Gender In Politics Today
By Bettina Duval, Founder, CALIFORNIA LIST

The current Democratic presidential primary race has proven to be historic on many fronts – the duration of the challenge, the diversity of the candidates, and the discussions which have been inspired.

Senator Barack Obama’s recent speech was a wonderful, honest, personal interpretation of feelings about race and prejudice. It sheds light on the political prejudices of gender as well, an equally important underlying theme in our presidential contest.

For the most part, gender is not considered as decisive as race, yet it is clear that women have been marginalized based on gender in much the same way as African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and others have been based on color. Our familiarity with women as our mothers and daughters and sisters disguises the bias that is all too evident in our daily lives. Sexism is alive and well, and the fight for women’s equality continues. Does electing women matter? We at CALIFORNIA LIST say a resounding yes!

Gender prejudice is perhaps more sophisticated, more covert than when the women’s movement began, but it is alive in our workplace, in our schoolyards and in our politics. We look forward to the day when a woman will be vetted on the substance of her credentials, and when the qualities of her gender are regarded with the same profound value in the professional and political arena as those qualities are regarded within the family. Inclusiveness, nurturing, educating, healing – all of these qualities so organic to being a woman are as important in the board room as they are in the schoolroom and the living room. Until that day arrives, CALIFORNIA LIST is committed to making sure that women are presented with an equal chance for representation in government.

As the founder of the CALIFORNIA LIST I also believe that speaking about gender in a forthcoming manner, as Senator Obama did about race, will help bring honesty and understanding to our political dialogue. While their voice is absolutely critical to the balance of the soul of our country, women clearly face different challenges when running for office. There is a need to level the playing field through organizations like CALIFORNIA LIST.

We are excited to announce that CALIFORNIA LIST has successfully joined the ranks of the movers and shakers in the virtual blog world. Our articles have been featured on more than 15 weblogs and our article “A Lesson From California” was featured on The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bettina-duval/a-lesson-from-california_b_90858.html). These articles have not only extended our virtual presence, but the responses have opened dialogues that help us to better understand and present the voice of the women of California and America. The first quarter has indeed turned out to be a very busy and successful start to 2008.

A special thanks to Pink Collar luncheon hostess Janet Reilly (far right)
shown here with Sacramento business women Anna Zvagelskaya and Nicole Priest
along with the event coordinator Marianne Gaddy and CALIFORNIA LIST Founder Bettina Duval.

On Tuesday, March 4th in San Francisco, CALIFORNIA LIST hosted “Pink Collar Politics: What Are Women in California Thinking,” a discussion of the findings from their recent focus groups in Los Angeles. At the luncheon independent researcher, David Metz outlined preliminary findings of the recent CALIFORNIA LIST focus group. He revealed that among women there is a generational divide, with younger women feeling that gender should not be taken into account when the time comes to cast their vote. Women have been long been thought to be a viable voting block ever since we earned the right to vote, but no one has managed to present the feminine voice as a unifying or successful political element! Mary Hughes spoke of the decline in women elected officials stating there are 23% elected women in statewide offices on a national scale and only 16% of Congress are women. The number of women participating in government is decreasing, an alarming trend that political analysts have labeled with the very descriptive phrase “statistical flat-lining.” Lisa Vorderbrugger spoke about how different questions are often asked of a woman versus a man, noting that media treatment of women candidates will often cover everything from personality to personal appearance. Our lively discussion at the luncheon coupled with the findings of the Los Angeles focus groups confirms that we must move ahead with both dialogue and exploration to insure the participation of women in the political future of our state and our country. Our voice is too important to ever again be minimized in the national debate over health care, economics, war . . . any and all of the issue critical to our community.

We are currently finishing up our endorsement process and will be mailing on behalf of several candidates in early April. Our endorsed candidates will be announced shortly. Help us to make a difference by joining or renewing your membership to CALIFORNIA LIST today!