We have so few women in Congress. We are so underrepresented and whether we like it or not, we are in area - in an era that still the women, the handful that are there, have two jobs: they represent the constituency that they're from, and they also represent the women of the nation or the state or sometimes as Maloney has done, of the world.
Eleanor SmealI have been studying womenโs political behavior since the early 1970s and first identified the gender gap in 1980 with the help of legendary pollster Louis Harris.
Eleanor SmealWe're doing quite well in some states, but there are states that you can't - I mean, it's just ridiculous the representation of women, and having been an advocate for women, lobbied in many states as well as here at the national level for women. People behave differently when there are women at the table, men do. Our issues get higher prominence. We're taken more seriously.
Eleanor SmealNowhere have women been more excluded from decision-making than in the military and foreign affairs. When it comes to the military and questions of nuclear disarmament, the gender gap becomes the gender gulf.
Eleanor SmealCarolyn Maloney has been a consistent fighter for Afghan women but also for International Family Planning Bills.
Eleanor Smeal