The political participation of women is currently a hot topic in American politics. In the race to the 2016 United States presidential elections, different polls declare Hillary Clinton a strong candidate to become the first female President of the country. Never before a woman had bigger chances to become President of the USA. However, gender equality in politics and women’s political empowerment is still a goal to be achieved.

Emerge Wisconsin, an organization dedicated to increase the number of Democratic women in public office, has published an article on the underrepresentation of women in politics in that State. According to CAWP data, only 25.8% of state lawmakers are women; however, when women run for public office, they win in the same percentages as men.

An article published in The Atlantic discusses the negative impacts for women’s political empowerment of the so-called ‘system of beauty’. This expression refers to the systematic referral to women’s appearance, instead of focusing the attention on their political skills. Even when it’s praise and compliments, talking about the looks of women politicians makes it harder for them to develop fully their political capacities, as they are subjected to a different demeaning measure than their male counterparts.

The NEW Leadership National Network is a national nonpartisan program to educate college women about politics and leadership and encourage them to become effective leaders in the political arena. It was created in 1991 by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), with the idea of teaching college women the value of civic engagement and the importance of having women in positions of political leadership.