Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of first women mayors in the United States


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Withdrawn. Thanks, all, for citing references below that establish that the list topic is notable (even though this is not reflected in the list article itself).  Sandstein  08:15, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

List of first women mayors in the United States

 * – ( View AfD View log )

This fails WP:NLIST. It cites no source that discusses "first women mayors" as a group or topic, as opposed to the individual elections, which are of mainly local interest. In other words, the article does not establish why "first women mayors" is a topic more worthy of a list than "first male mayors", "first left-handed mayors" or any number of other possible characteristics of mayors.  Sandstein  12:27, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Women-related deletion discussions.   Sandstein   12:27, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politics-related deletion discussions.   Sandstein   12:27, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions.   Sandstein   12:27, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

Comment: this is a list article, so one wouldn't expect a lot of introductory text. A google search for "gender bias in united states mayors" produces a lot of hits, both in primary research articles and some secondary newspaper stuff, about gender bias in local administration, whether it's harder for women to reach positions of power in local politics, and related issues. I would expect readers interested in feminism to be interested in tracing the acceptance of female local politicians across the US, and that is the value of this list. It's pure speculation on my part, but I think referencable, even if not currently referenced. I am not an expert on feminism, so I'm not 'voting' as such, but I don't think this list is as arbitrary as first left-handed mayors or any other characteristic. It is a list based on a characteristic that is recognised to be subject to discrimination (and is therefore, in the UK, legally protected, one of a fairly small list of protected characteristics); I would feel the same about a list of first disabled mayors. Elemimele (talk) 12:38, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Gender bias in US politics is certainly a notable topic, and a lot has been written about it. But that's not the same as the topic of "first female mayors". To ensure that our coverage remains focused and verifiable, our notability guidelines require that all topics we cover as separate articles or lists have, as such, been covered in some depth in reliable sources. So, if somebody finds a book with a title like "Female Mayors in the US: A History", the list can stay; otherwise, it can't.  Sandstein   13:03, 4 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Keep. Women mayors is certainly a notable topic, as evidenced by this list at the Center for American Women and Politics. There are also many, many news articles about first women mayors of various cities or states (and speculation about who will be the first in major cities like New York): . WP:NLIST says that "There is no present consensus for how to assess the notability of more complex and cross-categorization lists." I'm satisfied that this cross-categorization is encyclopedic and notable. pburka (talk) 13:33, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep, and not just because this list is cited along with other related research in a report titled How Far Yet to Go? commissioned by the ACLU Foundation of Georgia. In 2017, The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), in an article titled, Women mayors are ready to stand up and be counted, in a campaign with UN Women, called on the United Nations Statistical Commission "to develop global indicators to track the proportion of elected women at local level." The authors are first women mayors in their municipalities, and their advocacy for data collection includes, "We can only achieve equality if we know where we are now and can measure our progress." Also, 2019 research from the Institute for Research on Public Policy titled Only a fifth of Canadian mayors are women reviews news coverage and data about mayors (and first female mayors) in Canada, which further supports notability of the topic as a group or set. There is also at least one recent AfD discussion I recall with WP:SECONDARY coverage about the significance of a first woman mayor in the United States. Additional keywords that may help find additional sources include Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Voting Rights Act of 1965, but I believe sufficient sources exist to support notability per WP:NLIST. Beccaynr (talk) 14:59, 4 August 2021 (UTC) And there are books, including a book discussing the first woman mayor in the United States, as well as the challenge generally of running for office while denied the right to vote: Women and Politics: A Quest for Political Equality in an Age of Economic Inequality, a textbook discussing the historical increase in women mayors at p. 315: State and Local Government, and what appears to be a table at p. 121 of Women Municipal Officials in Women's Changing Role. Beccaynr (talk) 15:33, 4 August 2021 (UTC) Also, here is another first female mayor AfD (US), although I seem to be the only one who mentioned this WP:SECONDARY coverage in the discussion, and a first female mayor AfD (Canada), which offer further support for the notability of the topic 'first female mayors.' Beccaynr (talk) 23:37, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep There are folders full of discussions about first women mayors (to borrow a phrase); a list of those discussions is entirely appropriate. FWIW, so would a list (likely, mostly men) of the first mayors of cities, towns etc. in the US since this is an indication of local (democratic) governance. Then again, 15 minutes on Google Books finds, a list of: Female Mayors of Mid-Size Cities That Are Not Capitals. and Table 9.1: First Female Mayors of Cities with more than 150,000 residents (p. 238) ... there's a whole chapter on the topic.


 * Regards, --Goldsztajn (talk) 07:55, 5 August 2021 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.