Opinion: We're risking a rewind on political gender parity

High-profile resignations of women leaders in New Zealand and Scotland have garnered headlines over recent weeks. Meanwhile, CNN anchor Don Lemon has so far kept his job, despite saying Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is “past her prime” at 51. There is a very real risk of a rewind on significant progress made toward gender parity in political leadership around the world, and perhaps nowhere more than right here in Texas.

In 1991, the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Texas for the first and only time. The Queen met with Texas leaders including former Governor Ann Richards, San Antonio Mayor Lila Cockrell, Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire, Dallas Mayor Annette Strauss, and Fort Worth Mayor Kay Granger. Whitmire later reported that Prince Philip, ever indiscreet and offensive, remarked that he didn’t expect Texas to be “run by women.”

If only. Now, of course, England is run by a King again, and Texas once again has a male Governor. Under his leadership, a new house bill would restrict teaching about gender history from our college campuses. If it passes, college students won’t learn that all adults could vote legally in Texas until 1918 apart from “idiots, imbeciles, aliens, the insane, and women."

Now, more than ever it’s imperative for us to invest in the next generation of women leaders in the Lone Star state. One small step starts today, Feb. 24. More than 50 young women will be at the state Capitol for a nonpartisan political leadership training. On the heels of a midterm election with historic youth turnout last November, the young women will focus on a bill to eliminate taxes on menstrual products. It’s drawn bipartisan support for the first time since 2017. They’ll also advocate on another bill about Medicaid eligibility for women during and following pregnancy.

We need the political ambition of these young women. Our legislature remains 70-percent male. Men decide on women’s health and other issues without women being adequately represented at the table. Thanks to the trigger law that kicked in following the repeal of Roe v. Wade, here in Texas, abortion is illegal. It’s possible abortion medication could be outlawed this year, along with traveling out of state for the procedure. Meanwhile, one Texas high school was teaching girls to ‘walk daintily’ and show subservience to men as recently as 2021 when it suspended the lesson on historic sexism after parents’ complaints.”

The message to young women in Texas is that achievement is for men. Women should be silent. We shouldn't seek to vote. We are second-class citizens. And our value is only linked to how we relate to men. If we are independent or ambitious for ourselves then we are less than ideal.

Born and raised in Texas, I know a thing or two about people underestimating me. When I got to Yale in 1974, people asked me if I kept cattle, since I was from here. I joked and told them "only a few hundred," and they thought I was serious. Throughout my career as an educator I've had a keen ear for the expectations we place on young women. We expect them to defer to men too often. Meanwhile, we tell young men to "fake it til you make it."

Enough. If we’re to halt this rewind, Texas is the perfect place to start. Afterall, we just have to look back 40 years in our own history to see a time when widespread female leadership was possible. This Friday in Texas, 50 young women will start to take back that legacy.

Stone works for the Anti-Defamation League. She lives in Houston.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Opinion: We're risking a rewind on political gender parity