Women in Government

By haejean. k - October 03, 2020

This next segment of HaeJean’s blogs is regarding women in government and emphasizing the need for more women in government positions, showcasing the accomplishments of females in government, and describing a recent event where Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez presented a remarkably well-spoken response to Rep. Ted Yoho’s offensive comment and non-apology.

To begin, Togo’s first female prime minister was appointed and has gone to announce a new government with 30% of the 33 ministerial positions given to women. This is a record number of seats that will be held by women in Togo. This is a large step into Togo’s government and allows women to voice their opinions in government. Other countries can look at Togo as an example and follow suit.

On September 30, 2020, female lawmakers call for a larger representation of women in all levels of government. Representative Sharice Davids and former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis emphasized how much the government needs to work on including women in leadership roles at The Hill’s The Century of the Woman summit.

“We have to be making sure that we’re really pushing forward on that progress to make sure that women have all the opportunities available to us in this society in our country,” Davids told The Hill’s Steve Clemons.

Women account for less than 24 percent of the seats in Congress and at the state level, it is almost 29 percent. Also, transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the mayor of Fort Worth Betsy Price discussed the sacrifices women have to make if they decide to take on leadership positions.

“Many women are reluctant to step up because they don’t have the support at home that they need,” said Price. “I think we have to figure out how to provide more support for women who do want to serve in public office.”

On Thursday September 29, 2020 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to the House and delivered a resounding response to Rep. Ted Yoho’s non-apology for his actions. Representative Yoho aggressively confronted her outside the Capitol where he then called her “disgusting,” “crazy,” and “dangerous”. When Ocasio-Cortez told the Rep. Yoho that he was being rude called her a “a f---ing b----,″. This all took place outside the Capitol with nearby reporters present.

Later that week Yoho made a public non-apology where he said that “Having been married for 45 years with two daughters, I’m very cognizant of my language” and that he apologized if he was misunderstood.

Ocasio-Cortez made a remarkable response to this non-apology stating that having a daughter and a wife does not excuse his action and his words. By Yoho making such inappropriate comments to Representative AOC, he is adding to the ongoing acceptance of “violence and violent language against women” inside and outside of politics.

She states that “I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls that I go home to, I could not allow victims of verbal abuse and worse to see that, to see that excuse and to see our Congress accept it as legitimate and accept it as an apology and to accept silence as a form of acceptance,”.

In a separate news conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke saying how she too experiences sexism in politics. She stated that “It’s a manifestation of attitude in our society really. I can tell you that firsthand, they’ve called me names for at least...18 years of leadership.”