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Do Women Make Better Senators Than Men?
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Jul 13, 2013 07:37am |
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| Category | Perspective |
| Author | Jill Lawrence |
| Media | Magazine - National Journal |
| News Date | Friday, July 12, 2013 01:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "Five women are gathered around the dining-room table from Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s childhood home. It’s the centerpiece of her hideaway, an unmarked retreat in the U.S. Capitol, and, like the hideaway itself, it’s a symbol of the distance all of them have traveled. The shelves and walls display testaments to Mikulski’s long career: photographs, clippings, replicas of the space shuttle. One highlight is a picture of “Buckboard Barb” Mikulski in a cowboy hat and colorful Mexican-style vest, standing with former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison during a visit to Texas. Another is a series of photos that starts with two women and ends with 20, a visual display that is striking less for its drama than for its incrementalism. The modern history of women in the Senate is one of slow, hard-fought gains across three decades that have at last given them real clout—or perhaps we should say the potential for real clout, since they serve in a Congress famous for gridlock, not accomplishments.
“This room, probably when Barbara Mikulski came in, was one of those rooms where there were cigars and a bunch of guys,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said during a recent discussion in the hideaway.
And now? “No cigars,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
“No cigars and a lot of hardworking women,” agreed Murray.
Five senators in any small room will set the atmosphere crackling with authority and power, and that was true here despite the conspicuous absence of testosterone. You don’t get to become or stay a senator without sharp political-survival skills, and the cool self-assurance that you belong in one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. Most of the women also believe they make special contributions to the Senate—in the issues they highlight, in their collegial style, and in the close-knit network they have formed, despite their differences." |
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