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Extended Inquiry Project

How will the currently deemed War on Women affect the outcome of the 2012 presidential election?

Kayla Carmenia Professor Malcolm Campbell

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Kayla Carmenia Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 11/8/12 How will the currently deemed War on Women affect the outcome of the 2012 presidential election?

The United States of America is, quite frankly, caught in the whirlwind of political drama, action, and news. Phrases such as Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, 2012 presidential election, and voting are those spoken throughout job offices, restaurants, college campuses, radio and television stations, and more specifically in the homes of waiting and anxious American citizens. What could cause such a powerful impact on the country? This would be, nonetheless, the impending current presidential election looming over the minds of the people in the United States, and those inhabiting the rest of the world. A subject which has gained and imprinted an impacting footprint in this modern election would be the discussion of an important portion of the American population, that is, women. Well, what about women exactly? Women are considered as equal as men, having the same rights and, virtually, nothing to be anxious about in the land of the freeright? The crusade for modern womens rights is very much alive in the mentalities of an enormous amount of the population participating in the current presidential election. Based on the presidential candidates and their stances that they have both firmly and publicly revealed to America, various women have placed their opinions on who they believe will continue to build upon and positively influence many of the issues still weighing heavily on

Carmenia 3 the shoulders of American women. These hindrances include the future of their healthcare, equal wages, and perhaps the most controversial, abortion. This deemed War on Women has since gained weight since the beginning of the 2012 presidential election, and continues to grow as the anticipated Election Day begins to vastly approach. The women who continuously outpour their viewpoints and perspectives on how each presidential candidate will impact their rights as American women have, in turn, revealed the extent at which women will essentially influence the presidential election. This leads one to the curiosity and questioning of how tremendously female voters will determine the results on Election Day. How will the women of the United States of America, and the present-day crusade for modern American womens rights, affect the decision of electing the new Commander-in-Chief? The Background of Feminist Political Activity There is indeed great inquiry into the thought of female voters and their influences on the current presidential election. With this idea come the implications of past elections, and the subsequent roles that American women portrayed in determining the critical leadership roles of the United States government. One particular case study formed in the basis of the academic journal Prospects for Renewed Feminist Activism in the Heartland: A Study of Daytonian Womens Politics showcases this phenomenon, focusing on the voting patterns of women in the town of Montgomery County in Ohio. Throughout the academic journal, descriptions of the most common interests, concerns, and agreements among the issues that were categorized as those that influence American women to the greatest extent were explored. The high level of feminist activity evident in the state of Ohio, more specifically in Dayton, Ohio, known as the heartland of America, was the inspiration behind the conduction of this research. Data collected was set and proportioned to the general opinion of the rest of the nation. According to

Carmenia 4 authors Anne Sisson Runyan and Mary V. Wenning, Nevertheless, there is evidence that women in the county, like women in the nation, share a common interest in better healthcare as the most important womens issue, thus, health is a central issue around which they can organize across their divides" (1). Relative to this instance is the fact that healthcare, as well as the instances that surround womens health, has been one of the catalysts for the power behind the War on Women, exhibiting the validity of the data collected in the research completed in Montgomery County. Another town known for its strength in female political activity would be in Santa Clara County, California. In fact, according to Janet A. Flammang, author of the book Womens Political Voice: How Women Are Transforming the Practice and Study of Politics, For a time in the 1980s, Santa Clara County was known as the feminist capital of the nation (35). The statistics of the amount of women who voted, and actively enrolled in the political activity were extremely superior. With the amount of feminists and their political influence, came their Progressive ideals and impact on significant events affecting the town of Santa Clara County. The Progressive movement that took place during this time and area was fueled exactly by this feminist capital and the participants involved in it. According to Flammang, Womens key role in the moral reform, settlement house, and Progressive movements made them no friend of the liquor industry, which sent huge sums of money to defeat state and local referenda for womens suffrage, for fear that women would use the vote to ban common rum (39). This occurrence provides insight into the role at which feminists, parallel to the current dedicated modern female supporters against the War on Women, can place themselves into to alter the governing of a region. If this is proven in the state of California in the 1980s, may modern-day feminists prove to be as adequate and influential in the current presidential election? This

Carmenia 5 instance in particular strongly supports this claim, as in the same manner at which Santa Clara feminists progressively affected the alcohol industry in California; modern-day American could transition the direction of the results of the 2012 presidential election. Political participation is yet another aspect relevant to the past and present of womens rights and its influences on presidential elections. How impactful are female voters to the process of political activity? Flammang took notice of the study done by researcher Diane Margolis on the division of labor in party organizations in a small Connecticut town in 1974 (138). According to the findings by Margolis, Women spent as much time on political activity and logged three times as many separate political interactions as men. There were similarities between family sex roles and the parts played out in the political arena. Women were taskoriented and measured political performance by completed tasks; men were more concerned with enhancing their self-esteem through their inclusion in the decision-making process (138). As feminists were the driving force behind the political activity in the small Connecticut town, the proportional amount of women involved in the voting process during the current presidential election is unchanging. Therefore, matters have been taken into the hands of both of the presidential candidates, as well as their affiliating parties, to ensure progression and satisfy many of the overwhelming issues still affecting women in modern-day America. Political Parties Crusade for Votes Based on the Opinions of Female Voters A foundation of concern for both of the political parties and their presidential candidates has been unwavering in the importance of the general perspectives of modern American women. A radio interview conducted on National Public Radio (NPR) exemplified the present-day occurrences transpiring on the journey to obtain the likings of American women. The host of the interview, Audie Cornish, spoke to renowned political expert, journalist, analyst, and National

Carmenia 6 Public Radios national political consultant, Mara Liasson, concerning the statements created by Democratic consultant Hilary Rosen, as well as going into depth about the impact the women will make in the upcoming election. A prediction was examined as well as to whose liking the level of female political activity will go for, that is for either the Democratic or Republican parties. According to Liasson, Some polls had President Obama 20 points over Romney with women. This is the biggest problem Romney needs to fix (npr.org). This insightful interview also reveals the extent to which women are playing in this particular presidential campaign, that is, how large of a political footprint they have created in determining the results of this current political event. A travel into the various types of issues the presidential candidates must address to sway the likings of female voters is particularly important to make notice of. After all, one must understand what exactly the supporters against the War on Women are fighting for? When this accomplished, there exists the various perspectives of those who may contemplate if American women really have anything to fight for? Is there even a battle to begin with? A contemplation of how distinctive policies and regulations affect females, as well as individuals of the minority race, is accomplished in the article Do Current Drug Laws and Policies Discriminate against Minorities and Women? This article was formatted in a way to list the positive and negative claims being created based on the inquiry question. It is noted that more support outpoured from the side of the pros, in which many experts agreed that current administration does show biasness toward individuals of the female and minority race caliber. Statements such as Federal and state drug laws and policies over the past twenty years have had specific, devastating, and disparate effects on women, and particularly women of color and low income women... and The problem of women in prison is directly tied to current US drug

Carmenia 7 policy. For the past ten years, researchers have argued that the war on drugs has become a war on women.... The Bureau of Prisons reports that almost 80% of their female population is incarcerated for drug-related offenses..... indicate the level of concern for modern American women in this current society (procon.org). With the issues that continuously swirl around the War on Women, careful steps are being made by the presidential shoulders to provide, in a metaphorical sense, a shoulder to cry on, for modern women of the United States. In turn, the most consoling candidate will earn the votes from a tremendous amount of women. Responses to the War on Women and its Impact on American Womens Votes The existence of what has been claimed as a fight for modern womens rights has indeed not transpired without an effect on the campaigning of both of the Democratic and Republican parties. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, as well as their affiliating political parties, have taken winning the votes and favor of the majority of American women into one of their main points of campaigning. Winning the votes of females was an accomplishment essential to President Obamas election into office back in 2008; therefore, attaining and swaying the vote of American women is a tactic that he has emphasized in gaining yet again. Women, thus far in the presidential election, have been exercising their rights to vote in record numbers. Each of the presidential candidates prepared for this instance and refused to allow this aspect to simply slide by in ignorance. The second presidential debate that aired recently on October 16, 2012, addressed the candidates with questions concerning womens rights and significant issues critical to American women, such as healthcare. The debate shifted into discussion surrounding the employment for women, as well as healthcare benefits available to them, such as their access to contraceptives. Much of the conversation displayed in the this debate seemed to attempt to go into the favor of

Carmenia 8 the female voters, using methods of persuasion in order to make what they were attempting to explain sound satisfying to the ears of the undecided women voters. Both of the political figures seemed to give their all to appeal to the women of the audience, indicating how critical the influence of the feminist political activity is in this current presidential election. Women are increasingly the breadwinners of the family, stated President Barack Obama, as he orated about the Lilly Ledbetter Bill, ensuring equal wages for men and women. The first bill I signed, was called the Lilly Ledbetter Bill he confidently states, it was named after this amazing woman who had been doing the same job as a man for years, found out that she was getting paid less, and the Supreme Court said that she couldnt bring suit because she should have found out about it earlier, but she had no way of finding out about itThis is not just a womens issue, its a family issue, its a middle class issue. Thats why weve got to fight for it. Governor Mitt Romney utilized his orating methods to appeal to the female voters as well during the second presidential debate. He tells a short story when he was a state governor in which many of the applicants applying for a position in the cabinet were men. He inquired into figuring out how to obtain female applicants for the position, stating I went to a number of womens groups asking can you find folks? And they brought of binders full of women, showcasing his efforts to exhibit concern and determination to have more women included in the lists of applications. Romney continues in explaining to the females listening intently in the audience how beneficial he would deem to the women of the United States as president. Mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America he adds in describing his states high level of upper-level women in occupations. Both of the presidential candidates showcase the critical roles women are playing in this current presidential election. In turn, American women

Carmenia 9 are revealing their strong influence on the United States government, as well as the intricate election process. To let women do or to not let women do has unanimously been one of the front-running topics of the current American campaign. Some things have not changed, and this instance just happens to be one of those things. Birth control, healthcare, and the allowance or not allowing of abortion have been and continues to be one of the previous hotly debated topics in the earlier years of the history of America. Employment and wages in work places, as previously examined, is another area of worry pertaining to the rights of women in the past as well as in contemporary American society. What has changed, however, is the strength of influence that modern American women contain in the presidential elections. Their impact and the awareness of their struggles have continuously grown throughout American history until this very date, in which in the current presidential election, their concerns are the star in the theatre of campaigning. Therefore, it is of logical reasoning and knowledge to come to the consensus that the election of the Commander-in-Chief will majorly rely on the political participation of American women. Female voters alike will very well be the strongest influence upon who is chosen into office. As the election continues to transpire and evolve, with the background of American feminism, oration of the War on Women, and ultimately making their stance known to the world, the women of the United States of America will essentially rock the vote.

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Works Cited Cornish, Audie, and Mara Liasson. "Political 'War On Women' A War For Women's Votes." Npr.org. National Public Radio, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <Political 'War On Women' A War For Women's Votes>. "Do Current Drug Laws and Policies Discriminate against Minorities and Women? ACLU ProCon.org." Do Current Drug Laws and Policies Discriminate against Minorities and Women? ACLU ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://aclu.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000733>. Flammang, Janet A. Women's Political Voice: How Women Are Transforming the Practice and Study of Politics. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1997. Print. Runyan, Anne Sisson, and Mary V. Wenning. "Prospects for Renewed Feminist Activism in the Heartland: A Study of Daytonian Women's Politics." NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 180214. Print. TheNewYorkTimes. "Complete Second Presidential Town Hall Debate 2012: Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney. Oct 16, 2012." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEpCrcMF5Ps>.