The Women of Washington

This semester, while interning in the Membership and Development Department of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, I have had my eyes opened to the persistent gender inequality in the creative world. For instance, female artists make about 81¢ for every dollar earned by their creative male counterparts. Additionally, only about 3-5% of works in the permanent collections of major museums around the world are the products of women artists. The mission of my internship site is to honor female artists’ accomplishments and promote gender parity in the arts. Because of my central DC location, this idea brought me to wonder about the rest of the women of Washington.

Some fabulous women pondering national security.

It is no secret that women are becoming increasingly prominent in the professional world today. According to the Pew Research Center, “Of the 278 women who’ve served in the House, more than half have been elected since 1992, and 23 of the 46 women who’ve ever served in the Senate took office in 1996 or late.” Coupled with the fact that the most recent presidential election brought forth the first female nomination for the Oval Office, this is promising information. Certainly there is more work to be done to get women into positions of power, and I am confident that our strong, 68% female WAIP cohort is a great start.

Audrey Gerlach