Comments about ‘Many factors may play a role in lack of women in Utah politics’

This is another case of blaming one person for another person's choices. It isn't about sexism, which is what people automatically jump to. It's about apathy. It's a matter of fact that women are less interested in getting into politics than men are. That's no one's fault but the individuals who make those choices.

I can't tell you the number of times I've talked to a woman who complained there are no women in politics, but then they go on to say they have zero interest in doing it themselves.

Women are also disadvantaged by the winner-take-all electoral system.

Before she passed away in 2004, Wilma Rule produced a lot of academic scholarship on the effect voting systems have on the political involvement of women.

She advocated the adoption of proportional representation, and in the countries where PR is used, women hold a larger percentage of seats compared to countries that use the single-member-district, winner-take-all system.

No, it's not apathy. It is the structural impediments that prohibit women from engaging in this process. Mothers need a process that does not demand face-time, but other kinds of time, such as internet time. It is also the cultural impediments that tell women their place is not in politics. I've even seen letters to the editor in the Deseret News suggesting women should just stay home and support their husbands, and not be involved in "leading," which is man's work. And all Utah women know what happened to Olene Walker . . . .

The LDS Church states that men and women are equal partners. The Church preaches that a husband and wife are co-presidents of the home.

That logic applies to society as well. Men and women are co-presidents of humanity. They are co-presidents of societies. And they should be co-presidents of Utah.

Until men and women are equally represented in the councils of human decision-making, with equal voice, our human governments will continue to be dysfunctional.

I have been to dozens of candidate meetings over the last couple of months. I've seen incredulity that single and married women actually are state delegates, especially from older men. This bothers me that they would disparage or think less of a duly elected precinct representative, but I hope time will remove such unenlightened views.

Being a good delegate takes a significant amount of time and effort. I've been significantly distracted at work, keeping track of news and receiving candidate calls. You need to verify and challenge just about anything a politician says. You need to know a lot about world events, economics, history, governance and philosophy. There is no gender based monopoly on intelligence, knowledge, interests or special skills.

Everyone who cares for or teaches young people needs to stress the importance of all citizens being involved in the political process to get the best outcomes. I may be an average white male, but I think some of the issues in our state legislature could be resolved with more equal gender participation.

So, Mr. Bernick, what was the factor (that is in play) wherein it took 217 years for a woman to be selected as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives?

Why don't you do a similar 'factor study' at the National level?

I don’t know about Utah, but ‘way out here in rural Wyoming, each precinct has a committeeman and a committeewoman. Along with the elected party officers, they make up the county central committee. That group governs each political party at the county level. Thus, the political leadership is made up of about an equal number of men and women. The state central committee has a similar structure, with a state committeeman and committeewoman elected from each county. There is a natural tendency to pick delegates from those who’ve volunteered to serve as precinct committee people, and to pick candidates from those we’ve known by their service to the party. Thus, my sister-in-law served as county chairman, then in our state senate.
All five of our state-wide officers are up for election this time, and only a slight majority of the state-wide candidates are men.

Women tend to be compassionate, nuturing, gentle, forgiving, inclusive. And the LDS church encourages these motherly instincts.

The Republican party emphasizes exclusion of many of these traits. A review of Republican opposition to immigration, health care, Social Security, programs for the needy, etc confirm that women need to look elsewhere for those to represent their values.

Don't get me wrong: I'm a true conservative, but some Republican positions simply don't pair up with women's values and characteristics.

Women are way underrepresented, and it shouldn't be that way. Let's do something about it!