Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Beyond the Double Blind

According to a top scholar on politics in the United States there has been a “seismic change” in the cultural assumptions of women and leadership.   I feel that this is obvious sense there are an increasing amount of stories being published about women winning positions as mayor of their towns or cities.  Also with the bigger name women leading the way are obviously Hillary Clinton and Sara Palin.  In Article  “Making a Difference in the U.S.A. Women In Politics” Kathleen Hall Jamieson author of Beyond The Double Blind Women And Leadership  she Speaks about women who have of lately made a push to gain leadership positions not only in the united states but around the world.  Women have increasingly been winning positions of governors, seats in congress, in presidential cabinets, as heads of major philanthropies, and as university professors, all of which have demonstrated there ability to be leaders to the public (Jamison).

 It seems to me that the days of women being forced into stay at home jobs and child caring are coming to an end and with every it seems that more women are pushing the envelope to gain higher positions politically and professionally.  This is undoubtedly paving the way for a louder and more influential female voice in the United States.  Jamison also said in her interview that women should look to the other countries that have been lead completely by women as an example that shows that eventually the day will come that the U.S. elects its first women president. 

My understanding to this is that with more and more women over coming the sexual biases of our culture and political system eventually something will give way to the age of women having an equal say in our political endeavors.  Take for example our presidential race right now.  Twenty years ago no one thought there would ever be a black president even running for the office, however 20 years later we have a black candidate about to win.  It’s only a matter of time that the women’s movement becomes so strong that they too will push a leader into the oval office.   

 

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womenpolitics/jamieson.htm

1 comment:

cammoody said...

Although it is true that more and more women are getting higher spots in jobs, politics, and so on, I do not think that will change society's way of treating women.

Overtime, there will be a slower rise of women getting higher positions and getting higher up on the "food chain," but even with the women that are in these high positions, no matter how high up they are, they can't change the plights that face women all around the country. It is a similar situation with the Presidential race. Some think that if Barack wins, the problems that the black community faces in America will just go away, but this is not true. It will be a small step forward for race relations in America, but no matter what, the majority vote still wins. It is the same in the case of women gaining power.

Although the women are gaining more and more power than they ever had, these women in power will not be able to change how society thinks, and with such a history as our society has had, it will take a lot to completely turn around its traditional thoughts on race, as well as sex relations.