Jennifer Lee. My Daughter Can Be President
When I grew up, all the leaders were men. Presidential debates were always between men. The image of the presidents throughout American history was all men. The pages of a daily newspaper showed men making decisions while women were relegated to the style sections. My grandmother, born in 1910, often told me that it was “better to be a boy” because it was a “man’s world.” She wasn’t being negative; she was imparting to me a fact in her world.
This was a long time ago, and we know that the world has changed tremendously for women and girls. Yet, many images remain the same. In the United States, women hold only 17 percent of our congressional seats, and we have never had a female president or vice president. The words “it’s a man’s world” may not be said to a girl directly, but the images tell her that men lead. These images shouldn’t be a girl’s “inheritance.”
I’ve witnessed how these images have impacted girls time and time again. In 1987, my six-year-old sister said to my mother, “Women can’t be president.” My mother replied, “Just because we haven’t had a woman president doesn’t mean we will never have a woman president.” My sister insisted her own point was right because she had never seen a woman as president. In 2008, the six-year-old daughter of a friend announced to her teenage sister that women couldn’t be president because there had never been a woman as president. In 2010, a friend told me that his fourteen-year-old daughter told him she wanted to be a lawyer. After a brief pause she asked him, “Can women be lawyers?” Her father was astounded and asked me why she would ask such a question.
It is shocking that girls would say these things. After all, we all know that women can be lawyers and even president. So why are girls asking these questions? The answer is complex, and we might not know all the reasons at this time. However, there are steps we can take right now that will change her view of the world and of herself. A girl needs to know in her heart and mind that she can lead. She needs to see it. We can show her she can be a leader.
