Women 's progress in this election `` creeping and leaping , '' analyst says . 74 women will be in 435-member House ; 17 female senators out of 100 . Shirley Chisholm , elected in 1968 as the first black woman in the U.S. Congress , once said : `` I 've always met more discrimination being a woman than being black . '' `` Do we have equal representation ? No . Are we closer to it ? Yes. Obama may appoint women ; Hillary Clinton , Sarah Palin made strides .
Women 's progress in this election `` creeping and leaping , '' analyst says . 74 women will be in 435-member House ; 17 female senators out of 100 . `` Do we have equal representation ? No . Are we closer to it ? Yes. Obama may appoint women ; Hillary Clinton , Sarah Palin made strides .