There are currently 20 women in the Senate. 16 are Democrats. Because Democrats have the majority of seats in the Senate (53), Democrats serve as chairs of the Senate's 16 standing committees. 5 women serve as Chairs. And if you knocked out the class of 1992, the women first elected in that genderquake election, you'd have only 2 women as Chairs.
There are currently 79 women serving in the House. 19 are Republicans. Republicans have the majority of seats in the House so their members are Committee Chairs. When you're in the minority of either house, the highest minority leader on a Committee is the Ranking Member. With 60 women eligible to be Ranking Member on a House Committee, how many are? 6.
And we're confused by many of the Ranking Members.
For example?
Since US House Rep Susan Davis was basically Chair Ike Skelton's right hand for so many years, why isn't she Ranking Member?
And if your answer is 'senority,' US House Rep Loretta Sanchez has been a member of Congress just as long as Ranking Member Adam Smith so, no, 'senority' doesn't cut it as an answer.
We're not really confused, this is how it works out when sexism is at play.
For those who might e-mail (thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com) that we clearly do not know that Nancy Pelosi is Minority Leader, we do know. She's our US House Rep -- at least in name. She doesn't represent the district because she's too busy playing national.
She also doesn't represent women. She's just an overly applauded Queen Bee who is so very fond of doing press conferences with two or more men but has always damn little to help women serving in the House.
Democrats in Congress don't lead on the advancement of women. They really don't even reflect the status quo. (Those who want to argue "Republicans are no better!" should look up the phone number for MSNBC and see if you can get booked on one of their programs. We're talking about Democrats here and doing so because we're on the left.)