WOMEN IN POLITICS
Doyle, Ruth B.
Women in Politics UNDERSTANDING POLITICS. A Practical Guide for Women, by Louise M. Young. Pellegrini & Cudahy. 330 pp. $3.50. Reviewed by Ruth B. Doyle MRS. YOUNG'S book is full of description...
...In any case, it's another story...
...Young states, in my own party (probably because many new and comparatively young people are now taking part in its leadership), my experience, and that of hundreds of other women, has been different...
...Many readers will draw, as I did, still another subjective conclusion...
...Here, in quick summary form, is information about state legislatures, Congress, and the number of women in them...
...I think it's important that a woman realize her limitations in political life...
...If Mrs...
...Perhaps this, too, indicates a hopeful trend...
...Even if it were financially possible, most younger women could not make the emotional adjustment necessary for separation from their husbands and families...
...YOUNG'S book is full of description of woman's role in the life of her community, advice for the systematic advance of her position, and materia] on various phases of women's activities for community improvement through a variety of non-partisan, educational, and pressure groups...
...While I have heard that the position of women in parties is as subordinate as Mrs...
...Being a politician myself, I was delighted with the running argument in support of partisan political activity by women...
...This book does not fit the newly activated political movement in which I serve...
...At last it seems that we are emerging from the heyday of the so-called "independent voter" and the withdrawal of millions of our citizens into the supposedly higher realm of "non-partisanship...
...Part II can be considered the more "practical" section of the book, containing a useful political vocabulary...
...I wish Mrs...
...The paradox results quite naturally from the fact that she must cover all 48 states, must draw generalizations from 48 widely varying election laws, and must discuss all parties, with different practices and traditions...
...A comprehensive reading list increases the usefulness of the book as a basis for discussion and study by women's groups...
...Admittedly, it can't account for the lack of women on city councils and county boards...
...She implies the truth when she points out, in analyzing the women in high elective office, that most of them are financially independent widows—either childless or grandmothers...
...This must inevitably curtail the candidacies of thousands of politically conscious younger women for Congress and the legislatures...
...There is a rather detailed, and at the same time too general, discussion of the workings of political parties...
...Young had not touched so lightly on American women's natural handicaps in politics...
...Young and others are indicative of a trend, it will mean an improvement in our parties, a greater participation in government, and a greater measure of personal satisfaction to politically conscious citizens...
Vol. 14 • June 1950 • No. 6
