I am a Hillary fan. Maybe you are, too, or maybe you're not. Let's not get stuck there... that's not what this is about.
There's something much more important for us to discuss -- something more important than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Something bigger. Something that impacts the future of our country and the world. A future that will continue to malfunction if we don't correct it.
And this "something" has nothing to do with men. It's strictly about women -- and how we perceive ourselves. You see, a woman will only become president when we, as women, change our biases about what a president looks like. About what a president can be. About what a president can do.
About the fact that a woman can indeed -- should indeed -- be president.
It is time for us to closely examine WHY we don't support other women. Why are we scared to step out and speak up? What is the root of that fear? And why do we let that fear control us?
Fear devours capabilities. It devours bold thinking. It devours our ability to be daring.
Other countries have had women presidents for decades. From, of course, Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, to Israel's Golda Meir, to Mary McAleese of Ireland, to 21 other women leading countries across the world today, like Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, or President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.
And you know what has been discovered about a country's gross domestic product when a woman is at the helm? You guessed it -- it increases.
In their article, Women Presidents Outperform Their Male Counterparts in Complex Economies, and study published in the Journal of International Affairs, Nicholas A. Pearce, PhD, Susan Perkins and Katherine Phillips found that,
...Women outperform their male counterparts when it comes to growing the gross domestic product (GDP), a globally significant measure of national economic progress...In countries characterized by the highest levels of ethnic diversity (read: the most complex and divided, such as the Central African Republic and Liberia), having a female national leader is correlated with a 6.6 percent GDP growth rate in the following year, as compared to a rate of less than one percent with a male leader.
This revelation, which is the product of a five-decade examination of 5,700 national leader observations in 139 nations, dispels the myth that women are too maternal, lack strength or are otherwise ill-equipped to provide senior-level leadership in trying times and amid complex circumstances. Our findings reveal that not only can women grow global economies, but that a little motherly sensitivity can go a long way in guiding a nation in need of healing to not only mend, but thrive.
I realize we are not a war-torn country. Yet. But we need a president who can help heal the deep divisions in our country, the fractious nature of our government, the deep and wide socioeconomic gaps and the racial tension in the cities across our country.
I believe a woman is equipped to do that best. The numbers prove it.
The U.S. needs a woman in charge. We need a woman president. It is time. Be brave, my fellow women, and say it with me. Believe it with me. Live it with me.
We can handle it. We can do it. We can be it.
Perhaps my first sentence of this article should have said, "I am a woman president fan."
Can you say that you are a woman president fan? Have you thought about your biases? If not, please do. Our country needs strong leaders from both genders, but it desperately needs strong female leadership.
Women were granted the right to vote in 1920, but it wasn't until 1980 that we established ourselves as a meaningful part of the system. Really ladies? Will it take us 60 more years to take our place in the oval office?
Only we can decide.