The increase in women at the front line of politics in the upcoming election has sparked debate throughout the nation, and tonight members of the Binghamton community will examine the topic in a forum.

Beginning at 7 p.m., the panel discussion, which will be hosted by the Graduate Student Organization in conjunction with the Office of the Graduate Vice President for Multicultural Affairs, will cover women’s roles in the 2008 election. The event, which will be held in room 212 of the Science Library, is set to last approximately an hour and a half and feature four panelists.

“The theme [of the event] will be a critical analysis of the role of women in the elections, specifically, representations of the female candidates for presidential, vice-presidential and other elected offices, and how political parties perceive and approach female voters,” Graduate Vice President for Multicultural Affairs Maresi Starzmann said.

The panelists, each of whom is from a different department either on or off campus, will give 10- to 15-minute presentations on a topic of their choice, followed by a moderated discussion with the audience.

The panelists include Lea Webb of the Binghamton City Council, Professor Marilynn Desmond of the English department, Carol Linskey of the history department, and Maryam Belly, the vice president for Multicultural Affairs of the Student Association. The moderator for the event will be Assistant Professor Deborah Elliston of the anthropology department.

The speakers are set to address questions such as, “What roles do women running for office identify themselves with, and how are they identified in media representations?” and “If Hillary Clinton is characterized as a classic baby-boom feminist, is Sarah Palin really best described as a post-feminist?”

According to Jessie Kapasula, president of the Graduate Student Organization, talking about women’s roles in the U.S. elections is important because “so much has been going on concerning women voters.”

The event will also focus on the fact that women make up a majority of U.S. voters, as well as a majority of undecided voters.

Certain panelists will talk about “the women’s vote,” which is sometimes described as “more gender conscious than agenda conscious,” Starzmann said. The issue raises the question of whether or not a woman would vote for a candidate solely on the basis of her sex.

“This event is not intended to weigh different candidates’ politics, but rather to critically engage with how gendered discourses — and their racist and sexist outgrowths — enter the so-called democratic institutions of the nation-state and become indispensable to the functioning of these very institutions,” Starzmann said.

Members of the Office for Multicultural Affairs hope that this event will allow the Binghamton community, including faculty, students and residents of Binghamton, to come together and learn about an important issue.

“We’re also very interested in having undergraduate and graduate students work together on a topical issue and interrogate their surroundings more,” Kapasula said.

All students and faculty are welcome to attend. The event is free and open to the public.