More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: We recap the DNC; take a closer look at the 2024 Gender Parity Index, specifically in Michigan; analyze the results of the Alaska ranked-choice voting primary election for Congress and last month’s Rwanda parliamentary elections; and advocate for the importance of integrating a gender lens into all areas of philanthropy.
This year is the 30th anniversary of a remarkable electoral reform triumph in New Zealand. In 1993, a citizen-led reform coalition pulled off a heroic upset in a referendum that replaced American-style winner-take-all elections with a “mixed member proportional” (MMP) system. We had a front-row seat, as our leadership in America’s nascent proportional representation movement earned us an invitation to support the campaign with events, strategy sessions and media interviews across the nation.
We wanted to mark this milestone with our reflections about what it takes to win such a transformative national change – and how best to translate those lessons into the very different world of politics of the United States.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faced online vitriol at a rate between 50 and 90 times higher than any other high-profile figure.
Because men commit the vast majority of violence directed at women in politics, men who reject misogyny and violence have a special responsibility to call it out. What can men who believe in elementary fairness and other basic democratic values do? They can start by pushing back against the idea that violent rhetoric in politics is normal.
“The resignation of Jacinda Ardern reminds us that women continue to face barriers in politics, and that it is essential to build governmental workplaces that enable all to participate and succeed,” said Cynthia Richie Terrell, executive director and founder of RepresentWomen. “Even as leaders like Ardern have advanced women’s political representation, the pace of progress remains unacceptably sluggish.”
Women are by far the group most disproportionately affected by climate change. Yet, they are regularly left out of the conversation on a global scale. The United Nations estimates 80 percent of all people displaced by climate change are women and girls, who make up only 30 percent of global and national climate decision-making bodies.
When thinking about the climate crisis, it is easy to become overwhelmed by dread and feelings of helplessness. But learning about the work of incredible women activists can provide a sense of hope and optimism as we all march forward into the impending storm. If we’re willing to listen to these women, we might actually be able to make it out of this alive. And dare I say, even better than before.
Three trends characterized women’s leadership in the pandemic response: effective leadership, rapid response and socially inclusive policies.
In a future being shaped increasingly by climate change, the collapse of liberal democracies, growing inequality, pandemics and now a war in Eastern Europe, what’s needed more than ever are leaders with empathy backed up by serious attention to the needs of the most vulnerable—ones that can bring people together, in solidarity, during times of hardship and craft a set of socially inclusive policies that capture the complex and myriad impacts of crises. We need not just more women, including diverse women leaders at the top but also more male leaders embracing the qualities that women leaders have exemplified throughout the pandemic. Nothing less than our future depends on it.
Unlike a number of women outliers holding office, Jacinda Ardern hasn’t compromised her personality to suit her career; she hasn’t become “masculinized.” Assertive and effective in politics, she invokes a style that a broad spectrum of people, of both sexes, may seek in coming generations: the strong woman—as opposed to the strongman—who embodies astuteness, along with the ability to bring opposing forces together for a greater goal.
As the U.S. celebrates the fairly meager victories for women candidates in the 2020 election and compare our progress to our democratic allies around the world, there is much to learn from New Zealand’s successful transition to a mixed-member proportional system.
In order for the United States to make serious and sustained progress toward parity by 2050, we must invest our energy and our resources in systemic reforms that address the structural barriers women face as candidates and elected officials.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is giving most Western politicians a masterclass in crisis leadership. The country’s lockdown has been hailed as the ‘most decisive and strongest’ in the world.