Should There Be More Women in Elected Office?

Today is International Women's History Day and March is Women's History Month. Once a week this month, I will discuss a topic that has particular significance to women. Today I'll hit on my favorite topic - politics. 

During the election cycle, I remember speaking to Lori Vargo Heffner at Tuskes Park. She's a smart and well-informed person, but wasn't running much of a campaign. She asked me how I thought she was doing, and I smugly told her that one of the Democratic women running would win, but not both.

Well, we all know know that I had that wrong. Women kicked ass in the 2017 election. Didn't matter if they were Democrat or Republican. I do think part of the reason for that is Donald Trump, who has been guilty of misogyny several times before and since his election. In addition, the #metoo movement has emboldened many female victims of sexual harassment to speak out. Whatever the reason, results at the polls were jaw-dropping.

Seven women, both Democrat and Republican, were elected to all the open seats on the state's three appellate courts. Locally, there are now three women on Northampton County Council, two on Lehigh County's Board of Commissioners. In Bethlehem, Paige Van Wirt has just been appointed to City Council, where she will join Olga Negron.

This is a good thing. I'd agree that electing someone just because she's a woman is just as foolish as electing someone just because he is Italian, black or whatever. But the fact is that women are under-represented in elected office. They make up only 18% of the General Assembly  and there are no women in the Pennsylvania delegation to US Congress. Pennsylvania ranks 49 of 50 states in female representation in elected office.

Is there a form of latent sexism that, up until now, has kept women out of office? Id so why has that changed so dramatically?