Historically, feminism has fought for gender equality.
In the 1970s, women fought for the Equal Rights Amendment; then in the 1980s and into the ’90s, feminists focused on Title IX. Feminism is extraordinary because it has been able to make bipartisan changes that make life better for ALL women.
In recent years, feminism has strayed from its original intent. Feminism was created to advocate for women’s rights and equal treatment. Feminism was built to include all women regardless of their race, age, political affiliation or background. Recently, support for Republican women has taken a nose dive. Currently, there are 16 female Democrats in the Senate compared with only five female Republicans; in the House, there are 62 female Democrats and only 22 female Republicans.
This is a major problem. Women need to be represented on both sides of the aisle. Republican women have different perspectives than Republican men. Men and women are inherently different. The point of feminism is to ensure that men and women have equal opportunities to influence, which is impossible to do if women are not present in Republican and Democratic discussions.
Feminists should agree that it is extremely imperative that women are well-represented in both the Republican and Democratic Parties.
Sadly, there is far less support for Republican female candidates. The left has done a fabulous job in supporting women. Organizations such as Emily’s List have recruited, supported, and run hundreds of women in local and state elections throughout the country. This is amazing, but there is no Republican counterpart.
RELATED: Shaw: “Incredibles 2” is going to be a fantastic feminist film
Currently, Republicans hold a majority in both the House and the Senate. In both cases, there are far fewer women represented in the majority party. This is problematic for all women because legislation can be formed and passed without proper consideration of how it may uniquely affect women.
It would be better for women if more women were involved in ALL political conversations, not just Democratic ones.
Statistically, women are just as likely to win elections as men. But they are less likely to run without being asked or encouraged, which is also done less. Party recruiters tend to be men, which means they are more likely to encourage more men to run for office simply because men know more men.
This means we need more organizations such as 50/50 by 2020, which focuses on recruiting, encouraging, and supporting women candidates from all political backgrounds. 50/50 by 2020 is an Iowa-based organization that aims to achieve equal representation for men and women in Iowa by the year 2020. This is feminism.
We as women need to come together to support each other regardless of party lines. We make up more than 50 percent of the country’s population. We have a majority vote. Let’s get some women elected on both sides of the aisle. Feminism is not synonymous with Democrats or Republicans. Republicans can be feminists, just like Democrats.
In my generation, I was able to receive equal treatment throughout my education experience because of Title IX and all the women who fought hard to accomplish this goal. My generation of women has an incredible opportunity to continue to fight for equal representation because we were able to have equal education opportunities. We need to remember feminism is about supporting women’s equality — not a certain political agenda.