Year of the woman: in 2006, voters elected a record number of women.

On Election Night, November 7, 2006, Democrats gathered in a Washington, D.C., ballroom to celebrate their new majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. But that wasn't their only reason to cheer. "Nancy! Nancy!" the crowd chanted. "Speaker! Speaker!"

They were calling for Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic Representative from California since 1987. They knew that Pelosi would probably become the first woman to be elected Speaker of the House--the highest U.S. government office ever held by a woman.

"A Different Standard"

Speaker of the House is a difficult job for anyone. But "as a woman, [Pelosi] will be held to a different standard" than men, said writer Gloria Borger in U.S. News and World Report. Pelosi must be strong, Borger added, without looking too tough. Former Representative Florence Dwyer of New Jersey put it another way: "A Congresswoman must look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man ... and most of all, work like a dog."

A Lonely Position

Election 2006 created another first. The 110th Congress, which convened on January 4, includes a record number of women: 16 Senators and at least 71 Representatives.

Women could not even vote until the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1920. Only 229 women have served in Congress before this year. Rarely have they headed important congressional committees.

Women with influence in other areas of the U.S. government remain scarce. As Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice is one of the most powerful diplomats in the world. But she is only the second woman to reach that rank.

The first was Madeleine Albright, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. So few women were making national security policy then, Albright has said, "It was lonely." Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, New York) may be considering an even lonelier task--running for President in 2008.

How Much Farther?

Referring to the record number of women elected in November, some political commentators are calling 2006 the "Year of the Woman." But not everyone welcomes that label.

"I so don't like that expression," said Vivian Eveloff. Eveloff is director of the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life at the University of Missouri. "I think every year ought to be the year of the woman until we get a Congress and we get legislators and we get [Governors] that reflect the diversity of this country."