Talking about a real woman

Okay. I admit it. I've got a "girl crush" on Dolly Parton.

I was at the Southern Women in Public Service conference in Nashville this week where Dolly was presented with the Lindy Boggs award for public service. She entered the ballroom to accept the award singing "9 to 5" ... gave a great speech ... got off some great one liners in an interview with 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Cissy Daughtry (think frumpy 60 something interviews not so frumpy ageless woman) ... and sang "her favorite song" "Coat of Many Colors" strumming her guitar expertly with improbably long fingernails.

Among the things she said I remember....

Asked to comment on her song for the movie Transamerica ... she began by saying that everyone should be free (as she says she is) to be exactly who they are. Then she reminded folks that she'd been nominated for "9 to 5" and lost in a year when Cissy Spacek did the Loretta Lynn movie and that this year she'd been nominated this year and lost when Reese Witherspoon was doing June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. She quipped that next time she hoped that she wouldn't be nominated in a year with a country music movie.

Asked what advice she had for a man thinking about becoming a woman she said, "I'd tell him the installation will be expensive, but it's the maintenance that will kill you."

Asked about the difference between Republicans and Democrats, she said that Republicans care about "the bottom line" and Democrats are more "top heavy." (Okay, think about it... Dolly Parton).

Asked what she thinks about dumb blonde jokes she said she didn't really mind them because she knows that she's not dumb and, more importantly, that she's not blond.

She poked fun at herself and had not a single remotely unkind word to say about anyone else.

She was "real" in every way you can imagine that matters, while acknowledging that almost none of what you see is "natural."

Dolly received her award in significant part because of her work in founding The Imagination Library.
Because of her efforts, children all over the country have books at home to inspire them to read and to help them prepare for school.

Let's see ... rich, smart, good looking, nice as can be, great sense of humor, focused on children as our future, great voice, wonderful songwriter ... etc, etc.

Now you can see why I'm smitten.

Watch out Men ... The Women are Coming

Two interesting articles recently highlight the enhanced role that women will play in the future of the American economy and in Washington politics ...

Cited on the Post's blog, On Balance,is an article that appeared in The Economist on April 12th (available online only to subscribers). In The Economist article titled Women and the World Economy, the lead was ...

WHY can't a woman be more like a man? mused Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. Future generations might ask why a man can't be more like a woman.…

Commenting on the article, the Post blogger points out that women have made phenomenal progress in the last 50 years ... so much so that their success (and economic power) is beginning to threaten men. However, the reality of the marketplace is that women continue to make less than men on average.

One question that the article provokes for me is that posed by Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid's Tale ... if men are threatened by women's economic strength, what steps might they take to stay in power and control rather than let "nature" and demography take its course?

And, if that weren't enough, today's K Street Confidential column in the business section of the Post is headlined "Women, Minorities Make Up New Generation of Lobbyists" Why the change? High powered women exiting government through the revolving door looking for work is one reason. Flexibility of the work is another. Here's a reason offered by a partner in a woman-owned lobbying firm:

"This town has shifted business models from the Old Boys Network to a focus on substance, competence and credibility," said Stephanie E. Silverman, a principal of Venn Strategies LLC, a woman-owned lobbying firm. "In the old model it was difficult if you were a woman. In the new model you can be a man or a woman and it doesn't matter."

Wow ... expertise over relationships or golf scores. What's this world coming to?

Ten Tips for Becoming an Effective Advocate

#1 Google rated blogger for women entrepreneurs,Kirsten Osolind, has a great feature on her re:invention blog. Every Saturday she posts 10 Tips for 10 Million Women -- featuring advice for women entrepreneurs by women entrepreneurs.

Last Saturday, she featured my Ten Tips for Becoming a Grass Roots Advocate (a revised and updated version of an article that I wrote for NAWBOTime). It's a handy reference for women business owners who want to succeed in the "business" of advocacy at the local, state or federal level.

Let Kirsten know if you've got 10 Tips that you'd like her to feature. You'll find the link to submit your wisdom on the blog.

The Path To Electing More Women May Lead Through Redistricting

GOP Hokie has been writing about the redistricting. Here's one thing he probably hasn't thought about:

American University Professor Barbara Palmer is the co-author of an interesting new book about women candidates for political office that got great coverage in David Broder's column in the Washington Post this week.

Among the most interesting of Palmer's findings reported by Broder is this:

Demographic changes now underway will increase the number of districts where women can compete. But the radical suggestion from Palmer and Simon is for states to use this knowledge of what makes a district "woman-friendly" in the next round of redistricting, after the 2010 Census, to increase substantially the number of women in Congress. As women in state legislatures position themselves for the coming redistricting battles, that's something they can keep in mind.

There's lots more of interest in the book, "Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling: Women and Congressional Elections," which looks at all of the women candidates who ran for Congress between 1956 and 2004 and identifies the characteristics of the districts in which they won and lost.

Sounds like a good read for anyone who wants to run for Congress or who would like to help identify women candidates for districts well-suited to electing them or who would like to know how to draw districts that would elect women!

Delegate Kilgore --- One Man --- Three Masters?

In a little noticed development upstate, Delegate Terry Kilgore has been named Dean of Institutional Advancement at the University of Appalachia, a new private university in Grundy. In the school's press release, Kilgore is quoted as saying he intends to continue representing clients in "serious injury" cases, and there's no indication that he intends to give up his seat in the legislature:

Delegate Kilgore noted that he is in the process of phasing out of his general practice of law and will maintain his legislative district office in Gate City where he and his wife, Debbie, also an educator, and their two children, Kayla and Kyle, continue to reside. “I will continue on a part time basis to represent a limited number of serious injury clients as part of my agreement with the University of Appalachia. It is important that I stay actively involved in the legal profession and it was not an easy decision to make this transition. But with all the expanding opportunities for further educating our high school graduates happening right here in Southwest Virginia I cannot resist doing what I can to make that happen on a larger and more aggressive scale.”

The head of the University said of Kilgore's selection:

"Terry will be instrumental in expanding program development, promoting scholarships and fundraising, and increasing the awareness of educational and health care needs of Southwest Virginia. He has shown great enthusiasm in taking this office and has begun making contacts and setting up site visits well before his start date. Terry strengthens our leadership team and will help make our mission become a reality.”

So, Terry will be an agressive advocate for the constituents who elected him, the University, and his continuing legal clients -- all at the same time. Wonder how we'll know when he's doing which job.

There is always the potential for conflict with a citizen legislature, but this may be a situation where it will be difficult to parse expected loyalties.

Can one man serve three demanding masters well and without conflict (especially when two of the jobs require significant fundraising)? Guess we'll find out.

Ohio Appeals Courts Split on Application of Ohio Marriage Amendment in Domestic Violence Cases

This week one of the 12 Ohio appellate courts ruled that the Ohio marriage amendment bars prosecution of domestic violence cases involving unmarried partners. News reports here, here, and here.

This is the fifth of the 12 appeals courts in Ohio to rule on this issue. The first four appellate decisions went the other way. See this decision, for example. It will take a decision of the Ohio Supreme Court to resolve the conflict and determine the issue once and for all.

The following is excerpted from the decision of Ohio's 2nd District Court of Appeals, located in Dayton, in the case of State of Ohio v. Karen Ward:

This appeal concerns the issue of whether the provision in the domestic violence statute extending the protections of that criminal statute to "a person living as a spouse" offends the Defense of Marriage amendment to the Ohio Constitution adopted by the voters in 2004 because it recognizes "a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the effect of marriage."

We conclude that it does.

Let us suppose that the (Defense of Marriage) amendment were given the more restrictive interpretation. The evident purpose behind the second sentence of the amendment — to prohibit the indirect recognition of non-traditional marriages — could die the death of a thousand cuts. Imagine the adoption of a testimonial privilege for quasi-spouses, the addition of quasi-spouses alongside spouses and children as beneficiaries in wrongful death actions, the addition of quasi-spouses to the class of family members who can recover for loss of consortium, or the addition of a quasi-spouse to the list of persons who must be notified of a woman's intention to have an abortion.

The list is endless.

At what point would the second sentence of the amendment be deemed to have been violated? Would only the last in the series of legislative enactments, common law rulings, and administrative or judicial rule-making be voided for unconstitutionality?

Suppose that, after a long series of legal struggles to enhance the rights of non-traditional, quasi-spouses, the only remaining point of difference in Ohio between a spouse and a quasi-spouse were that the spouse, but not the quasi-spouse, could claim an additional $25 credit on the Ohio income tax? Would that avoid implicating the second sentence of the amendment because actual spouses and quasi-spouses are not treated identically for all legal purposes in Ohio?

In our view, the jurisprudence contemplated by the hypotheticals recited above would be unworkable. The general principle evident in the second sentence to the Defense of Marriage amendment is that a legal status of a de facto marital relationship shall neither be created nor recognized in Ohio as having the same effect as the legal status of a de jure marital relationship. It is tempting to speculate which of potential exceptions to this general principle would have found favor with a majority of the Ohioans who voted for the Defense of Marriage amendment, but this would be mere speculation.

In our view, the second sentence was intended to avoid the prospect of the Ohio General Assembly, or the Ohio courts, establishing exceptions to its reach.

Note to Victoria Cobb ... time to update your website FAQs.

My Blog Roll -- Women Bloggers Worth Reading

So, I've been following all the chatter about blog rolls, see here and here for example, and I thought, "maybe I should have a blog roll?"

Not wanting to get into the fight about who's influential and who's not ... lots of self-congratulating and back scratching going on there ... I decided that I'd post a blog roll of women bloggers who I think are worth reading. Some I've listed are political, some not. Some are in Virginia, some not.

If you've read a woman blogger who makes you laugh or think, send the link along.

I'm always looking for something new that's worth reading.

Lilly Tomlin -- Worrying About Same Sex Marriage

I heard Lilly Tomlin tonight speak to a conference of women business owners. During her performance she said:

"I worry about same sex marriage. If all of us gay people keep imitating straight people, what's next? Monster truck rallies?"

LOL

52% of the Population Deserves Better When It Comes to Judicial Appointments

There's been much hand wringing and teeth gnashing this session about the likely failure of the General Assembly to replace retiring chief judge of the Court of Appeals, The Honorable Johanna Fitzpatrick, with another Northern Virginian. As Not Larry Sabato reports, some members of the Fairfax Bar Association have gone so far as to call the leading non-Northern Virginia candidates "unqualified" -- an assessment attacked as politically inspired.

Unnoticed and unremarked, however, is that none of the five people interviewed to replace Judge Fitzpatrick (and another retiring Judge) was a woman. Meaning that the number of women on the Appeals Court will drop from 3 of 11 to 2 of 11 (a number clearly heading the wrong direction).

Nor was any of the three candidates interviewed for three circuit court judgeships open this year a woman. Nor was any of the candidates interviewed for four district court vacancies a woman. And, only two of 10 candidates interviewed for six juvenile and domestic relations court vacancies were women (and two of the judges being replaced were women meaning that the best we can hope for is not to lose ground).

Here's the list of those interviewed this year:
Appeals Court
Randolph A. Beales
Judge Victor V. Ludwig
Judge R. Terrence Ney
William G. Petty
Judge John E. Wetsel, Jr.

Circuit Court
James C. Hawks
Josiah Thomas Showalter, Jr.
Judge Alfred M. Tripp

General District or Juvenile Court
R. Glennwood Lookabill
S. Clark Daugherty
Ashley K. Tunner
Robert S. Brewbaker, Jr.
J. Frank Buttery, Jr.
Ronald L. Napier
Steven T. Buck
Margaret W. Deglau
Richard S. Wallerstein, Jr.
Edward S. Whitlock, III
Jimmy Don Bolt
Croxton Gordon
Thomas B. Dix, Jr.

As of 2003, women comprised about 30% of the legal profession and 49% of the law school graduates. At large firms, 16% of the partners were women in 2003. That last number makes our declining percentage of appellate judges look acceptable at 18%, but certainly our goal ought to be higher, and we should certainly be trying not to lose ground.

It is simply not okay for the legislature not even to seek to interview a more diverse pool of candidates, particularly when they are replacing some of the few women already serving on the bench.

The House and Senate Courts Committees who interview the candidates to assure that they are qualified (before the Republican House and Senate Caucuses decide whom to elect) need to do a better job of identifying qualified women and minority candidates for Virgina's judgeships.

The majority of residents of Virginia who are women deserve to have a judiciary that better reflects our presence among potential litigants.

After all, shouldn't majority rule?

Bloggers to be Left on the "Digital Dirt Road"?

The national blogs are all a buzz about legislation that would end "net neutrality" and allow major internet providers to provide better and speedier net access to paying customers.

Here's a post from the Guerilla News Network that explains the proposals now pending in Congress:

In the federal government in Washington, the main legislation concerning the media in the United States – the Telecommunications Act – is being rewritten, and the fate of net neutrality (and perhaps the future of the internet) rests in the balance. Unfortunately, Net neutrality clauses have been struck out of the most recent draft of the Telecom Act.

GNN describes the proposals as ones that will relegate bloggers and other nonpaying net consumers to the "digital dirt road."

Doesn't sound good to me.

McDonnell as "Activist Judge"

Back in October, I wrote a post titled Choosing Your Lawyer: What You Should Ask the Candidates for Attorney General.

In the post, I suggested that you ask "How will the candidates interpret the law in official opinions they write as Attorney General? Will the candidates be "activists" or "strict constructionists?" I said "Just as it is important to know how a judge will apply the law and what regard he or she will have for past decisions, it is important to know how a candidate for the office of Attorney General will approach this quasi-judicial opinion writing function."

Well, today we learned for sure how McDonnell sees his role -- he's definitely an "activist" who will seek to use the opinion writing process for political ends.

Today, McDonnell issued opinion no. 05-094, in which he holds that the Governor does not have the legal authority to issue an executive order that includes sexual orientation in the state personnel policy against discrimination in public employment.

In January, Delegate Bob Marshall asked the AG for the opinion on the question whether, as the Commonwealth’s Chief Personnel Officer, the Governor can, by Executive Order, protect state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. The result today was an opinion clearly informed more by political considerations than sound legal research or reasoning.

Here's what EV's Board Chair and Executive Director had to say in a press release issued today:

“Governor Kaine is the Chief Personnel Officer of the Commonwealth and is granted broad constitutional and statutory rights to set policy for the employees he manages,” said Jay Squires, EV Board Chair and Richmond attorney. “McDonnell’s opinion finds that the Governor, like a locality under the Dillon Rule, only has the authority expressly conferred on him by the legislature. This interpretation is in conflict with generally accepted principles regarding the separation of powers of the legislative and executive branches of government, and flies in the face of years of precedent.”

“In one of his first official acts as Attorney General, McDonnell has shown that, in issuing official opinions from his office, he will be an ‘activist judge’ who will strain to reach legal conclusions that will please the most narrow-minded of the constituents to whom he must feel he owes last fall’s slim margin of victory,” said Dyana Mason, Equality Virginia Executive Director. “It is sad that in a state where 87% of voters support the right of gay men and lesbians to be free from discrimination based on sexual orientation, Attorney General McDonnell felt that he had to placate a small minority with this obviously result-oriented, political opinion.”

It is even sadder that the release of the opinion today was clearly timed so that it was after the Senate and House considered proposals to cut nondiscrimination language from the budget. Both houses argued that the budget language was “unnecessary” because it duplicated language in existing state and federal law, including the ExOrder.

And, in an even crueler twist, the opinion cites the close vote on SB 700 earlier in the session as evidence that the legislature has rejected protections for sexual orientation discrimination despite the fact that a major argument against the bill in the Senate committee was that the Executive Order and the budget already offered such protection.

Attorney General McDonnell set a bad precedent for his term as Attorney General today. He made clear that politics will dictate his legal analysis and opinions during his four years in office.

That’s a shame.

Tagged

So, I got tagged by the Blue Dog who got tagged by South of the James ... so not wanting to break the chain in this blogger's chain letter here's my 4x4:

Four jobs I've had
Lifeguard
Waitress
Sheepskin seller
College president

Four movies I can watch over and over
Gentleman's Agreement
Ocean's 11
Star Wars
Thelma and Louise

Four places I've lived
London, England
Key West, Florida
Schofield Barracks, HI
Annandale, Virginia

Four TV shows I love
24
Lost
Smallville
Law and Order

Four places I've vacationed
Sail boat in the Grenadines
Vieques, PR
Vancouver, Canada
Green Valley, Utah

Four of my favorite dishes
Buz and Ned's ribs
Dim sum
Paella
BLT

Four sites I visit daily
Legislative Information
Bacon's Rebellion
Commonwealth Conservative
Washington Post

Four places that I'd rather be right now
Moon Beach on Vieques
Slopes or Red Fox Restaurant at Snowshoe
Hiking in the WindRiver Range near Jackson, Wyoming
Mango's in Key West, FLA talking with my friend TK at the bar

Four bloggers I'm tagging
Rita Ricks
Kenton Ngo
Ben Kyber
J Sarge

Finding the Positive

Today at the legislature something good happened. A group of students from Hampton University (down at the General Assembly to lobby for TAG grants and funding for some new fangled technology) sat in on the Senate General Laws committee where SB 700 was being debated.

SB 700 is the bill that would (finally) make explicit and codify the Commonwealth's policy against discrimination in the public workplace, prohibiting, among other things, discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The bill was superbly presented by its patrons, Senators Lucas and Locke and there was positive testimony on the bill by the Virginia Governmental Employees Association, the Virginia Education Association, People of Faith for Equality in Virginia, Equality Virginia and an individual state employee on the board of the VGEA. But, the fun didn't get started until the advocate for the Independent Baptists (arguing against the bill) got into a theological debate with Senator Yvonne Miller. (I could sell tickets to the replay). He was followed by an advocate for Concerned Women of America who described herself as having been "in homosexuality" in the past. From my perspective at least, it seemed that the longer that the opponents talked the closer our side got to getting the bill reported out of committee. Unfortunately, that was not to be, the bill failed to report by a vote of 6-8-1.

The good part was this .... after listening carefully to the presentation of the bill and the ensuing debate the students from Hampton adjourned to the lobby where I observed them engaged in an extended and very lively debate among themselves about the policy questions and arguments for and against the bill.

It was good to see the students excited about what was happening and engaged by the debate regardless of which side they were on.

As Larry Sabato often says, "politics is a good thing!" I think that the students from Hampton present today would agree.

If Only

Loved this headline in today's WAPO ...

"Handful of Races May Tip Control of Congress"

Perhaps if we took this literally and to heart, it would end all the immigrant bashing in DC and Richmond.

Just one of the promised "random thoughts."

Speak to Your Spirit: SISTERS, WE MUST FIND OUR VOICE!

There's a new voice in the blogosphere. Join me in welcoming Rita Ricks and her SpeaktoYourSpirit blog.Speak to Your Spirit: SISTERS, WE MUST FIND OUR VOICE!

Rita is a powerful force of nature. Her blog is worth a look.

Couldn't Have Said It Better

Marc Fisher on his Raw Fisher blog, concluding a riff on the ability of Virginia legislators to drift from libertarian to dictatorial citing the marriage amendment as an example: "Sadly, the legislators in Richmond act not according to any set of logical principles, but according to their own drifting and kneejerk conglomerations of bias, whim and momentary passions."

And, for some, I would add to bias, whim and passion their mistaken (?check Craddock, Black, Marrs, now Staton) belief that certain votes are "required" to get reelected even if they don't personally believe in what they are voting for.

Stephen Carter in his book "Integrity" describes unintegrity as doing something that you know to be wrong and argues that lack of consistency can be a hallmark of lack of integrity.

Shannon Valentine won a special election in Falwell's home town although she was attacked for making clear that she opposes the current proposed marriage amendment because it goes too far. She was clear and consistent and voters confirmed that they liked her authenticity.

Something to think about.

Fisher is not the only blogger to express doubts about the marriage amendment... see

I'm Not Emeril

Raising Kaine

Virginia Centrist


Madisonian at Sic Semper Tyrannis

South of the James

I'm sure there are more....

Perhaps we could have a whole blog carnival limited to posts on the marriage amendment ....

Bacon's Rebellion: "Blogging on the Hustings"

Here's Jim Bacon's take on the Marc Fisher piece on Virginia bloggers...

Bacon's Rebellion: "Blogging on the Hustings"

Bloggers Examined; Found Interesting

Washington Post Columnist, Marc Fisher examines the Virginia political blogosphere in the February/March American Journalism Review. In "Blogging on the Hustings," Fisher describes Virginia's political bloggers as "cacophonous" and "significant." He's right on both accounts.

We're a noisy bunch, mostly civil, but not always. And, many among us have contributed significantly to the art and war of politics.

For my part, I'm flattered to be quoted ... okay about being the only woman quoted but not so sure how I feel about being the designated "old" voice in the crowd, though.

Waldo has a good commentary on the commentary up on his blog. His conclusion: we have reason to be proud of being in the Virginia political blogosphere.

I think he's right.

Standing Up Against Discrimination in Public Employment

Here is the text of Senator Louise Lucas' floor speech about SB 700 (on which she and Senator Mamie Locke are co-chief patrons), the bill to end discrimination against state and local employees (including teachers) based on race, gender, national origin, religion, disability, veteran status, etc and sexual orientation:

In 1970, Governor Linwood Holton established a tradition that our chief executives have followed since; his first official act as Governor was the issuance of an executive order promising state employees equal opportunity and protection from discrimination in the workplace.

35 years later, Governor Warner concluded his term by signing an executive order extending this protection to discrimination based on sexual orientation -- a promise of opportunity continued in Governor Kaine’s first executive order on Equal Opportunity issued the day he was sworn in as Virginia’s 70th Governor – a promise also extended by Governor Kaine’s order to Virginia’s veterans.

Despite this long history of executive action, this legislature has never acted to incorporate in the Code of Virginia an explicit and comprehensive ban on discrimination in public employment. Private companies seeking to contract with the Commonwealth are required by law not to discriminate in employment. Constitutional officers are prohibited by law from discriminating in employment. Localities have permission to adopt anti-discrimination ordinances applicable to private employers but are not required by state law to guarantee their employees a workplace free of discrimination. School divisions and localities are required to afford employees the right to grieve discrimination, but are not affirmatively prohibited from discriminating.

It is time for legislative action. We can start by adopting the language in Governor Warner’s budget that will protect state employees from discrimination. But we need to go beyond that.

It is time for this legislature to make the Commonwealth’s equal opportunity policy clear and applicable equally to all public employees.

No state, local or public school employee should have reason to doubt our commitment to equal opportunity in employment for all regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

That is why Senator Locke and I will introduce today a bill that compliments and builds on Warner’s and Kaine’s executive actions and makes equal opportunity a matter of legislative enactment as well as executive action.

And, yes, this bill would include sexual orientation in our statement of the Commonwealth’s nondiscrimination policy. Protecting Virginia’s gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender public employees from discrimination is not a radical idea.

 We are far behind private sector employers in adopting such a nondiscrimination policy.

 Jerry Falwell has said that protection from employment and housing discrimination is not a special right but a basic human right.

 A poll by a bi-partisan polling team recently found that, even among Virginia voters who would vote for a marriage amendment, 86% said gays and lesbians should have the right to work for the government and 63% said that they should have the right to teach in public schools.

 And, 24 of the 40 Senators in this body and 60 of the members of the body at the other end of the hall have said that they don’t discriminate hiring in their offices.

We invite you to join us in making equal opportunity in employment the law for all Virginia public employees.

So far, 9 Senators (including Locke and Lucas) have signed on.

If your Senator is not on the list, call the Senator and tell him or her you'd like to see his or her name on the list of co-patrons for SB 700.

If we can't convince them to be sensible when it comes to the so-called marriage amendment, perhaps we can convince them to do what's right when it comes to employment discrimination.

As Senator Lucas says, there's nothing "radical" about it.

The Definition of Juvenile

What do college freshmen who sit outside the cafeteria line and hold up rating cards for young women as they exit the line with their trays and Not Larry Sabato have in common?

They define juvenile, i.e., "displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity."

At the risk of being accused of lacking a sense of humor, I have to say that the NLS contest to rate the "hottest" woman candidate or wife of a candidate is demeaning.

The contest equates the women leaders who run for office with the supporting cast of spouses who help men run and reduces both to unwilling beauty queens. The contest diminishes the victories of successful candidates like Anne Crockett-Starke. And, the contest illustrates the double-binds that women who seek to lead confront. Can one be both feminine and competent? See, Women and Leadership: Beyond the Double Binds by Kathleen Hall Jamieson for more on this subject.

Virginia is in the bottom ten of all states in the percentage of women in our legislature. In part, this is because of the double standard women confront when they seek to serve us as part-time citizen legislators. If they are single, they must put up with rumors about their sexuality. If they are attractive, they must put up with rumors about who they are sleeping with. If they have small children, they are attacked for putting themselves first and worst.

Men, e.g., Mark Earley and Bob Marshall, have large families with small children that they left to serve in the legislature without criticism. Yet, Eileen Filler-Corn met a barrage of negative sniping when she sought election to the House of Delegates because she had two school age children at home.

Men don't have to put up with stuff like the NLS contest, or the ongoing running commentary women face regarding their looks, clothing choices, hairstyles, etc., as a price of public service.

No wonder more men than women indicate an interest in running for office. See, Fox, Gender, Political Ambition and the Decision Not to Run for Office at page 5.

Bottom line here for me ...

Grow up, NLS.