The gender dynamic between women and men in the state legislature has undergone many transformations—from the women's suffrage movement to procurement of top legislative positions, women have made great strides yet still believe they are held to different standards than their male counterparts.
While constituents pay close attention to their political leader's personality, style and dress, UW-Madison political science professor Virginia Sapiro said though there is a fishbowl problem for both men and women, women are typically inspected more closely. She said this may make it more difficult for women to be taken seriously.
It is very difficult to act when you have a feeling that people are looking at you through a gendered lens,\ Sapiro said.
According to Sapiro, the public still is not entirely comfortable with women assuming powerful roles.
State Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, said the state Assembly can overlook women in the decision-making process.
""Men tend to reach out to their guy pals and share information with other men and not women. I also don't think that is intentional,"" Berceau said. ""It is because they are a different species.""
While woman in the legislature are passionate on family, health and education policies, gender is not the determining factor on ideological stance, and few issues transcend political partisan lines.
Berceau, a very outspoken leader on women's rights, said there is no solidarity on women's issues between GOP and Democratic female lawmakers. Instead, she said women tend to cling to their party lines. Berceau said this is especially true in topics such as abortion and birth control, where she said there have been Republican women who were abortion rights activists in the past.
State Rep. Terri McCormick, R-Appleton, said men and women in the legislature approach issues differently.
""I think we [females] have a unique leadership style. We focus more on problem solving rather than finger pointing,"" McCormick said.
Sapiro said women first interjected issues like women's health and reproductive rights into the political sphere and have had heavy weight on these topics. McCormick, who said her political forté is economics, said women commonly join typically female causes, but that she can't be ""cast as having a stereotypical role.""
However, Sapiro questioned whether women are treated as equals when speaking about defense or financial matters.
Though Berceau conceded men and women tend to focus in certain areas, she said she believes women bring in different perspectives representing a part of a ""population that may not be considered.""
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