WELLNESS--The gender gap in running the U.S. government has taken a huge leap towards closure with the 2018 Midterms. More women and women of color joined the forces that are part of our governing structure than any other time in history.
However, just having women onboard isn’t enough, as we have been fighting the patriarchal nonsense for generations. It has never mattered to them that historically it has always been the women that have kept our families healthy, fed, and the budgets balanced. It appears that this topic was taken seriously by Business Insider as they led a study that made some discoveries that we already knew about.
In their article Studies show that countries with more women in government have healthier populations, Business Insider exposed some of the main reasons that women are better leaders for a country than men:
- “The more women in government, the healthier a population.
- As a result, female lawmakers substantively advance women’s rights in areas such as pay equity, violence against women, health care, and family policy.
- Studies also suggest that women in government tend to work in more collaborative and bipartisan ways than their male counterparts.”
The controversy regarding women as leaders reaches back to ancient history. From the alleged rewriting of some religious texts all the way to burning female shamans at the stake for witchcraft, the idea of women in power scares the crap out of some men. They will go to great lengths to suppress women from having visions of leadership, including social pressure from both genders that require women to accept motherhood as their only role. Males are discouraged from seeking out intelligent women, and women who are smart feel that they must “dumb themselves down” to be attractive to men. This is an a$$backwards method that was bound to eventually implode.
Take this information from someone that has gone through the challenges of being a smart woman and a leader. I found that a majority of men in the work environment seemed to be a bit “put off” by the fact that I was intelligent and a manager. I never told any of the guys that I was a member of Mensa, and actually have one potential employer tell me to never include it on my resume. His reasoning was that male employers wouldn’t hire a female that was smarter than they were. What?
The battle of the sexes is an old story but in our current social condition we are finding that there is now a requirement for both adult members to work. This has created a more dynamic shift away from the stay-at-home mom, mainly due to the fact that very few can afford that lifestyle. Add to this the fact that more women are attending college than men and we have new generations of educated and informed women.
Women Have Many More Abilities
If there is one leader of any country that recognizes the talents that women bring to the table, it’s Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. In 2015, Trudeau created the first gender-balanced cabinet in the history of Cabinet, with women taking 15 of the 30 memberships. This moved Canada from its former 20th place to 5th place in the world’s percentage of women in ministerial positions.
In the same Business Insider article, they take a view on exactly how women differ from men in a variety of approaches and whether they are successful in achieving a higher level of goals. The article hits it out of the park with:
“Compared to their male counterparts, female politicians are more likely to hold left-wing attitudes (with regard to issues such as civil rights, social equality, and egalitarianism) and substantively advance women’s rights in areas such as pay equity, violence against women, health care, and family policy.
Also, research has shown that women in government tend to work in more collaborative and bipartisan ways and employ a more democratic leadership style compared to men’s more autocratic style. Women are also more effective at building coalitions and reaching consensus.”
Negotiating for better relations, country, environment, and status is just one of the major accomplishments that women can tout. It seems that the study that was undertaken show that when women are in leadership roles, the people are healthier. There are many pieces that contribute to this result including increased spending on healthcare and reduced mortality rates which include topics such as preventative care, medical care, a variety of social services and post-secondary education.
I grew up in a military household where my father was deployed a majority of the time. My mother was an incredible role model because she accomplished everything that was needed to keep the household operational while working full time. She taught me how to balance a checkbook, change a tire, roller skate, and pursue educational endeavors. In essence, she prepared me for an independent life and this was the encouragement that I took with me to purchase my first home as a single woman. We received both the nature/nurture lessons as well as survival mechanisms needed to be contributing members of society and potential leaders.
Have We Finally Thrown Away Those Myths About Female Hormones?
In almost every conversation with a conservative male on the topic of women in government leadership, they will inevitably pitch those old stories about women and our hormones. It is a sad statement that so many men are incredibly uneducated on the topic and can usually be attributed to both family misinformation and the kind of things guys share with each other. Enlightened men of today don’t seem to fall for it, but if we are going to talk about anyone being out of control in an emotional way, we simply have to look at who is in the White House now. This is not to say that trump is any example of the average male, instead, he is a privileged, rich, spoiled, white, entitled man-baby that was given everything he wanted and never had to face the consequences for bad behavior.
A few years ago I watched a documentary that was incredibly fascinating. It followed the lives of transgendered individuals that had made the ultimate decision to have a sex change that would allow them to live the life that they required. These people face a harsh reality of potentially losing family and friends because of their choice, and I was mesmerized by their strength. In one story a young man was transitioning to become a woman and underwent hormone treatments as part of his regimen. The statement that he made stopped me in my tracks. He said that men are constantly thinking about sex and it affects almost every waking moment. Once he began his female hormone treatments he felt a sense of freedom. He was no longer being controlled by the constant intrusion and for the first time in his adult life, could function without sex being part of the equation. Without the constant influx of testosterone, this person was free to think, do, and act without being influenced by sexual thoughts.
While this is just one man and is far from representing all males, it is a topic that is rarely spoken about. Hormones are part of both male and female bodily functions, and science already recognizes that testosterone is the basis for negative and sometimes violent emotions and reactions. If we are going to have a conversation about hormonal situations, we need to include the fact that men are making decisions about people, alliances, and our country while being influenced by hormones that could start wars.
It’s Time To Remove the Shackles
We are in a global community where other countries have elevated the status of women to leadership roles. As a nation, we need to get rid of the old school ideologies and understand that survival means returning female empowerment. This also equates to the removal of male dominated ideas of being in control of women’s bodies and choices. There aren’t any laws governing male bodies! We need to examine every layer of sexism that still exists, from higher prices of products that are simply listed as “for women,” to medications that insurance companies won’t cover for women, but do cover for men.
Having women in government leadership positions will help to open these doors and remove the spider webs of the old. There is no pride in trying to keep women in a place that they don’t want to be and wasting talents and abilities with old school belief systems. If we want healthier and safer environments and people, we need to have more women in government leadership roles.
