Women occupy care roles while men control budgets and buildings, replicating patriarchal structures within municipal government
Zohran Mamdani’s cabinet appointments reveal both symbolic progress and persistent gender inequities in how power is distributed within municipal governance. Lillian Bonsignore becomes only the second female FDNY commissioner in 156 years of departmental history. Helen Arteaga leads health and human services. Emmy Liss oversees early childhood education. Yet men overwhelmingly occupy the highest-paid, most powerful structural and financial positions: Dean Fuleihan controls the 115 billion dollar budget, Ahmed Tigani oversees buildings and construction, Sherif Soliman manages financial planning. This pattern replicates across municipal hierarchies globally: women concentrated in care work and social services, men controlling financial systems and structural power.
Women’s Unpaid Organizing Labor
From a feminist perspective, this division reflects how capitalism and patriarchy work together. Cea Weaver’s appointment as director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants marks a rare instance of a woman activist transitioning to genuine power within government. Yet her path to leadership came through years of unpaid and underpaid organizing work within housing justice movements. Women perform the invisible labor that sustains all political movements: door knocking, relationship building, meeting facilitation, emotional care of fellow activists. Men then claim executive positions based on technical expertise. This pattern replicates patriarchal division of labor where women’s care work enables men’s advancement.
The Question of Feminist Leadership
Does Cea Weaver’s appointment represent feminist progress or incorporation into patriarchal governance structures that will constrain her transformative vision? Can a woman activist appointed within a male-dominated municipal hierarchy challenge the fundamentals of that hierarchy? Feminist theory distinguishes between representation and power: Mamdani appointed women to visible positions, but structural power over budgeting and development remains male-dominated.
Gender Wage Gaps and Service Provision
Will Mamdani’s administration challenge the gender wage gap in municipal employment? Will EMS workers, predominantly women, finally achieve pay parity with male police and corrections officers? Or will women continue earning less than men while providing essential emergency services?
Reproductive Justice and Care Work
Emmy Liss’s appointment as director of child care policy signals recognition that early childhood education is policy-relevant rather than purely private family responsibility. From a feminist and reproductive justice perspective, this represents important acknowledgment that women’s unpaid care work must become publicly supported. Yet whether Mamdani will adequately fund universal childcare or merely expand low-wage subsidized care for poor families remains unclear. Will child care workers, predominantly women of color, receive living wages and benefits?
Authority Links for Feminist Analysis
For feminist theory and gender justice perspectives, consult the Feminist Majority Foundation. Information about reproductive justice appears at SisterSong Reproductive Justice Collective. Gender wage gap analysis is available at the American Association of University Women. For gender and municipal governance, the National Women’s Law Center provides resources.
