Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

1. Breaking news: Lisa Blunt Rochester now represents Delaware in the U.S. Senate.* According to the visual above how many American states have never elected a female senator?

2. According to the visual above how many female senators has your state elected*?

3. In 1992, female Senators got their first private restroom in the U.S. Senate, ending the time when, as one reported noted, female senators had to “miss an important vote because she was downstairs in line with the girls from a 4-H club.” What most surprised you about the visual above?

4. Currently, four states (MN, NH, NV, WA) are represented by two women in the Senate. At the same time, many states have never had a female senator. What do you think is a major factor explaining why some states have had so many female senators and others haven’t?

5. Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia, the first female senator, was appointed in 1922 after Senator Thomas Watson died. She served for one day. The first woman elected to the Senate was Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas, who served two full terms after initially being appointed to a seat in 1931. Since then, 32 of 50 states have had a woman serve as senator for at least one congressional term. In all, there have been 64 women senators in US history. At the present, 26 out of 100 senators are female. Why do you think that females are so underrepresented in the Senate?

6. Has your own state and district ever been represented by a female in the House or Senate?

7. Half of Americans are female. Describe three ways you imagine US policy would change if half of U.S. Senators were female?

8. In what year do you think every single state will have elected at least one female senator?

9. Senators have been in the news a lot this week since they decide whether to approve presidential nominees to the cabinet. They also pass laws, approve treaties, wars, and vote on the budget. What do you think is the most important job of the Senate?

10. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920 and reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” American men had never been denied the right to vote based on gender or sex. Imagine that the 19th Amendment had never been passed. Without the 19th Amendment how many women do you think would ever have been elected to the Senate?

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Vote for a woman or convince someone else to vote for a woman. Better yet, lobby your political party (Emily's List for liberals, the NFRW for conservatives) to run women for office. Or best of all, if you are a woman, run for office.

Get Creative

I asked AI to write a poem about why the U.S. Senate is disproportionately male. After reading my AI’s poem below, write your own poem about why the Senate is so male or ask AI to write one for you.

Old boys and back rooms, a power play's art,
Where deals are struck, and laws impart.
A hallowed hall, where voices raise,
Yet echoes whisper of bygone days.

The Senate's floor, a stage of might,
Where men convene, in shadowed light.
A club of power, tradition's keep,
While women's dreams are hushed asleep.

Is it the voters, who cast their lot,
For names they know, the ones they've got?
Or systems unseen, that subtly sway,
Keeping the status quo in play?

The halls of power, they slowly yield,
As women rise, and take the field.
But still, the climb is steep and long,
To change the tune, to right the wrong.

Though progress dawns, it's clear to see,
The Senate's face, still masculinity.
A broken mirror, reflecting back,
A world where power wears a man's mask.

Learning Extension

Check out this great article and interactive map at Vox where you can find out about female representation in your own state and district. Here’s how it looks where I live. And here is an interactive timeline of when states first sent a female to Congress.

Glossary