Throughout the course of history in this country, all Presidents have been white males. This has been our status-quo of America since George Washington was elected as our first President. I believe that women can be just as successful, powerful, and determined to provide for the common welfare of the United States. Who is to say that women can’t make just as good choices as men? In fact, women might make even better Presidents than men, but we just do not know because we have never had one. We have never overcome our patriarchal and cultural prejudice that is hindering a progressive action such as electing a woman leader of one of the largest and most powerful Western nations of the world.

“More and more women are being granted very important positions in society today like CEOs, heads of regional agencies, and other valuable commissions,” Raquel Albriza, a registered nurse in AMSURG, said.

Instead of creating an unjustified quagmire in the Middle East, a woman

President can work with the international community and strive towards the creation of peace and communication between nations who have separated from the spectrum of diplomacy. As far as we know, it is the rich white men in politics who have perpetrated corruption, generated false information towards the public, and have divided this nation entirely. There was Andrew Jackson who removed more than 60,000 Indians from their native lands for the sake of “nationalism”, Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate Scandal which abused the powers of his office, Reagan’s involvement in the Iran-Contra affair while funding the CIA to specifically train the Taliban, and Bush’s illegal war perpetuated by Big Oil and predicated by false information for an apparently unsuccessful democratization process in Iraq.

I believe it is time to recognize that women can be excellent leaders of this country, as we have seen in other countries. Leaders like Helen Clark from New Zealand, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh, and President Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka have championed for women’s rights and pushed for more international recognition of women leadership and determination.

“Having a woman as President will be a rad idea! It’s about time anyways!” Joyce Sarria, junior, said.

A toxic mixture of chauvinism and segregation pervade our society. Are Americans ready for a woman president? Does conservatism and chauvinism prevent

Americans from viewing women as effective in power? Unfortunately, most males in this country view the idea of woman being elected leader as a threatening thing. Yet in order to move forward and socially evolve we must shed these arch-conservative ideas and become open minded individuals. “I think having a woman as U.S leader would be something different and yet new,” Dyanis Chavez, junior, said.