A Hairstyle is Not a Platform:
Women, The Media, and Political Participation
Katherine Ickes
Riley Neugebauer
Sabina Sully
For approximately three-quarters of a century, women in the United States have been legally able to exercise their rights as a voting population, yet in that time, there has yet to be seen an equal distribution of women in political office, and never a woman president. Political participation would seemingly delegate the voice of the nation; a disparaging thought when the 51% female population is grossly underrepresented within governmental positions. Thus, it remains that a largely male population is regulating issues such as reproductive rights and freedoms, rape and domestic violence policies, and other issues that are of extreme pertinence to the lives and bodies of American women. In order to achieve true political equality, women must not only be granted the right to vote, but also the ability to promote women into positions of authority within the political structure, as it is inconceivable that men, even those with a political platform that emphasizes women's issues, can aptly represent the wants and needs of the female population.
Even when women are taken seriously as candidates for political office, the media images that follow their campaigns are damaging to their integrity. This behavior perpetuates the societal gender norm that restricts the "place" of women to the trivial, emotional, and domestic spheres of life. It is seemingly more important for women to keep up with hairstyling trends then with political competency. It is necessary to eliminate this misogynistic behavior, as until women are respected as viable opponents as opposed to amusing spectacles, it is simply impossible for any degree of true gender equality to exist.
A great deal of this bias against women in politics results from the patriarchal mindset and structure of our nation, in which a severely ingrained, possibly unconscious, idea of sexual dimorphism prevents the breakdown of oppressive gender norms. Because women are traditionally pinned as emotional beings, it is inconceivable for most people to imagine them as able political participants. In this regard, the feminist movement has not made enough of an impact on the American populace, and thus, it is necessary to further advocate issues that liberate women from this oppressive system.
This solution to this problem does not come easily, as it is necessary for an ideological shift in regards to both how women are represented in the media, as well as the representation of women within the political system. It is fundamentally imperative that this problem be investigated from within the American public education system. In order to bring about change, it is necessary to represent women as capable leaders to a younger generation. By making progressive advancements in the curriculum of elementary through high school students, we will be influencing future generations of political candidates as well as voters. Women not only need to run for office, but people must be willing to elect them. Until gender norms are broken down and a new ideology of equality is established, women will still be held hostage to a patriarchal, misogynistic bastardization of political representation.
In addition to education reform, it is necessary to raise consciousness amongst the voting population of the discrepancy in equal representation at the national level. There is a degree of complacency regarding the feminist movement, in which many people are satisfied with the slow-moving progression. It is of utmost importance to shatter this notion, as it is keeping voters from understanding the problem, and also from moving to potential solutions. As third wave feminists, it is important to reflect upon the past mistakes of the movement. It was understood to the feminist activists of the late sixties and seventies that the right to vote was not enough, it is our job to move past the notion that the right to an abortion is not enough. It now time that the right of women to be elected into positions of political power in order to accurately reflect the larger half of the voting population be understood and come to fruition. We are unable to further lobby for the rights of women if those rights cannot be fully understood due to the ever-presence of masculinism within the realm of politics in the United States.
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