Lt. Gov. Healey discusses political role of women
By Brady Smith

"Women make up at least 50 percent of the American population, yet the female vote still continues to trail the male vote by at least 7 percent," said Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey (R-Beverly), touching on the overall level of participation by women in the democratic process.

On Tuesday night, Healey spoke to a sparse crowd in Gasson 100, focusing on the role of women in politics. The event was sponsored by the College Republicans.
Introducing Healey was Greer Swiston, a former Republican candidate for the state legislature, who is currently running for the position of Alderman in Newton. Before Healey's remarks, Swiston outlined the current position of women in American politics, both in Massachusetts and nationwide.

The disparity between the percentage of women as a part of the whole population and the number of women in national and state elected office is even wider, she added. Women make up only 15 percent of the U.S. Senate and legislature, and on average make up only 22.5 percent of state legislative seats.

Swiston also noted that the percentage of women holding state executive has dropped from an all-time high of 27.6 percent in 1999 to 25 percent at present.
Healey, who was elected to the office of lieutenant governor in 2002, is one of 71 women holding state office in Massachusetts.

Despite the gap in representation of women, Healey began her remarks by saying that being a woman in politics was not something particularly important to her.
"I wasn't quite sure what to tell you tonight about being a woman in politics. I can tell you that it's not something I try to ever think about," she said. "In fact I try not to think about it, because I would like it to not matter."

She acknowledged the reality that women are not pursuing public office as much as their male counterparts. One reason for this, Healey said, was the scrutiny inevitably applied to those in public life.

"One of the things, certainly, is the opening up of one's private life to outside scrutiny," she said. "I think that for women, being judged, being judged publicly ... is something that is vaguely uncomfortable. Women are judged still in ways that men are not."

While one's personal privacy is important, she also suggested that the privacy of one's family is a deterrent.

"For the general years of your life when you're having children, and raising children, you wouldn't necessarily want to expose them to some of the scrutiny and some of the criticism that may accompany public life," she said.
Nevertheless, she said, public life has its rewards, and she urged women to pursue it.

"Being in public life is genuinely one of the most rewarding avenues you can have if you're interested in public policy, if you're interested in changing the world," she said.

Healey described having an interest in political life from an early age, an interest that piqued while she studied at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

"I became very interested in the idea that laws - and of interest now, judicial decisions - change the way we live our lives and mold society," she said.
Her interest in the intersection of public policy and social life, she said, drove an interest in public policy and criminal justice that led her to work with the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations on differing social policies.

In detailing her experience in public life, Healey emphasized the efforts of Gov. Mitt Romney, a fellow Republican, in furthering the position of women in public life, both in Massachusetts and nationwide.

"The key focus became reform. We were the party of helping women achieve their proper place in political life," said Healey. In Massachusetts, she said, 50 percent of cabinet level positions are held by women, fulfilling a goal set by Romney as he entered office. While Healey's remarks focused more on her own political life than the wider role of women in politics, Healey's words resonated with Jennifer Orthman, A&S '06.

"I was hoping for more about women's roles," she said, but agreed that being a woman in public life should be a non-issue. "I think more women should focus on politics."