The Maryland General Assembly has an opportunity to send a new representative to the United States Capitol. This person wouldn’t be a voting member of Congress but would stand tall in the halls of the Capitol and serve as a symbol of freedom, courage and equality to all Americans. This session, the Maryland legislature will decide whether or not to replace the statue of John Hanson that has stood in National Statuary Hall for more than 100 years with one of Harriet Tubman.

National Statuary Hall was established in 1864 by an act of Congress. By law, each state is authorized to furnish two statues of citizens who are “illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services.” Harriet Tubman certainly fits that description. She was an abolitionist, a union spy, a suffragist, and a great Marylander who risked her own life countless times to save the lives of others. John Hanson, a Colonial era farmer and first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, is represented by one of Maryland’s two statues in the collection. The other statue is of Charles Carroll, another Colonial-era Marylander, who was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Our nation’s Capitol is the symbol of our democracy. In a nation where we believe that anyone can accomplish anything, our government systematically sends the unmistakable message to girls and women that their contributions to our country’s history were insignificant. The enormous Capitol frieze surrounding the Rotunda depicts the history of the United States, celebrating key moments in our history from the nation’s inception to the discovery of flight, and yet there is only one recognizable woman depicted in those paintings: Pocahontas. In Statuary Hall itself, there is only one woman out of 38 statues, and only nine women in the entire Collection of 100 statues displayed throughout the Capitol.

Three states have updated their contributions to National Statuary Hall: Kansas substituted Dwight D. Eisenhower for George Washington Glick in 2003; Alabama replaced Jabez Curry with a statue of Helen Keller in 2009; and California removed a statue of Thomas Starr King in favor of one of Ronald Reagan in 2009. Several other states have designated replacement statues that are in various stages of construction. Missouri is slated to send a statue of Harry Truman, Michigan a statue of Gerald Ford, and Arizona a statue of Barry Goldwater. Ohio is expected to replace the statue of Gov. William Allen with one of Thomas Edison.

After all these replacements are made, there will still be only nine women in the National Statuary Hall Collection. If Maryland does the right thing and replaces the Hanson statue with one of Tubman, a 10th woman, that will still be a paltry number relative to the number of women in our country.

When sexism is blatant and overt, it’s easy to detect and defend against it. But “sins of omission” can be even more damaging since they are subtle, insidious and persistent. The absence of women in the Capitol sends the message that this is a democracy of men, by men, and for men. It tells the millions of girls who visit the Capitol, “you’re not part of this story,” and the foreign dignitaries that walk the halls of Congress that as a nation, we don’t practice what we preach.

In my profession, psychology, we know the visual overrides the verbal; what you see is more powerful than what you hear. We’d like our daughters to believe they can be anything they want, but they don’t hear “Yes, you can” when what they see is, “No you can’t.”

The most powerful messages are verbally and visually congruent. It’s time to send young girls a clear message by rewriting women who have been written out of history back into history. It’s time for the statues in National Statuary Hall to not only represent great Americans, but to more accurately represent the demographics of America.

Otherwise, I would urge the U.S. surgeon general to put a sign outside the New Capitol Visitors Center that reads, “Warning: this tour may be hazardous to your daughter’s psychological health.”

Lynette Long is president of Equal Visibility Everywhere, the organization that conceptualized the project to put Harriet Tubman in National Statuary Hall. She is also a licensed psychologist in Chevy Chase. Her e-mail is drlynettelong@aol.com.

There were 15 giant character balloons in the 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Buzz Lightyear, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Horton the Elephant, Kermit the Frog, Pikachu with Pokeball, Pillsbury Doughboy, Kung Fu Panda, Ronald McDonald, Sailor Mickey, Shrek, Smurf, Snoopy as Flying Ace, Spider-Man, Spongebob SquarePants and Super Cute Hello Kitty. Note that the only female character balloon in this year’s parade was Hello Kitty.  There were thirteen male character balloons and one sexually ambiguous balloon (Pikachu with Pokeball).  In terms of percentages only seven percent of this year’s giant balloon characters were female while eighty seven percent of the giant character balloons in this years parade were male.  That’s an eighty percent visibility gap (87% – 7% = 80%), not the kind of number anyone raising a daughter wants to see in 2010.   In addition to giant character balloons, this year’s Macy’s parade also included 43 smaller novelty balloons and balloonicles.  This year’s new additions included a balloonicle of  Kool-Aid Man,  and smaller balloons of Takashi Murakami’s sexually ambiguous Kiki and KaiKai,  and Yes, Virginia, modeled after nine year old Virginia O’Hanlon,  who wrote the editor of the New York Sun about the existence of Santa Claus.

What I find particularly disturbing in Macy’s selection of balloon subjects is Macy’s selection of “only half” of famous pairs.  Macy’s built its first balloon of Mickey Mouse in 1934 and has created a total of four giant Mickey balloons, the most recent being Sailor Mickey which appeared in this year’s parade.  Yet Macy’s has never built a balloon of Minnie Mouse, even though Disney currently presents Mickey and Minnie as a pair in their theme parks.  Similarly, Macy’s created a balloon of Donald Duck (1962), but never created a balloon of his sweetheart Daisy.  Fred Flintstone has his own balloon but his wife Wilma does not.  Macy’s has built three balloons of Superman (1939, 1966, 1982) and two balloons of Spiderman (1987, 2009), but Macy’s has never built a balloon of Wonder Woman or any other female super hero.  There’s a balloon of a Smurf (2008) but not of Smurfette.  Bart Simpson is represented by a giant helium balloon but his sister and counterpart, Lisa Simpson, was passed over.  Macy’s created a balloon of Charlie Brown (2002), and even built a giant balloon of the elusive football to accompany Charlie, but Macy’s forgot to build a balloon of girl who held the football, Lucy. Lots of famous cartoon characters and toys have their own balloon including Mr. Potato Head (2005) but Macy’s did not build a balloon of Mrs. Potato Head.  Macy’s also built two versions of Kermit the Frog (1977, 2002) but has not created a giant helium balloon of the colorful and beloved Miss Piggy.  Why does Macy’s ALWAYS pick the male part of a famous pair?

Who is the most re-introduced character in the Macy’s giant balloon line-up?  It’s Snoopy!  Macy’s has built six different versions of this male dog including Flying Ace Snoopy which appeared in this year’s parade.  Not a single female character has been introduced more than once.   It’s interesting to note that if you add the number of renditions of Mickey and Snoopy produced by Macy’s, it is equal to the total number of female character balloons created in the entire history of the parade.  Finally in the interest of patriotism, Macy’s has created a balloon of Uncle Sam in 1938 and then introduced a new version of Uncle Sam seventy years later but has never created a balloon of Lady Liberty.

As a psychologist, do I think the omission of giant female character balloons from the Macy’s parade is important?  You bet.  It reinforces in the minds of the millions of girls that watch the parade a message they receive in subtle and insidious ways every single day.  Girls don’t matter.

The conference was attended by a variety of groups including the Maryland Commission for Women, The Anne Arundel County Commission for Women, the ACLU of Maryland, the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the Polaris Project. Numerous state legislators were also in attendance, including Delegate Sue Kullen, Outgoing Chair of the Women’s Caucus; Senator Delores Goodwin Kelly; Delegate Kathleen Dumais; Senator Jennie Forehand; Senator Jamie Raskin; Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez; Delegate Sue Hecht; and Senator Joanne Claybon Benson.

Linda Mahoney, the President of Maryland NOW, and I were there to make the case for the Harriet Tubman statue project. We handed out fliers describing the project, gave a presentation in front of the full body, and answered questions from the audience. The audience was quick to understand the problem (only nine women in National Statuary Hall) and the psychological implications for women and girls. Everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic about helping with the project.

We were asked numerous questions by the audience and in individual conversations. Here are some of the questions and our answers:

• Which statue (John Hanson or Charles Carroll) are you going to ask to have removed from Statuary Hall?
  We are going to leave that decision up to the Maryland Legislature.
• Do you have a sponsor for the bill?
  Not yet, but we have contacted the delegates from Dorchester County, where Harriet Tubman was born.
• Do you have a resolution written?
  Yes, we have a draft of a resolution written.
• How much will the statue cost?
  The statue will cost approximately two-hundred fifty thousand dollars.

The Alba Madonna by Raphael.

Yesterday my cousin was in town from New York and I decided to take her to the National Gallery of Art. We walked in exactly when a highlights tour was about to start. How could we pass up a free tour by a highly qualified docent?

Half way through the tour I noticed that we had not seen a single painting by a woman artist. Lots of the paintings we viewed were of women since lots of the works painted during the Italian Renaissance were of the Madonna and Child. Of course, Raphael’s Alba Madonna was highlighted, as was Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’ Benci. As we listened to a lecture on Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait, I decided to look at the glossy brochure in my hand pointing out the museum highlights (pdf version here.) I scanned the pictures of the twelve paintings and their descriptions, and then read the names of the artists. To my surprise, and I am not sure why I was surprised, not a single painting on the museum’s highlights tour was painted by a woman. I pointed this out to our guide, a woman, and she said that was unfortunate, but really didn’t seem that upset.

I looked around and noticed the museum was teeming with students. My cousin commented that she wanted to bring her granddaughter, a budding artist, to the museum. But what message would she and the hundreds of girls I saw wandering the halls of the National Gallery of Art take from the experience? Women make great subjects but are lousy painters. What other message is there?

Holidash reports on the new balloons Macy’s will debut in this year’s parade:

The 84th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will feature two brand new balloons this year that are sure to delight kids of all ages — especially those in the tween set.

This Thanksgiving we’ll see character balloons from “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Kung Fu Panda.”

…The Wimpy Kid balloon, a giant 3D version of Greg Heffley, the 2D middle schooler who stars in the wildly popular illustrated novels by Jeff Kinney, joins an elite group of children’s literary characters who have been made into Macy’s Day Parade balloons, including The Cat in The Hat, Curious George, Clifford and Arthur.

It’s a big holiday season for Po, better known as Kung Fu Panda, the superhero wanna be panda voiced by Jack Black in the 2008 Dreamworks animated film — he has his own 3D holiday TV special premiering this year on Nov. 24th, the day before Thanksgiving, as well as the debut of the Macy’s balloon on Thanksgiving day.

Macy’s will also showcase new balloons of Kaikai and Kiki, cartoon figures created by Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami. And of special interest to us, Macy’s is also introducing a new balloon of a real live actual female human: Virginia O’Hanlon, the little girl whose letter prompted the famous reply, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

The new Virginia O'Hanlon balloon will be based on the animated film "Yes, Virginia"

We’re glad to see this year’s new balloons feature both male and female characters. Last year all four of Macy’s new balloons were male: Sailor Mickey, Ronald McDonald, Spider-Man, and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Macy’s has still had only 10 female balloons in its entire history.

Parade balloons are not a trivial issue. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade regularly has 2 million live viewers and 50 million television viewers. Every year millions of young girls eagerly attend Macy’s and other parades, only to look up and see nothing but male characters float by. While we applaud the inclusion of new female characters in this year’s balloon line-up, Macy’s still has a long way to go to achieve gender parity.

EVE’s Great American Heroines balloon project is committed to creating balloons that celebrate outstanding women in American history and culture. (Our first balloon is of Amelia Earhart, launched in October 2010.) We’re also encouraging parade planners to select and request more female characters from their balloon suppliers. Hopefully, one day, the parade skies of the United States will be filled with an equal number of male and female characters.

On October 2, in a constant downpour of rain, EVE’s Amelia Earhart balloon had its first test flight in the Circle City Parade in Indianapolis, Indiana. The rain might have decreased the size of the crowd but not their enthusiasm. The parade was televised locally so most likely tens of thousands of people got to see EVE’s Earhart balloon on television and hear about the accomplishments of Amelia Earhart. The Indianapolis Star featured a write-up of the parade and a picture of only one of the balloons, Amelia Earhart.

The unrelenting rain did cause EVE to make an adjustment in the display of the balloon. The balloon handlers did not wear their white “flightsuits” with an AE logo because we did not want our new costumes to be damaged in the rain.

On November 20, the Amelia Earhart Balloon will fly high again. Amelia will be one of the featured balloons in the Festival of Trees Holiday Parade in Davenport, Iowa. The parade will feature over 20 giant helium balloons.

Stay tuned to find out where Amelia will fly next!

I never thought much about giant helium balloons except to ogle at them as a child during parades. I don’t remember the bands except for the fact that there were bands, or floats except the fact there were floats, but I can still see the balloons in my mind’s eye. Maybe it’s their sheer magnitude or the fact that they defy gravity that makes them so special. I guess that’s why EVE decided on its balloon project. What better way to get people to see women than to make them larger than life—way larger than life.

My first task as a newly appointed balloon producer was to go to a parade and watch how parade-goers responded to the balloons. I marveled at the smiles they brought to everyone’s faces, the way people crowded around just to watch them be inflated and come to life. I saw parents position their children when they saw a balloon approaching so they could take their picture with the balloon in the background. Why not? Balloons are fun, larger than life, playful: a little bit of whimsy in a serious world.

EVE’s first balloon will be Amelia Earhart. Why Amelia Earhart? We thought over a lot of possibilities. There were literally hundreds of female historical figures to choose from, but a few key things favored Amelia: the historic nature of her accomplishments, the striking visual of a red Lockhead Vega against a blue sky, the fact that she was not a controversial but rather a much beloved cultural icon, the fact that the balloon would be aerodynamic, and most importantly, that she would send a message to young girls that they could do anything, anything at all.

But when we embarked on the balloon project, we had no idea how to build a balloon. It isn’t quite like going to your local shopping mall to a build-a-bear workshop. So we started by partnering with one of the three major balloon companies in the country, StarBound Entertainment. With over twenty years in the business, we figured they knew what to do.

Producing a balloon means obtaining a license, creating artist’s renderings, getting approval of the renderings from the family or licensing agent, constructing a clay model of the balloon, and finally constructing the balloon. Once the balloon is constructed and the costumes designed for the balloon handlers, decisions have to be made where and when it will fly, and arrangements made to transport the balloon to the parade location. Finally, text has to be written for the parade and television announcers to use in their scripts when the balloon flies.

Obviously building Amelia is a lot of work, but here at EVE we think it’s worth it. Our Amelia Earhart balloon will appear in parades for decades to come, giving millions of girls an opportunity to see and hear, “She did it and you can too.”

That’s why I’m thrilled to report that as of now, an artist is working on the drawings for the Amelia Earhart balloon. Our plan is for a Labor Day “test flight”—which means now we need to raise the rest of the money!

We’ll keep you updated on our first balloon’s progress. We are a fledgling organization with modest resources, but as my brother once told me, “Go big or go home,” and you can’t go much bigger than a 40-foot helium balloon.

In order to put Amelia back in the skies this Labor Day, we must order the balloon this Sunday.

We are still short the cash needed to place the order. But we’re almost there!

We only need 11 more people to join our 99 Club by Sunday. That’s not much more. WE CAN DO IT!

Please join the 99 Club today and invite all of your friends to do the same. And remember—your contribution is tax-deductible.

How exciting! In just 6 weeks, we could see our new Amelia Earhart balloon in one of the Labor Day parades!

See also: Uppity Women and Subversive History.

Here at EVE we are interested in the visibility gap, which we will define as the difference in the number of images of men versus women in a specific area, such as stamps, currency, or statues. The visibility gap is computed by determining what percentage of images are male and what percentage are female, and then subtracting the difference. Here are some examples:

Paper Currency in Circulation

Seven out of seven of the bills in circulation have pictures of men on them.

• Percentage of paper currency with images of men = 100%
• Percentage of paper currency with images of women = 0%
• Visibility Gap = 100% – 0% = 100%

Commemorative Stamps Issued Between 2000 and 2009

Between 2000 and 2009 the U.S. Postal service issued 206 stamps honoring individuals, of which 163 honored men and 43 honored women.

• Percentage of stamps issued with images of men = 79%
• Percentage of stamps issued with images of women = 21%
• Visibility Gap = 79% – 21% = 58%

U.S. Quarter Reverses

Between 1999 and 2009 the U.S. Mint issued a series of 56 quarters, one in honor of each state or territory. All of the quarters had images of George Washington on the front, and a unique image on the reverse for each state or territory. Ten of these reverses commemorated the achievements of individuals; of these, nine honored men and one honored a woman.

• Percentage of quarters honoring men = 90%
• Percentage of quarters honoring women = 10%
• Visibility Gap = 90% – 10% = 80%

Statues in National Statuary Hall

There are 100 statues of individuals in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Ninety-one of the statues are of men, nine are of women.

• Percentage of statues honoring men = 91%
• Percentage of statues honoring women = 9%
• Visibility Gap = 91% – 9% = 82%

The visibility gap is a useful metric because it compares relative performance across different areas. The higher the visibility gap, the greater the disparity between the representation of men and women. The lower the visibility gap, the more equal the representation.

In the four areas analyzed above, we can see that the visibility gap is highest in our nation’s paper currency (no women depicted at all) and lowest in our nation’s stamps—though the latter figure is still a disappointing 58%. In none of the areas does the visibility gap approach zero, which would represent parity. In fact, nowhere is the visibility gap even 50%, which would mean a 75/25 split in representation.

The term “visibility gap” gives a name to the problem, and the numbers portray the extent of the problem. We introduce this term to give us a measure of where we are, how far we have to go, and, someday, how far we’ve come.