I love the voice of parents telling their daughters that they are capable of anything even conquering the universe.

Although these young girls will forever remember these words, reality will hit them one day that they live in a patriarchal society.

Give them ten years, as adolescents these young women will suffer from poor self-image and low self confidence that many will not gain the strength of their own conviction.

So, it’s up to powerful women to show them the power they have. All women have the power to create change in the civic and political lives within their communities.

Election time is the time when women all over the country need to act and speak out on the issues that matter to them. It’s time to stop sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it for them.

Seventy nine years ago, the 19th Amendment gave American women the right to vote. But today, women remain – by far – the most under-represented “minority” group in the United States.

According to an article found in the September-October 1996 issue of Ms. written by Dr. Wilma Rule and Steven Hill, women are the majority, comprising over fifty percent of the population, yet they make up only 11% of the U.S. House of Representatives and 8% of the U.S. Senate. In state and local legislatures, women average one out of every five legislators.

According to United Nation reports, the United States ranks 24th of 54 western democracies in terms of women’s representation in national legislatures.

There is something tangible and significant at stake in the gross under representation of women.

The common wisdom is that, regrettably, persistent cultural sexism causes this under representation. Because women are not equally represented in policy making positions, our concerns are not adequately represented in the political process.

There is a gap between the agendas of men and women, and a real difference in how they rank problems and policy solutions.

The most important voting issues for women according to polling conducted post election, November 1996 by Greenberg Research and Lake Sosin Snell Perry & Associates, for EMILY’s List/Women’s Monitor, were education, crime, drugs, the economy, and strengthening families.

But that only tells us the problems women care about, not the specific legislative solutions.

If more women vote, I see more women elected to public office. But, men should also help get women elected.

Yes, I am advocating selection of leadership according to gender, a process we Americans have always followed in the past, so I know we are familiar with it.

However, I advocate reversing the process and furthering women in politics over men because they are more likely to see the big picture and not be sidetracked by control and dominance.

Although women’s position in society is definitely improving today, traditional women’s jobs still pay much less than men’s jobs that demand comparable skill. Consequently, median annual earnings for full-time women workers are only about two-thirds those of men.

For this reason, women need to continue fighting against this discrimination.

By mobilizing The Women’s Awareness and Allies club of De Anza College, I hope to evoke political awareness in an attempt to stimulate protest by fellow women. As Susan B. Anthony said, “Failure is impossible.”