Are we ready for a female President?

A few months ago, our Women's History class had a brief conversation about whether or not America  should have  a female president. This controversial subject that caught my eye and my interest in the subject was rekindled in my research about my woman of the week: Belva Lockwood. Besides becoming the first female lawyer, another one of her greatest achievements was that she was the first female to "officially" run for office with n actual campaign. Doing this she managed to gain nearly 5,000 votes, which where all from a male audience since women where not able to vote at the time. If a woman was brave enough to do it in that time period why not  cant the women  of the women of the 21st century stake a strive for the big chair as well?

In my opinion I think a woman is  completely capable of being president; as long as she has the qualities that are needed to lead a nation. I fell very strongly about this, however, there does seem to be some obstacles that even today prevent women from obtaining the position of president. An article I read said that, "American Presidents typically come from just a few high level offices, most of which have had relatively few female occupants."(Ross Cohen). This was an interesting  point because when you think back into the colonization period, many of the presidents were former army generals. Women weren't allowed to fight in the army back then but, even in this day and age where woman actually can join the armed forces, there are very few female generals; even to this day. Another example that the article presents is that even despite the efforts of women like Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro, there has yet to be a female vice president. It also says that even though  many women have been elected as senators and governors, the percentage  of men in these occupations greatly out weigh the percentage of women. Some may deem this as a great accomplishment for women in the political world and others may see it as an aspect the women need to improve on before they consider leading a nation.


Even as I am for  the idea of a female president I feel that others might even take it for granted. They might  not take a female president as seriously as they would a male. They might focus on the more superficial aspects of the female president than they cause they support and their efforts to build a nation. I can just see it now: Hilary Clinton reciting her 2016 inauguration speech and all that's being talked about in the tabloids is the color of the pantsuit she wore that day. There are some women today who would wholeheartedly support a woman going into office, yet, there are also those who are stuck and the past and see men as the better leaders because of the apparent "toughness", "strength", and "aggressiveness" that they have that women supposedly don't. The truth is that women can be as tough and aggressive as they need to be when the time calls for it and at the same time still hold on to their innate nurturing qualities.

Maybe its time for us to break away from the stern and demanding leaders that we have had for centuries and look into a new type of president: one whose nurturing and can empathize with her nation, treating it as if the whole nation its self were her own child. A president who could carry her nation along side her as she helps it grow and prosper into something even better than it was before.  And a president who is welling to recognized all people as equals regardless of their race, background, or ethnicity. We need a president who is able to reform the nation and act as a precedent for other women to do the same.  What do you guys think?