FROM THE PUBLISHER ’ S DESK
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OK , Kamala Harris is a woman . And ?
U
. S . Vice President Kamala Harris ’ election to the nation ’ s second highest office “ is a testament to how far we have come ,” said Felicia Davis , president and CEO of Chicago Foundation of Women .
Is it ?
Don ’ t we remember that the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920 ? Which means that one woman ’ s rise to political power in the U . S . occurred a century after the triumph of the women ’ s suffrage movement . Therefore , Harris ’ election to the vice presidency — in 2020 — is a testament to how backward we have been .
This is the bewildering aspect of American society . It boasts of “ equality ” as its main value ; yet , there are incessant talks about a supposed struggle for gender equality and a monotonous chant about “ breaking the glass ceiling .”
Other nations put us to shame . The world ’ s political history is filled with women presidents and prime ministers . Among them : Golda Meir ( Israel ), Margaret Tatcher and Teresa May ( UK ), Indira Ghani ( India ), Benazir Bhutto ( Pakistan ), Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ( Philippines ), Julia Gillard ( Australia ), Tsai Ing-wen ( Taiwan ) , Hilda Heine ( Marshall Islands ), Isabel Peron and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ( Argentina ), Sirimavo Bandaranike ( Sri Lanka ), Elizabeth Domitien ( African Republic ), Helle Thorning-Schmidt ( Denmark ), Yingluck Shinawatra ( Thailand ), Angela Merkel ( Germany ), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ( Liberia ), Sheik Hasian Wajed ( Bangladesh ), Dalia Grybaukaite ( Lithuania ), Dilma Rousseff ( Brazil ). These countries ask : “ What glass ceiling ?”
On Guam , it ’ s old news , as well . You just have to look at the three branches of the local government .
Back in America , Kamala Harris is
“ Why is women ’ s leadership not in the headlines ?” reads the title of an article on unwomen . org . “ The question that we need to ask is , why is women ’ s leadership invisible ?” The answer is because political decisions and policies are better discussed based on their merits rather than the gender of the leader who makes them . This is the true gauge of equality .
this year ’ s biggest news , eclipsing Joe Biden . There are more stories about Harris being “ the first woman , the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be vice president of the United States ” than stories about her actual accomplishments . What do we really know about what she has done and what she will do for the nation ? Being a woman is not an accomplishment in itself , but somehow , most people find gender ideology more romantic than anything else .
We have misguided discourses — too obsessed with gender , I think — that we lose perspectives . I am a proud American . I chose to become a naturalized citizen because I am attracted to American values . I recognize the existence of equal opportunities and choices . Even choosing to be a stayhome mom is an option rather than an imposition .
I am probably one of the few who get tired of womencentric talks . But I recognize the irony of this statement given that this piece is about women . This is my own rebellious contribution to the “ Vagina Monologues .”
But who is stopping women , really ? There ’ s too much talk about women ’ s phantom foes . If there was a glass ceiling , Nancy Pelosi wouldn ’ t have been the speaker of the U . S House of
Representatives . I do not believe there was a conscious decision to give her a second speakership term based on her gender .
In 2016 , 63 percent of women who were eligible to vote said they cast ballots in the presidential election compared with 59 percent of men , according to a Pew survey . That year , Hillary Clinton did not win the presidential election — not because of her gender but because of her past failures and transgressions as the state secretary .
Last year ’ s U . S . presidential election evinced a political door that is wide open . In a political period like no other — with a record-breaking number of women seeking the presidency — the game has been reinvented .
But it doesn ’ t help when we continue to perpetuate the victim mentality .
“ Why is women ’ s leadership not in the headlines ?” reads the title of an article on unwomen . org . “ The question that we need to ask is , why is women ’ s leadership invisible ?”
The answer is because political decisions and policies are better discussed based on their merits rather than the gender of the leader who makes them . This is the true gauge of equality .
Our generation has been presented with options and opportunities . We can choose to lead or we can choose to stay home . We pick what we want to do . This is how we show respect and gratitude to the first wave of feminists , who made this happen for women .
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