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Female Senator Says 50% Of Congress Should Be Women, And This Guy’s Comeback Goes Viral
U.S. Senator from New York Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand asked the internet to imagine “if half of Congress was women. If half of all mayors and governors were women. Imagine what could get done.” Her tweet instantly ignited heated discussion about gender diversity in politics, receiving 75,000 likes and 21,000 retweets, and all of this huge attention only proves that it’s a topic worth debating about.
Gillibrand – who is a Democrat – earned national recognition for fighting the Pentagon over how sexual assaults are handled by the US military. She also leads a project, called “Off the Sidelines” that supports women candidates across her country. Do you agree with the senator’s statement or not? Let us know in the comment section below!
More info: Twitter
RELATED:
Everything started with this tweet
To which Tyson Davis quickly responded
And it started escalating
But while some agreed on the original statement
Others did not
And a few commenters even thought that the whole discussion was meaningless
What do you think? Is Senator Gillibrand right?
What do you think ?
Jim Hubbard 8 years ago
I'd settle for 51% of a Congress being intelligent, caring and honest (no matter their race, sex, gender identity or religious preference).
giovanna 8 years ago
50% of citizens are women. So I see it as a normal thing if 50% of parliament were women. Not because they'd do better. In many cases, men are not there "because they do better". So there's a lot going on against "female shares", forgetting that as a matter of facts there are "male shares" today. But still, we have to justify ourselves, we have to say that we'd do better... some women would do good, some would do bad, EXACTLY LIKE MEN.
Leni 8 years ago
Agreed. It's good to pick people for jobs based on how well they are qualified. However, a democratic government should strive to be a representation of its adult populous. This concept in my opinion would also stretch beyond gender.
Load More Replies...
Marcus Flatt 8 years ago
I'm thinking that the "Race" and "Gender/Sex" cards are getting badly torn, creased, and dog-eared. It's time to put them aside, if not totally destroy them. Besides, the "ad hominum" attacks they create are bad debate form and used only to cover a lack of critical thinking and reason. As to Senator Gillibrand's original question: Nothing would change, except the (gender-based) titles of those in charge. Foolishness is not the exclusive prerogative of any one group of people.
Zomalo 8 years ago
Cards. Just cards, huh? So I guess racism and sexism no longer exist or never existed, right? That people just act oppressed and use it to get their way? Oh great let's just ignore what's happening and has happened in our history... if you close your eyes, racism and sexism will just go away right, like they were never there? Ignorance is bliss, after all. Not to mention that women are just making up stuff, that the fact that there is a majority of male politicians doesn't actually influence what laws are passed that negatively affect women. Oh, sarcasm. But seriously, women would be less nervous about the whole abortion debate, among other things, if more lawmakers were female...
Load More Replies...
Allie Orona 8 years ago
I mean, yeah. But also, no. Judge a person by their merits. I agree that we need to change the people in our (the U.S.) government, but it's about their merits, but about choosing based off of who they are. That's just as bad as choosing someone because they're a man.
Alex Kawchuk 8 years ago
The current Canadian Federal Cabinet (heads of departments) started as gender-balanced* under Justin Trudeau. There was the same kind of "most qualified person for the job" controversy here, but that argument falls apart a bit when you look at actual current and past governments - is every position actually filled by the absolute best choice, and most qualified person for the job, in practice? Food for thought. In practice it hasn't really had any measurable effect so far. I think the logic is that women as a whole have somewhat different concerns, priorities, etc. from men, so a government where most of the decision makers are men is less likely to address (or be aware of) these concerns, and since ~50% of the population is female, that is bad for democracy, individual liberties, and the general function of society. *I'm genuinely not sure this concept could survive another election cycle here because of the fairly abrupt shift in how gender is discussed in the mainstream.
Bunzilla 8 years ago
I'm not sure about exactly 50% of congress, but for sure there needs to be more women. All of these ridiculous laws about women's reproductive rights and taxes on women's hygiene products wouldn't exist. There also needs to be some kind of 'basic human decency' test that all potential candidates need to pass in order to go into government. Like treating all human beings as equal human beings, regardless of race, gender, religion, etc. What a concept! ALSO: You shouldn't have to be a sickeningly rich in order to run for politics. It pretty much ensures that a good percentage of government is completely out of touch with the average citizen and the suffering they're causing their constituency with their moronic, nonsensical laws. What we have isn't a true democracy anymore. It's capitalism with a thin veil of democracy draped over top. The amount of sway that rich companies and individuals have over government with their 'donations' is sickening. It's bribery, pure and simple.
Dnelle1972 8 years ago
I think it's far more important to introduce term limits than to worry about gender. Until the old cronies network is dissolved nothing will progress.
Aurelia Grey 8 years ago
While I really don't have my feet planted firmly in the air, I wish like he*l somethings could get done, that need doing, and the need for repairing/rebuilding our highways and bridges being first and foremost. The GOP, the Democrats, The Green Party, Freedom Party, The Party Just To Party Party, The Blue Dog Moderates, just get it done.
Jim Hubbard 8 years ago
I'd settle for 51% of a Congress being intelligent, caring and honest (no matter their race, sex, gender identity or religious preference).
giovanna 8 years ago
50% of citizens are women. So I see it as a normal thing if 50% of parliament were women. Not because they'd do better. In many cases, men are not there "because they do better". So there's a lot going on against "female shares", forgetting that as a matter of facts there are "male shares" today. But still, we have to justify ourselves, we have to say that we'd do better... some women would do good, some would do bad, EXACTLY LIKE MEN.
Leni 8 years ago
Agreed. It's good to pick people for jobs based on how well they are qualified. However, a democratic government should strive to be a representation of its adult populous. This concept in my opinion would also stretch beyond gender.
Load More Replies... Marcus Flatt 8 years ago
I'm thinking that the "Race" and "Gender/Sex" cards are getting badly torn, creased, and dog-eared. It's time to put them aside, if not totally destroy them. Besides, the "ad hominum" attacks they create are bad debate form and used only to cover a lack of critical thinking and reason. As to Senator Gillibrand's original question: Nothing would change, except the (gender-based) titles of those in charge. Foolishness is not the exclusive prerogative of any one group of people.
Zomalo 8 years ago
Cards. Just cards, huh? So I guess racism and sexism no longer exist or never existed, right? That people just act oppressed and use it to get their way? Oh great let's just ignore what's happening and has happened in our history... if you close your eyes, racism and sexism will just go away right, like they were never there? Ignorance is bliss, after all. Not to mention that women are just making up stuff, that the fact that there is a majority of male politicians doesn't actually influence what laws are passed that negatively affect women. Oh, sarcasm. But seriously, women would be less nervous about the whole abortion debate, among other things, if more lawmakers were female...
Load More Replies... Allie Orona 8 years ago
I mean, yeah. But also, no. Judge a person by their merits. I agree that we need to change the people in our (the U.S.) government, but it's about their merits, but about choosing based off of who they are. That's just as bad as choosing someone because they're a man.
Alex Kawchuk 8 years ago
The current Canadian Federal Cabinet (heads of departments) started as gender-balanced* under Justin Trudeau. There was the same kind of "most qualified person for the job" controversy here, but that argument falls apart a bit when you look at actual current and past governments - is every position actually filled by the absolute best choice, and most qualified person for the job, in practice? Food for thought. In practice it hasn't really had any measurable effect so far. I think the logic is that women as a whole have somewhat different concerns, priorities, etc. from men, so a government where most of the decision makers are men is less likely to address (or be aware of) these concerns, and since ~50% of the population is female, that is bad for democracy, individual liberties, and the general function of society. *I'm genuinely not sure this concept could survive another election cycle here because of the fairly abrupt shift in how gender is discussed in the mainstream.
Bunzilla 8 years ago
I'm not sure about exactly 50% of congress, but for sure there needs to be more women. All of these ridiculous laws about women's reproductive rights and taxes on women's hygiene products wouldn't exist. There also needs to be some kind of 'basic human decency' test that all potential candidates need to pass in order to go into government. Like treating all human beings as equal human beings, regardless of race, gender, religion, etc. What a concept! ALSO: You shouldn't have to be a sickeningly rich in order to run for politics. It pretty much ensures that a good percentage of government is completely out of touch with the average citizen and the suffering they're causing their constituency with their moronic, nonsensical laws. What we have isn't a true democracy anymore. It's capitalism with a thin veil of democracy draped over top. The amount of sway that rich companies and individuals have over government with their 'donations' is sickening. It's bribery, pure and simple.
Dnelle1972 8 years ago
I think it's far more important to introduce term limits than to worry about gender. Until the old cronies network is dissolved nothing will progress.
Aurelia Grey 8 years ago
While I really don't have my feet planted firmly in the air, I wish like he*l somethings could get done, that need doing, and the need for repairing/rebuilding our highways and bridges being first and foremost. The GOP, the Democrats, The Green Party, Freedom Party, The Party Just To Party Party, The Blue Dog Moderates, just get it done.
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