Is Having a Female US President Viable in 2012?

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I thought this up while watching Jill Stein speak in tonight's independent presidential debate. Do you think that it is culturally and politically viable to have a female president of the United States at this point in world history?

I should probably make one thing perfectly clear: this is in no way a sexist post on my behalf. If this was about my opinion, or the majority perspective of the US population, it wouldn't even be a question. I truly believe that we as a nation are progressive enough to have a female in the White House. So this really has nothing to do with my perception of women's roles in society.

Here's where I think things get interesting: you still have countries - major countries with huge political, economical and militaristic value and power - that have a patriarchal family system. There are several important countries to the East that simply hold the role of the man in much higher esteem than that of a woman. I don't question how the United States would react to a female president, I question how China, Japan, Korea, etc., would react to a female president. It's an important point that was brought up a lot in the 2008 election, but nutjobs like Sarah Palin did not help the progression any.

There are countries with female leaders, that's no secret. Obviously England still has the Queen, as do other countries like the Netherlands and Denmark. But England also has David Cameron. And since when did NE or Denmark count as viable political concerns? Germany has a female Chancellor. But who else is really progressive enough, Brazil? Australia?

I also realize there are clearly important female political figures throughout history. But in 2012, with the internet and modern communications connecting literally everyone on the globe (except North Korea...creepy bastards), is it viable? Not for a random African region to have a female leader, but for the United States of America to have a female leader.

Thoughts?

 

[Tastycles]

The queens of Denmark, UK etc. are more figureheads than leaders, but you have to look at the bigger picture here. I see where you are coming from, but I think that political leaders from the sorts of places you are talking about are generally better educated and more progressive socially than the general populace. Even saying that, most of those countries are coming round to a more equal state of affairs anyway.

China has had a female vice Premier, South Korea has had a female prime minister, Japan has an increasing female presence in its cabinet. Places like India and swathes of South America have had female leaders for several years. The effectiveness of Angela Merkel and to a greater extent Margaret Thatcher on the world stage would suggest the world is ready for major political players to be women, the exception perhaps being the strongly Islamist states, but they're hardly the US' best buddies anyway.

So I think it actually becomes an inward question. Would Americans elect a female president? Within my lifetime the idea of a black president seemed unfeasible, but we've seen that. However, the qualities usually attributed to great leaders are never said to be absent in black men, but perhaps they are in women. (Said to be, I mean, not actually absent). I think history has shown that the US is generally a few decades behind Western Europe when it comes to social reforms - I have no idea why, it just seems to be the case. For example, slavery ending, Civil Rights Movement, New Deal policies, giving women the vote all tended to come a bit later in the US. I don't know enough about how these attitudes are in the US to be sure, but given how close Hilary Clinton ran Obama in 2008, I would say that yes, the US could feasibly elect a female president.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Within my lifetime the idea of a black president seemed unfeasible, but we've seen that.

And it was no small thing, was it? Personally, I was proud of this country for being able to elect a black person as President, regardless of political beliefs. Many conservative publications that detested the idea of any Democrat attaining office still rejoiced at the accomplishment. Even with all the Republicans who could never vote for a Democrat and all the people who could never vote for a black person, Obama won, anyway. A wonderful accomplishment in the evolution of our country.

For all that, though, had Obama not appeared on the political scene, I think we might already have had our first woman President: Hillary Clinton. Gender aside, after the mess of two Bush administrations, the country was ripe for a change in the political party at the top and Hillary was right there.

Could I be wrong about Hillary's ability to win? Sure. Despite the polls, we don't really know what people would do. When speaking to a pollster, people often want to project an image of open-mindedness. They might say they'd vote for a woman, but once in the privacy of the voting booth, who knows what they'd do?

And what of the voting populace? This is the country that....amazingly.....re-elected George W. Bush, even after the folly of the Iraq war was widely known and after he had shown himself (imo) to be not smart enough to hold the most powerful office in the world. Given that, are we collectively savvy enough to look at the candidates for the qualities necessary to be President......or will so many people be struck dumb by the notion that the candidate is a woman that they'd be unable to pull the blue lever?

One thing seems certain: if the women who want the office are of the caliber of Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, I wouldn't vote for them, as much as I'd like to see a President of my gender. I don't want to read about damn family values.....I want to read how you're going to lead the country.

In 2012, no woman is running for the office. Maybe it will come in 2016.

 

[Trill Co$by]

As long as she's voted in for political views and not to "break sexual barriers" then I can see it happening, and I'd be proud to do so.

In the last election, I wasn't allowed to vote. I was only 17... one year off. But I still followed the election closely. I paid attention to both McCain's campaign and Obama's. I watched because I was in the midst of entering the adult world and I knew that the next four years would affect me greatly. I didn't care about military backgrounds, birth places, gender, or even skin color. All I cared about was what the two candidates had planned for the school systems and creating jobs for an economy that was losing jobs.

President Obama was my choice then. He had a plan that could help grow the economy. He was the guy that I wanted in the office, and he did. Yes, a racial barrier was broken, but that wasn't because of his skin. If he had been white, and I was able to, I still would've voted him. Why? Because he let us know that he wanted to push for more equal rights, he wanted to push the automotive industry, and he wanted to push for more graduating students from high school to find either a college to attend or a job to find... while also trying his best to help create more jobs in this country.

And he's done that in my opinion.

And if there ever comes a time where a Female candidate is running, and her views are right, then yes she can get into the white house. Of course, more than likely, the reason she gets voted in won't be because of that. She'll be voted in because of her gender and so America can continue to "break barriers"... and really that's where this country loses its brain cells.