The Global Shame Of The United States: Why America Elects So Few Women
Depending on how midterm elections play out next week, women in Congress could reach a milestone 20 percent. But before celebrating, consider this: The United States is currently ranked at 85th in the world in terms of women legislators* – a spot it holds with San Marino – a microstate completely encapsulated by Italy. Zimbabwe. Honduras. Kazakhstan. China. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Tunisia. Cuba. Iraq. Sudan. Bosnia. Eritrea. And even Saudi Arabia. Those are just some of the 99 countries that have more women in their legislatures than the U.S.
Currently, only 18.5 percent of members of the House and Senate are women – a number which might only creep up after all of the ballots are accounted for on Tuesday. “I think that we could definitely reach or surpass 20 percent based on how things break, but because women are in some of the most competitive races both in the House and the Senate,” says Kelly Dittmar of the Center for American Women and Politics at the University of Rutgers, Camden.
So why are so few women elected to federal office in the U.S.? “There’s not some inherent bias at the ballot box,” Dittmar says in a phone interview. “Repeatedly, we come back to the finding that when women run for office, they’re winning at the same or comparable rates to men who are running for comparable offices.” The issue has more to do with who runs for office to begin with, Dittmar explains. “There are a host of problems which are ingrained in that and some of them are about women’s perceptions of politics and if they think that it’s worthwhile for them amidst all of the other things that they’re balancing in their lives, and then the more external pressures and concerns.”
On top of that, she says, “There are still institutional barriers which face women advancing in politics and leadership.”
Some of those have to do with the two-party structure, campaign funding, and vote-counting methods, Dittmar says. And to be fair about how well countries fair in terms of gender parity in office, it’s important to look at the systems they have put in place to make way for women.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/10/31/3587411/election-women-legislatures/
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Depressing, but not surprising.
Sexism, misogyny, and patriarchy suck ditch water, and sad to say, not much has improved. Worse yet, are the dinosaurs who seem to want to drag us all back to the Dark Ages. 
