I know that when I hear 2018 called the Year of the Woman, I am supposed to huddle with my girlfriends, preferably over rosé, and celebrate the historic number of female candidates in the midterm elections. And yet, I have to confess that the term bums me out. The way we talk about all of these female candidates as they try to drag that cave man known as Congress a bit closer to gender parity leaves me discouraged about how little progress we’ve made. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris have signaled they may run for president in 2020, which would make that election the most female ever (The Year of the Woman on Steroids, to borrow The Washington Post’s phrase). So it’s all the more urgent that we find a less archaic way of talking about women in politics, preferably one that doesn’t make them seem like a stop in the Chinese zodiac.

Source: New York Times October 20, 2018 19:30 UTC