Equal Representation
Argument 1 Favor:
One hundred years ago, Jeannette Rankin was elected to the first seat in Congress ever given to a woman, this happened before women even got the right to vote. She will always be recognized as the first woman in history to ever have a seat with all the boys. And while 325 women have since followed her steps, I doubt she would be very happy with the lack of representation women have in today’s government. Women in the U.S. constitute a 51% of the population and yet they hold 104 out of 535 seats. At all levels of representation women have been under 25 % for decades and even in 2018 there is not much hope that this will change. Women have fought throughout the years to make everyone aware that equal representation is needed in order for both parties to gain the same benefits from the government. Gender quotas are barely discussed in Congress but they do not think of this as worth discussing, how can more than half of the population be underrepresented?
Argument 2 Favor:
Gender quotas will serve not only for equal representation but these candidates will serve as role models for other women making it easier for women to enter the political world. One of the most common reasons on why women do not go into politics is because of the lack of female role models in politics, and by creating a gender quota this will be eliminated because women will go into being a part of Congress and hold the seats they deserve. If women are fairly represented they can help remove gender barriers created by men that prevent women from being elected and from taking an active role in their government. Female legislators are more likely to pass legislation that will help women have the same rights as men in all parts of the political sphere. By having gender quotas people electing for their candidates can have the choice of picking between women and men, not just men, and considering the point discussed above it will only be fair to be equally represented since women hold more than half of the population.
Argument 1 Against:
One of the Arguments that can be made in favor of gender quotas would be that having them it will balance out for an already existing discrimination in Congress. Some people believe that there are as many competent female and male candidates but that the main reason on why women receive such low representation is because there is a discrimination in politics. However, these quotas will also be discriminatory against men. The counterargument is that these quotas will make it obligatory to have the same level of representation meaning that a woman would get a men’s seat who deserved it more but did not get it merely because the quota would be in place. There has also been studies that women who are elected merely because of gender quotas instead of more because of accomplishments tend to be less competent than their male opponents, and that even by giving them the opportunity to have equal representation will result on having fewer competent women candidates. There is also the point in which because of gender quotas women might to have only been nominated because of their gender and not necessarily because of their merits.
Argument 2 Against:
As it is in today’s political world, women do not get the respect they deserve and by approving gender quotas they are going to be even less respected and they will not have any real power even though they might have the same position as a man. It will also be a concern that by electing women through gender quotas they will find it even more difficult to fit in and to be considered as capable as their male counterparts. And by this, many more women will prefer to be elected without a quota to prove that they got their place because they deserved it not because anyone gave it for them. The gender quotas will not only work against women in the way of discrediting them but it will also give the wrong idea that only women can represent women, and that men are so much more capable that they can represent both women and men. This gender quota will not work in favor but against them, and it will make it seem that the only reason why women can get equal representation is because it is given to them and not because they earned it through their political ideas. These quotas will make women compete with each other to get those reserved seats instead of having them co-operate for more influence in politics.
Argument 3 against:
These quotas are very hard to pass into a legislation, this is because it requires a very strong majority to be in accordance of the implementation. This will never pass in today’s congress because the majority of all parties are men who do not necessarily want to give up their seats to give them to a woman. This will only work if all parties are committed to achieving gender equal representation, and having almost all the men agree on this will never work, they can barely agree on whether a woman should have control over their own bodies, let alone steal their seats from Congress.