Original Editorial/Commentary #1

There are 109 women in the 115^th congress out of 535 members; meaning although women make up over half of the population, they are severely underrepresented amongst our lawmakers. The house and senate consist of majority men, where is the problem in this? A group of middle age men (and older) should not be calling the shots for 162 million people who differ in anatomy, mindset, history, and concerns.

A perfect example of this is abortion, although I feel I’m beating a dead horse by mentioning it. Men are certainly, entirely excluded from the act of getting an abortion or perhaps they should be. There are certain aspects of abortion that affect everyone, and for those, all sexes should be involved such as, should government pay for abortion.

The primary purpose of mentioning the old “pro-life” or “pro-choice” ordeal is because it should be “women’s choice”. Personally, I feel the act should be (women’s choice), but I’m referring to the voting process. Middle aged men shouldn’t be voting on a subject that they cannot possibly empathize (key word, empathize) with. Women should play a majority role (if not the only) in making the decisions that exclusively affect them.

The only solution to this dilemma is to corral more women into congress. Women who’ve lacked encouragement and inclusion growing up tend to avoid office. While this is not the fault of congress, but more within the arena of parenting, there is something congress can do. It is on the shoulders of congresswomen to encourage younger generations to become more involved. Whether it be taking time out of their day to speak to girl scout troops in their area or suggest a push for more informative government education (not taught by gym teachers) across the board.

While it is important for young boys to be encouraged as well, I believe we are at a point where girls require more of a push (the numbers truly speak for themselves). It’s disheartening to know it is 2017 and women still don’t have the voice they should, along with various races/ethnicities. Women were the last to legally vote, the last to be allowed work, the last allowed in the streets unaccompanied (this refers to ALL women in the United States). Congress needs more women within its ranks or women will never truly be represented in this country.