One more woman in the Lege, and that ain't much
There will be one more woman in the big pink building. State Rep. Carl Isett is a reservist who's being deployed to Iraq, and he named his wife, Cheri, as his replacement.
I'm pleased to see a slight increase in women's representation in the legislature. It's been great this past year to see Ana Hernandez and Donna Howard take their seats. But since Carter Casteel lost her primary to a man and is now a lame duck, we're doing the slow-progress waltz - two steps forward, one step back.
And the overall numbers are not great. Not counting Ms. Isett, there are 33 women members in the Texas House. 33 out of 150 = 22%. There are 4 women in the Texas Senate. 4 out of 31 = 12.9%. So overall, we've got 37 women out of 181 legislators, for a not-so-grand total of 20%. According to 2000 Census data, women make up just over 50% of the Texas population. You read that right - we're half the population, 1/5 of state legislators.
Even more distressing, that actually makes us average.
The National Conference of State Legislatures keeps data on women members. With the additions of Howard and Hernandez, Texas ranks 27th. The top ten are Maryland with 34%, Delaware with 33.9%, Arizona, Nevada, Vermont, and Washington with 33.3% each, Colorado with 33%, Kansas with 32.7%, New Mexico with 31.3%, and California with 30.8%. The bottom ten are South Dakota with 16.2%, New Jersey with 15.8%, West Virginia with 15.7%, Virginia with 15%, Oklahoma with 14.8%, Wyoming with 14.4%, Mississippi with 12.6%, Pennsylvania with 12.6%, Kentucky with 12.3%, Alabama with 10%, and South Carolina at 50th with a lousy 8.8%. So the very best state has just over a third, the worst under 10%. That's embarrassingly low.
What does it matter, you ask? Can't a man represent women's issues as well as a woman as long as he's got the right information? Well, sure. But what are the chances that any given male politician will both have the right information and be willing to listen to what it means? Take a look at those bottom ten and you'll see what I mean. Notice South Dakota is number 40? Imagine there was actually equal representation in the South Dakota legislature. You really think they'd have had the votes to ban abortion if there were that many women on the floor? I seriously doubt it.
But don't take my word for it. All over the world, in study after study, the data shows that when women are in office, it makes a big difference in what issues are discussed, what bills are sponsored and passed, and what happens on women's issues.
What can we do? Encourage women to run for office. Support women candidates, starting at the local level, in order to give them the experience they need to move up. For extra credit, run for office yourself! Research has also shown that the biggest reason women run is that someone asks them to. Well, ladies, I'm asking. You know that saying that if you want something done, do it yourself? Absolutely true here. The only way these numbers will change and more attention will be paid to our issues is if we make that change happen.