Anne Kim, Washington Monthly – August 9, 2016
As America’s first potential female president, Democrat Hillary Clinton could decisively shatter the last glass ceiling in American politics this fall. But as gratifying as that victory would be, women are still woefully underrepresented in public office.
Diana Z. O’Brien and Catherine Reyes-Housholder, Washington Post – May 9, 2016
Why would Clinton promise a gender-parity cabinet? And how likely is she to achieve this goal? Cross-national research on women in the executive branch suggests that obtaining parity is difficult but not impossible.
Jill Filipovic, New York Times – May 2, 2016
We can’t change longstanding assumptions about what a leader looks like unless we change what leaders look like. That means a party dedicated to diversity must champion politicians who aren’t white men — even if there’s a white man who is equally qualified, or the obvious choice. Right now, “the woman card” and “the race card” are broadly seen as cynical tactics. Democrats should make them central components of a winning hand.
Perry Bacon, Jr., NBC News – May 1, 2016
Hillary Clinton last week pledged that, if elected, she would appoint a presidential cabinet in which at least half of the members are women, a move that would profoundly shift the look of the people who govern America. Clinton, in an interview on Monday with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, said, “I am going to have a cabinet that looks like America, and 50 percent of America is women, right?”
Justin Wolfers, New York Times – April 27, 2016
Yet this appears to be inconsistent with available data. Over the past decade, women have been elected to 17.5 percent of House seats, meaning that they’re outnumbered by men by roughly five to one. In fact, the women’s card appears to be particularly unhelpful in the United States. Women’s success in politics — at least as measured by the proportion of seats they hold in the House compared with equivalent lower chambers in other nations — ranks below that of nearly every other rich country. The United States is positioned between Greece and Bangladesh.
Allee Manning and Kaitlyn Kelly, Vocativ – April 26, 2016
On Monday night, the Democratic frontrunner said that least 50 percent her cabinet would be women, should she win this November. “Well I am going to have a cabinet that looks like America, and 50 percent of America is women,” she said during an MSNBC town hall. Such a move would be precedent setting. Even Barack Obama’s current cabinet features only 30 percent women, earning critiques for being a “boys club.” And female representation within the administration has been scaled back since Obama’s first term when eight women held cabinet or cabinet-level positions.
Emily Crockett, Vox – March 10, 2016
Who Talks?, a project of GenderAvenger in partnership with the Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) and the Women’s Media Center, will monitor six morning and primetime cable shows: CNN’s New Day and Anderson Cooper 360, Fox News’s Fox & Friends and The Kelly File, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Rachel Maddow Show.
Kate Spencer, Rolling Stone – February 19, 2016
I often hear Bernie supporters argue that people should not vote for Hillary Clinton “just because she’s a woman.” Sanders himself said this week that “people should not be voting for candidates based on their gender, but based on what they believe. I think that makes sense.” But what about those of us who believe in better, more equal gender representation in politics?