× ![obama-sotu-2009.jpg](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/obama-sotu-2009.jpg)
![rt_obama_sotu_2_100127_mn.jpg](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/rt_obama_sotu_2_100127_mn.jpg)
![Screen shot 2011-01-25 at 9.43.51 PM.png](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/Screen%20shot%202011-01-25%20at%209.43.51%20PM-thumb-400x305.png)
Take a look at these SOTU photos:
2009:
![obama-sotu-2009.jpg](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/obama-sotu-2009.jpg)
2010:
![rt_obama_sotu_2_100127_mn.jpg](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/rt_obama_sotu_2_100127_mn.jpg)
2011:
![Screen shot 2011-01-25 at 9.43.51 PM.png](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/Screen%20shot%202011-01-25%20at%209.43.51%20PM-thumb-400x305.png)
Even tonight's splash page on whitehouse.gov features Rep. Nancy Pelosi (also, nice tilt-shift):
![Screen shot 2011-01-25 at 9.44.43 PM.png](http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/Screen%20shot%202011-01-25%20at%209.44.43%20PM-thumb-400x219.png)
It's not that President Obama is flanked by a Republican; it's that this moment when our government is on display fails to prominently feature a woman. Sure, women are out there on the floor, but they aren't in the top three. This isn't just a bad visual: Women's representation in Congress decreased last year for the first time in three decades. And that is something we should be ashamed of.
--Phoebe Connelly