You still have a long way to go, baby.

The Georgia General Assembly is not the frat house it was 40 years ago, but it is far from a cotillion.

In 1922, the state elected its first two women to the General Assembly. It took 55 years for that number to grow. Today, 46 women hold elected office in the state House and Senate, 19.5 percent of all 236 Georgia lawmakers.

The demographic change, to some, has helped make the state Capitol a more civilized place.

Gone are the wild and barely concealed parties of yesteryear, the gambling and a "secretarial pool" of female staffers who did more than type and take dictation for male lawmakers.

But some women currently working under the Gold Dome say male chauvinism has not disappeared from the General Assembly, and it won't, perhaps, until the ratio of female and male state lawmakers is more reflective of the general population.

By comparison, women account for slightly more than half the general state population and roughly 55 percent of the state's registered voters, roughly the same ratios as the rest of the nation.

However, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Georgia General Assembly ranks 33rd in the percentage of women serving as elected lawmakers in the nation's 50 state legislatures.

Vermont is number 1. Four out of 10 of its state legislators are women.

—- Ben Smith

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interviews by Elissa Eubanks

"Women make up 50 percent of the population across the nation; almost no legislature has more than 25 percent women, which I think is a shame because I think we have a different way of working with people."

Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) is serving her sixth term. As majority caucus chairman in 2004, she was the highest-ranking woman in the Georgia House. This year she chaired the House Health and Human Services committee.

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"I never planned to run for office, so I really didn't know what to expect when I came down here. It's different from anything you ever do. I was shocked by the fact that it was still such a good old boy system."

Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) stands at the well to address the House chamber while behind her (from left) Speaker Pro Tempore Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek), Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons) and Speaker Glenn Richardson speak about other issues.

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"I was told in meetings that people were worried about whether I could handle it and I was new. And you know, you've got to have grit, you've got to believe what you are doing and you can't get frightened. I am the ranking woman in the House, Senate, Democrat, Republican, black or white, which means I've been here 26 years. They used to say the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world; well, that may very well be true, but I can tell you on this floor you would never know it."

Rep. Georganna Sinkfield

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"Can we get [cranky] and can we fight and stand up for issues? Yeah, we do occasionally, but I think there is more of 'oh, come on into my office, get a cup of coffee, let's try to talk about this, let's try to find a compromise.' I think we're more willing to try to work out the different factions to come up with a compromise, and that's usually what happens down here."

Rep. Sharon Cooper

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"Age matters when you're in politics, unfortunately, and if you don't have the right image, you don't go far. I had a facelift, and I never —- if I had not been in public office and if I hadn't been on television all the time and, you know, getting interviewed and all this stuff —- I never would have done that. It's been difficult to try and fit in."

Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) stands with fellow senators on the steps of the Capitol for a press conference with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

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"I mean, it's a man's world, and there's still a lot more men than there are women, but I think it has changed a lot. There are more women now in the Legislature than there have ever been in the history of the Legislature. ... The men down here are so sweet, I mean, they're like sweet little Southern gentlemen and they let you off and on the elevators first and they hold doors open for you and it's really nice."

Clelia Davis, communications director for Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, sits in the front row (forefront) of the House chamber at the Capitol during the session.

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"We don't give up a job. We take on another job."

Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta)

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"I feel like the men have well received me. I don't feel any different from them, so I feel like one of the guys."

Rep. Amy Carter (D-Valdosta) whispers to daughter Mary Alex Carter, 9, while son Davis Carter, 7, watches behind the scenes at the Senate. Carter's family was in town for the weekend and she brought them to the Senate side for a brief visit so they could gavel in some resolutions and get a photo with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Carter, who lives in Valdosta, stays in an apartment while she's in Atlanta and makes the drive to visit her family on the weekends.

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