Please respond to the discussion below by supporting or expanding on the discussion using at least one scholarly reference:
Women are vastly underrepresented in Congress. They account for less than half of the 535 congressmen and congresswomen. There are currently 151 women in Congress, which means that the statistics equate to approximately 28% of the total (Women in Congress, 1917-2022: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and List by State and Congress, 2022). Although the United States Congress has come far from years prior, it is still not equal representation. It is plausible that there are so few women in Congress because of sexual injustice being that women get paid less than men. It could also be due to women not being allowed the same opportunities as men when it comes to jobs. Congressmen and likely the rest of the country may think that women are not as capable as their male counterparts, but I am of the strong belief that Congress should represent the U.S. in the same proportions. The U.S. Census states that in July 2021, the proportion of women in the U.S. was 50.4% (U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts: United States, 2021). If the proportions were to stay equivalent, this would mean that Congress should be made of more women than men, but it is the opposite. There are more women in the U.S. than men! How is that fair representation? It does not seem likely that the statistics will drastically change within my lifetime because the number of women in Congress has only been slowly growing. I make this hypothesis because it has been questioned why women are excluded from American Democracy since 1917 (Greenberg & Page, 2018). For so long now, most of Congress has been represented by older Caucasian males. Just as our assignment for this week addresses, not only are women underrepresented but so are other minorities in our country. I believe that ratios are capable of change, the question is how hard this will be and how long will it take. The saying goes “be the change you want to see in the world”, so more women must run for election to the Senate and the House of Representatives Members in order for fellow citizens to vote them in.
