Why has a woman never been elected President?

Throughout the world, women have risen to prominence in politics in almost every corner of the globe. These women have served in offices from prime minister, to governor-general, to president. In most cases, these amazing women have performed their duties equally as well as their male counterparts. However, in a world of increasing political equality with women rising to the pinnacle positions of political leadership, one glaring exception remains: the United States. 

Why has a woman never achieved the office of President of the United States? This question has been pondered by many, but no singular, conclusive answer has been presented. Some have stated that women are not psychologically as strong as men or are incapable of taking decisive action in crises; however, this has been disproved the world over by leading women in their respective countries. If the reason for this anomaly is not linked to a psychological of physiological difference, then what is the real reason for the lack of a female United States President? 

The reason for this omission can be inferred from a simple survey of American history. America is a teenage country as it relates to the history of the world. Many of the countries where women have risen to leadership have been around for thousands of years or  gained independence and established a government in the modern era as women were rising to prominence. America was founded at a time when women were harshly subjugated. This plays a vital role in understanding why more women have not risen to political prominence in America. Women fought for hundreds of years in countries throughout the world to be seen in an equal standing to men. With America being so young, the fight for political equality is just now gaining steam. 

To put this in historical perspective, it is pertinent to examine the time line of the prominent feminist movements and achievements in American history. The first wave of feminism bubbled to the surface in regard to gaining suffrage. This feat was not accomplished until the 19^th amendment was ratified in 1920. The second wave of feminism arose in the 1960s. Both of these movements have garnered women many rights that took hundreds or thousands of years for women to attain in other countries. These rights were achieved in two and a half centuries in this country. That is a great accomplishment. Instead of looking at the reasons that a woman has not risen to presidency, perhaps it would be more prudent to look at the reasons a woman would make a strong leader in the United States. To do this effectively, one can look into the resilience that women have portrayed throughout the history of the world. 

Adversity strikes every generation regardless of geography. Historically, women have been the glue that have held families together, doing whatever it takes to maintain the household from nursing wounds to entering the workforce. Often, these women place the needs of others in front of their personal needs. This is a rare quality in a leader, but an important one. This resilience and empathy can be seen every day when a single mother works one or more jobs in order to provide properly for her children. Sacrifice is a principle that women embody for the sake of others. 

Women have overcome destitution throughout history through hard work and determination. This ability remains with women today through the same means. However, in the United States’ economic system, poverty-stricken women have many more opportunities than their historical counterparts. The current crises that women face regarding health care, discrimination, parenting alone are different in name from the adversity that their historical counterparts faced, but the quality that maintained women during the plague is the same quality that maintains a woman who is facing gender discrimination today. A woman’s ability to rise above adversity is a very attractive quality on the resume for female leadership in the United States. 

It is only a matter of time before a woman is elected to the office of President of the United States. It will take a woman who is able to captivate the hearts and minds of the American people, as well as, presenting a strong leadership style. This country is ready for a female to lead, the only question that remains is, when will the right woman rise to the top and take the office?

Four months of doom…

I have come to a conclusion about the next four months of my life.

PANIC! OH MY DEAR SWEET LORD, WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO!

…

Wait a second.

Deep breath in…

Deep breath out…

*Woosah*

There. That’s better. Let me rephrase in the interest of maintaining a positive outlook. It is going to be extremely challenging.

I am going to be up to my eyes in text. Between my History class and my four English classes I might just die from all of the reading that I am going to have to do. The thing is, though, I love to read and I love classic lit, so it shouldn’t be terribly depressing, but it is going to be extremely time intensive. Unfortunately, time is not a commodity with which I can be too liberal. It is going to take some serious time management to make this semester work.

There is a tough balancing act that comes with cramming so much into life. Grievously, I am not very good with managing my limited time; therefore, my balancing act ends up like a retarded clown trying to juggle flaming torches. I just end up burnt to a crisp with a red rubber nose melted to my face in the middle of an arena full of spectators pointing and laughing. Oh yeah…and still retarded. Not really the place that I want to be.

It is all good, though. I have great professors and my classes are going to be awesome. I am going to delve deeper into the scholastic passions that drive my academic life. It should be a lot of fun actually. I am just concerned that I am going to run out of the ever elusive, always in demand asset. Time.

The paradox with taking on too much is that you accomplish more, but you don’t do as well as you could have if you just eased the pace back a bit. So quality suffers for the sake of quantity. This is never a good trade-off, but I want to finish school so badly that I would have taken 100 credit hours if they would have allowed it. It is more than just school, however. Life is just coming at me full throttle right now and I guess that I’m not handling it well.

Meh. I have to get out of this funk today. Otherwise I am going to drive those around me to murder. To murder me, that is. That is another place that I don’t want to be. You know…

Dead.

Anyway…

I am excited about this weekend. I get to hang out with my girls and actually sit down and get some homework done. Should be fairly productive. Also, I’m out of scheduled writing so I’m going to have to really step up my posting. I might just become a blogger one of these days. Until then, you are stuck with my current incarnation. A sometimes poster who pokes fun at MR.

Man, I’m a douche.

Have a great weekend everyone!

What is on the Horizon for Spring?

Well the time for registration has come and gone and I am officially registered for Spring classes. I also finished some other important housekeeping items that were hanging over my head at the meeting with my advisor. I have been pursuing the same degree in education off and on for several years now, but, according to the official school record, I had not declared my major. Now I am a bona fide English major also pursuing my teaching certificate.

Also, through a strange exercise of fate, it seems as if I am going to receive a second bachelor’s degree in History as well. I had been pursuing a history degree until last semester when I switched my major to English because I love writing and hope to pursue a career in this field. Unfortunately during my pursuit of this degree when I was young and dumb, I took four History classes that I just stopped attending mid-semester following my marriage. This means I have four failing grades to redeem in order to bring my GPA back up to where I am happy with it. As a result, I will be one class away from obtaining my History degree in addition to the degree in English. I would be a fool not to take this opportunity.

So why am I telling you this? Simple, I just want you to be prepared for what is in store for the coming semester and what subjects I will be writing about. Without further ado, here are the classes that I will be taking.

Lit Matters– I am not sure what this class holds in store for me as a writer. There is no course synopsis available, but I do know the professor quite well, and she always comes up with interesting writing assignments so I am expecting good things from this one.

Women Writers– This is another class that is being taught by Professor P (My lit instructor), so I should have some great subject matter to write about. She displays a few feminist tendencies, but I love her teaching style and the way that she loves literature, so I am definitely looking forward to this one.

British Literature II: The 19th Century-Present– I am actually really excited about this class. British literature is the root of American literature. Although this class is focused the period following the Revolutionary War, I believe that I will get to experience many of the authors that influenced early American literature. I will also get to read some great classic lit which is exciting for a nerd like me. 

Theory and Practice– This is another required class for my English degree. This one should focus on the “how-to’s” of writing and the theories behind why we write the way we do. This class has the potential to be extremely burdensome, but we will have to wait and see how it all pans out. This is an on-line class, so whether it sinks or floats all depends on how well the professor communicates with the students. I have had good and bad on-line experiences, so this one is up in the air.

Women in European History– This is a repeat of one of the classes that I bombed several years ago the semester after getting married and preparing for fatherhood. I am excited to get back into a history class as I do have a love for the history of our planet. Specifically American history, but I have a soft spot for learning about the events that shaped the landscape of today’s geopolitical terrain. This is an on-line class as well, so I hope to have several papers to share with you from this course.

I am looking to take a sixth class (technology in the classroom), but the powers that be at my school have instituted a new overload policy where any schedule over 17 hours must be approved by the administration. My advisor told me that they had been very rare in granting their approval. Hopefully Drury will allow me to take this class because I have a lot of work to do and a limited time to get it done.

I am extremely excited about this semester (I am a dork, I know. What can I say?). I can’t wait to share the interesting things that I learn with you and I hope that you are looking forward to reading them as well.