Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 03/4/2009

How Far We’ve Come- Politics

The actual list of women in global politics is longer, but here are some highlights:

1920- That’s the year we (American women) got to vote. 89 years ago.

1966- India – Indira Gandhi is the first Prime Minister of India

1969- Israel- Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister

1974- Argentina- Maria Estela Martinez de Peron becomes first woman President of Argentina and first female head of state in the Americas

1979- Bolivia- Lidia Geiler first woman elected President

1988- Pakistan – Benazir Bhutto first woman elected Prime Minister (first woman elected to lead a Muslim country)

1990- Ireland- Mary Robinson first woman elected President

1990- Haiti-  Ertha Pascal-Trouillot first woman elected president

1991- France- Edith Cresson is the first woman Prime Minister

1993- Rwanda- Agathe Uwilingiyimana first woman Prime Minister (for 18 days-assassinated in 1994 during Rawandan Genocide)

1999- Latvia- Vaira Vike-Freiberga elected President- first woman to be a president of a Eastern European country of the former Soviet Union

2003- Peru- Beatriz Merion Prime Minister [dismissed after 6 months on speculation that she was a lesbian, despite her 60% approval rating]

2004- Mozambique – Luisa Diogo elected Prime Minister

2007- USA- Hilary Clinton one of the first women ever to be considered for US Presidency

2007- India- Pratibha Patil elected president

Women’s history in politics fits on less than one page of word-processed print. Men’s history fits into that stupid 400-page history book I lug around school all day that will probably be identified as the cause of my back problems in later life. It’s true that women have come a long way, but every time that I hear women have a great presence in politics I get really angry-mostly because of this list. Not even every country has had ONE woman in upper ranking politics. I’m sure it’s true that there are a lot of women in politics generally- just because they’re not prime ministers or whatever doesn’t mean they’re not there. And that’s fine, and I do hope that’s true. But compare this list to the list of MEN who have been prime ministers in those countries, then consider that they are only about 50% of the population – 49% last I heard.

That’s not right.

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