Sexism in Politics

Emily Estes

October 12, 2009

Professor Marar

HUM 107

All Men are Created Equal

Almost everyone has heard the saying, “It’s a man’s world,” but there becomes a time when that saying is pushed too far. Throughout the last few decades many laws have been put into place to combat sexism. For hundreds of years, women have been the targets of sexism and mistreatment from men and women alike. As the world has evolved we have more women completing the same jobs men do, but it seems that the attitude toward the workingwoman or women in general has not evolved. In 2009 it is still evident that the institutionalized and historical sexism in government and politics continues today and will continue until the idea of women changes.

As recently as the beginning of the nineteenth century women were considered second-class citizens. Women were responsible for cooking, cleaning, childbearing and other “light” tasks. In the eyes of men, women had little to no use outside in “the man’s world.” Women were not able to own property, sign a contract or even vote. Women were told to “be seen, but never heard” and “only speak when spoken too” Historically, our society created an image of women that seems to revolve around their inability to complete the tasks that men do (The History of, 2008) One monumental day that would change the world happened on August 26, 1920. On this day in history, the nineteenth amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. Though this was a life-changing day for all women during this time and for all women who come after, it was almost 150 years after Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, to “remember the ladies” while working on the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately for every woman, the Declaration of Independence sates, and will forever state, “all men are created equal” (Barber 1998). Throughout the years that spanned between Abigail Adam’s asking for equality and the actual day the nineteenth amendment was ratified, women had...