Winter Storm Jonas has gotten the best of many on the east coast, and Washington, D.C. is no exception. After the deluge of two feet of snow, there was an unusual scene in Parliament last Tuesday.
Surprisingly, only one gender showed up for work. And – you guessed it! — it was the women. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who was officially delaying Senate business until the snow had cleared, noted the difference:
“As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.”
There is a simple explanation – that women are more hardy than men – although that may not cover the multifaceted gender situation in Washinton, D.C.
Murkowski theorized:
“Perhaps it speaks to the hardiness of women, that you put on your boots and put your hat on and get out and slog through the mess that’s out there.”
But the reality is probably more complicated. Female senators have probably had to work more and campaign harder than their male counterparts in order to make it to the Senate. They probably figured that, like many other women in the work world, if they didn’t show up, their “weakness” may be blamed on them being women.
This is a common issue for women, minorities, and LGBT workers – they are seen as representatives of their underprivileged minorities, rather than as individuals. White men have the privilege of being seen as individuals by peers and superiors.
Women at lower levels in parliament may have experienced similar gender discrimination, and are facing the same pressures.
At this point, there will be a few readers who will be thinking that I am interpreting this as a “whiny Canadian feminist” (as some of my fans call me in the comment section). So this is for those folks:
Maybe I’m reaching. Maybe the women who showed up had no fear of reprisal, or of being called “weak.” Maybe women are just naturally tougher than men.
Featured image is by Logan Ward, available under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.
