Women in Office

With the coming election, and a female presidential candidate, members of the media such as CNN and The Christian Science Monitor have been delving into what it may be like if our nation is to have its first female president.

CNN's article "Female voters set high standards for female candidates", states that "for the first time in history, a women has the visibility, the reputation and the cash to make a serious run at the presidency". The American public is used to an all male field, but the biggest problem a women candidate might face is the female voters themselves. Women tend to set very high standards for female candidates, in part because it is thought that most women expect the first women candidate to be a reflection of themselves, only better, states Marie Wilson, President of the White House Project. "There has never been a female president before, and we want them to be perfect. We want them to represent us." The article also goes on to state how women are up against a tougher set of standards then men are. There would be much more opposition against a women running at John McCain's age or with Barack Obama's experience. Even though women have made great advances in the last few decades, they still only make up about sixteen percent of Congress and at the state legislature level. Along with Condoleeza Rice and Nancy Pelosi, Geraldine Ferrero was one of the first major trailblazers for women in politics with her run for Vice President in 1984, sparking many women to think "if she can do it, so can I".

The Christian Science Monitor builds on this with "Imagining the world with more female heads of state". So many countries around the world have already had a female as their president. Why is it then that the United States, one of the most powerful, advanced and supposedly free thinking nations has not? Germany presently has a female head of state and this Sunday France will decide if they will have one as well. "In the United States, women can become astronauts and Supreme Court judges and cabinet ministers and governors and newspaper editors and publishers and secretaries of State, but the presidency has so far eluded them" states Hughes. He thinks that many in the United State's feel that women are not tough or forceful enough to rule, or rally troops in a time of war. If we look at history though, Ms Thatcher did very well rallying Britain's troops in war against Argentina, and when Israel was in danger of falling apart, Ms Meir was able to hold it together quite well also.

Hillary Clinton is now running for office, and Condoleeza Rice is an example of a female on the Republican side who might also be just as capable as any man running for president. At present, there are only eleven, maybe soon twelve nations throughout the world with a female head of state. Most of these are leading nations though. Maybe it is time for the United States to make a change. I am not personally, particularly in favor of Hillary Clinton but I do think that women are just as capable as men are to do the job. There have been many powerful and successful female rulers in the past and around the world today, and maybe it would bring a good change, and help to promote a better image for our nation in the future if more females came to power.