What is the most under-represented group in our local, state and federal government?
If you voted Tuesday, the answer is easy.
How many female candidates did you see on your ballot? One? Two? Maybe three at the most?
In the U.S. there are 4.1 million more females than males and in Mississippi, females make up 51.4 percent of the population. Yet, nationally, females make hold just 15 percent of elected offices on the local, state and federal level.
In Mississippi, it’s even worse: Just 6.4 percent of those offices are held by women. Mississippi is one of four states to have never sent a woman to Congress. Only four women have ever held state-wide office, including two — State Treasurer Lynn Fitch and Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith — who are currently serving.
In the Legislature, only 30 of 174 seats were occupied by women going into Tuesday’s election.
It’s much the same at the local level. In the Golden Triangle, of 18 seats on the three cities’ governing boards, only two are filled by women — Linda Hannah in West Point and Lisa Wynn in Starkville. All of the mayors in Columbus, Starkville and West Point are male and always have been.
What can we infer from such disparity? There are two obvious assumptions. First, there simply aren’t many women who are qualified to serve or, second, women just aren’t interested in serving.
We reject the first explanation out of hand because it is in serious conflict with what we have grown to know over the years. The Golden Triangle is home to plenty of intelligent, energetic, community-minded women. In fact, more than one observer of the local scene has commented on the inordinate number of strong, accomplished women in our midst. You find them playing active roles in virtually every aspect of our communities except for one: public office.
Does that mean women just aren’t interested in serving?
Not necessarily.
Could it be that women who might be inclined to serve face obstacles that discourage them from taking the plunge.
Lynn Spruill, former CAO for Starkville, who once served as a mayor in Texas, thinks there is something to that notion.
Spruill says there are a variety of hurdles that discourage women from seeking public office, everything from finances (women every 73 cents on the dollar compared to men), to family obligations (the firmly-entrenched role identification that says women remain the caretakers of the family), to the stubborn persistence of the “good old boy” network that limits a woman’s ability to network among the political power brokers that help finance, organize and manage campaigns.
That is unfortunate. Resisting the temptation of creating a stereotype to wage war with an existing stereotype, we find that women generally are better listeners and more inclined to lay aside ego in the interest of compromise.
Those are the kinds of qualities we desperately need in this Era of Government Dysfunction.
As an added bonus, if you asked when the last time the integrity of a female elected official was brought into question as the result of some sexual escapade, you would be hard-pressed to think of an example. Ask that question of male elected officials and the first question is: What? You mean in the last week?
We believe there are many women who have much to offer in public service. We encourage them to pursue these opportunities. Our communities will prosper from their contributions.
We are encouraged then, by the efforts of The Stennis Center for Public Service and Mississippi University for Women (MUW) to establish program designed to encourage more young women to pursue opportunities in public service. Mississippi N.E.W. Leadership program met on the MUW campus in May, bringing female college students from across to state to learn about such things as women’s paths to power, obstacles to women’s leadership, attitudes toward female leaders, and strategies to encourage full participation and representation of women in political leadership.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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