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Women Politicians Battle Double Standards...and their Opponents

Dora Mekouar

   Thelda Williams was already in her 40s when she was first elected to
   the city council in Phoenix, Arizona, but that didn't stop people from
   assuming she wasn't up to the task. The Arizona Republican believes
   people underestimated her because she is a woman.

   "Staff, in the very, very beginning, really treated me like, 'Well, you
   probably don't understand. This is probably too overwhelming. There are
   too many subjects,'" she recalls. "And, you know, you prove them
   wrong."

   Decades later, Williams remains on the city council, having served as
   interim mayor three times, most recently during a stint that ended in
   March. One of the arenas in which Williams still believes she isn't
   treated equally is when it comes to how the media cover her.

   "You know, I just don't get the same respect. I mean, they talk about
   everything from what shoes I wear, to what color my hair is, to what my
   age is," she says. "You don't see that with the men. ... What really
   irritates me is when it's a woman who's written the article."

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