Since the 1980s, women have been voting at higher rates than their male
counterparts. However, that does not mean that many women haven’t been
apathetic about their rights. In the 2004 presidential election, 36 million
women were not registered to vote at all and another 8 million women who were
registered did not vote.

Even though women’s right to vote is guaranteed, it does not necessarily mean
it is easy. Studies show that single women move about every 3-4 years, which is
more frequently than single males. Each time they move, voters are required to
change their voter registration card. Many women simple forget or they feel too
busy to go through the process. Another major obstacle to women’s right to vote
is name change after marriage. With the 2008 election, more females took part
in their women’s right to vote but there is still a lot of work to do for the
2012 election.

When it comes to working hours, income, property ownership, literacy, and
health, women are falling far behind the standards of men – even when the
standard is already very low. It is hard to even have a discussion about
women’s empowerment when you are struggling simply to survive through the
realities of poverty. If a women’s empowerment movement is going to be built in
poverty-stricken areas, then someone is going to have to lead the way.

While, from a western perspective, it is obvious that a women’ empowerment
movement is greatly needed, the issue of who should lead it is sensitive. When
western organizations come in and assert their ideas about women’s empowerment,
a culture risks losing its identity. Yet, without this foreign support, many
poverty-stricken women would never be able to start on a path towards their own
empowerment.

There are many programs for furthering women’s empowerment in foreign nations.
Education, government infrastructure changes, self-sufficiency, and sustainable
development are all needed. However, there are few women’s empowerment programs
which focus on the full picture of change which is required.

For example, a women’s group may call for new legislation which bans female
genital cutting. However, without changes to the way marriages are structured,
individual awareness, and interpersonal relationships, no change will ever
occur. At the base of all these changes is the underlying problem of poverty.
Only when we can address this problem, will we be able to initiate an effective
plan for women’s empowerment.

The first female US Presidential candidate was Victoria Woodhull in 1872.
Despite the fact that her nomination was ratified, her name did not appear on
the ballot. This is because political parties were then in charge of printing
the ballot tickets. There were many other presidential candidates in the
history of women in politics, including Belva Ann Lockwood, Gracie Allen, and
Agnes Waters. However, a woman did not have her name appear on the ballots for
president until 1964 when the ballot printing system was reformed.

Senator Margaret Chase from Maine was the first women in politics to get her
name on ballot. She was also the most successful Republican female nominee,
getting more than 83,000 votes plus 22 delegate votes. The history of women in
politics running for president isn’t complete without Rep. Shirley Chisholm of
New York. This woman was the first African-American to run for democratic
presidential nomination.

1. Angela Merkel: The “Iron Lady” took the nation, and world, by surprise with
her strong yet cool leadership as Germany’s first ever female chancellor. She
succeeded in getting G-8 world leaders to make policy against carbon emissions
and reform the EU constitution.

2. Wu Yi: China is now the 3rd largest economy in the world. As China’s vice
premier, Wu Yi has successfully taken on the US treasury in trade demands and
economic strategies.

3. Tarja Halonen: Finland’s President has been tackling human rights and social
issues in the nation and world for decades, an influence for women in politics
worldwide.

4. Sonia Gandhi: Next on the list of women in politics is India’s influential
leader of the Indian National Congress. Her role in backing India’s New Deal
can’t be overlooked.

5. Michele Aliot-Marie: As a French cabinet member, this former Defense
Minister has had considerable influence on the overhaul of the social welfare
system in France.

Not to be excluded from the list of women in politics, here are powerful women
who demand to be noticed: Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Gloria Arroyo, Aung
San Suu Kyi, and Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Long before there was a women’s suffrage movement, Lydia Chapin Taft was
already voting in what was to become the United States of America. In 1756,
Taft became the first ever legal voter in the nation and even had her vote
counted in 3 town hall meetings.

Susan B. Anthony is by far one of the most recognized historic women in
politics. She brought attention to the women’s suffrage movement in 1872 when
she was tried for illegally voting in a presidential election. Anthony refused
to pay the fine she received for her illegal voting. Her actions triggered many
other women in politics to fight for their rights to vote, including Aletta
Jacobs from the Netherlands.

When Finland granted women the right to vote in 1906, they were quick to act on
their rights and elected 19 women into the parliament. These were the first
Finish women in politics to be elected by women in Europe. Ten years later,
Montanan Jeanette Rankin was elected into the US House of Representatives –
despite the fact that women could still not vote in the state.

By the time the women’s empowerment movement was going full swing in the 1960s,
there were already women in politics all over the world, from Soviet Union
Ambassador Alexandra Kollontai in Sweden to the first female prime minister
Nakayama Masa in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). There is still a long way to go for
women in politics but it is no longer considered a strange feat for women to
take their part in our countries’ governments.