Mississippi may be on the higher-ranking end of adult obesity scores in the nation, but according to a recent index conducted by Representation 2020, the state received last place for its Gender Parity Score with only around 15 percent of the Mississippi State Senate composed of women.
The Gender Parity Score is meant to measure women’s recent electoral success at the local, state and national levels to encourage equal representation among both genders where both are equally likely to hold the majority of elected seats in a state.
Mississippi’s gender parity score for 2015 was 7.0 and has fallen in the rankings from 48th place to 50th place among the states. This year, New Hampshire earned a score of 57.1, making it the first state in the index to achieve gender parity.
Mississippi Senator Sally Doty said she believes women in the state are much more likely to devote their energies to religious of philanthropic organizations than politics. Doty herself focused on those areas before decided she could have a larger impact on her community through public service in the legislature.
“Many women erroneously feel they are not qualified to run for office and most are not encouraged to run by local party leaders,” Doty said. “Also, in many instances, women shoulder the bulk of family obligations that make running for office difficult.”
Doty said she has experienced gender discrimination during her time campaigning for office. This past summer, Doty said she and one of her young male campaign staffers noticed men would greet him first and maintain eye contact with him or address him as if he were the candidate during conversations on issues. Doty also had to field questions about balancing her position with family life, questions men are not usually asked.
Doty has now defeated five male opponents over two election cycles.
“I choose to focus on the positives that I can deliver for my constituents rather than slight because of my gender,” Doty said. “I’m the first to reach out and shake hands and introduce myself and have no problem speaking up even if I am the only woman in the room.”
Doty said it’s important to encourage women to run for office in campus organizations or to seriously consider running for election in their future. During her time in college, Doty had a faculty member who told her she knew Doty would run for office in the future.
“Her encouragement sticks with me to this day,” Doty said.
Doty said she believes social media made it easier for millennials to be involved in politics, and she encourages young women to become involved in local party politics, volunteer to work on a campaign, run for a campus office and then consider running for a local office to build a constituency.
“Contribute monetarily to campaigns, or at the very least, provide support and encouragement to those who put themselves out in the public arena,” Doty said. “As my favorite saying goes, ‘If you aren’t at the table, you may be on the menu.’ Women bring different issues, solutions and skills to the table. Often we are more collaborative and see issues from a different perspective than our male counterparts and offer different paths or solutions.”
On the University’s 2015-2016 Associated Student Body Senate, women outnumber men. Females hold 30 senator positions out of 58, making up 52 percent of ASB Senate. In contrast, women elected to the Mississippi State Senate for the 2012-2015 session make up about 15 percent of the senate, holding eight positions out of 52.
ASB Senator Bella Gonzalez said she has never felt directly discriminated against while running for an ASB elected position or during her time in office, nor has it appeared to her that other women on ASB were discriminated against.
“The only gender discrimination I have ever felt on our campus has been through ASB executive elections,” Gonzalez said, adding that the phrases “bias” or “unfair advantage” would be more appropriate.
Gonzalez said it seems in the majority of major elections where men and women can directly run against each other, the man wins.
“Commitment to fully running in an election takes a large amount of confidence in winning and I’m afraid this trend may deter women, even fully confident and capable women, from running against a male,” Gonzalez said. “Thus, it may seem that men have an unfair advantage in our current culture; however, I do believe that our government is set on principles of fairness, and I think that our country is evolving to one day produce a more equal representation of men and women in government.”
Gonzalez said she believes the current generation is trying to shake the ways of the past, even in a conservative state such as Mississippi. She feels with time, more women may be elected into political offices.
Cynthia Terrell, Project Chair for Representation 2020, said women are an important voice to have at the table moving beyond the topic of traditional women’s issues.
“I think the realization has been in the last few years that, ‘Wow, women are equally important to the conversation about the economy and transportation and the environment and education and so forth,’” Terrell said. “So, in terms of the legislative agenda, when we’re missing half the population, literally, it means that the best and the brightest aren’t there to participate in those conversations.”
Terrell said some recent studies have demonstrated women are more equipped and more open to work across the partisan aisle.
“And that’s particularly important I think in 2015 when we see so many deep partisan divides at the state legislative level and in congress,” Terrell said. “Women have demonstrated an ability to share leadership on committees and sponsor each others’ legislation and compromise and be able to push legislation forward that’s needed again, at the local, state and federal level.”
Terrell said she thinks youths are often thought of as more open-minded, accepting and forward-looking and it may be particularly true of the millennial generation.
“I would say we need to connect the structural changes, which we’re proposing, to that aspiration which young voters may feel,” Terrell said. “If we continue to stay in our current voting systems and recruitment processes, it’s going to be pretty hard for those aspirations of young people to become a reality.”
