in there.
christopher says
Each single-member district is entitled to elect the candidate who, in their judgement, is best for the job. I don’t mind trying to recruit female candidates by interested organizations, but on the merits I don’t care if the Senate has 40 men, 40 women, or something in between.
eb3-fka-ernie-boch-iii says
theopensociety says
unless someone dies, retires, quits in disgust, or is arrested.