Did you know that more than 200 women have actually run for the office of President of the United States? However, Hillary Clinton is the first woman to become the presumptive nominee of a major party in the USA’s 240-year history. Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run in 1872 on an Equal Rights ticket, even before women had the right to vote!
One might ask, why has it taken so long to achieve this milestone? There are currently 22 women who lead other countries including Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Denmark, South Korea, Kosovo, Switzerland, Senegal, Slovenia, Chile, and Poland.
The United States espouses to be a country where anyone can achieve any dream that they desire. We are the land of the free, the home of the brave. We are a democracy. We are a country that has legislated equality for most of our citizens (there is still no federal legislation to protect the LGBT community). The term meritocracy is freely used as one of our key values.
Women represent over 50 percent of the US population so one might reasonably conclude that being the majority would have led to a nominee before now.
The World Economic Forum conducts a gender gap study every year on the status of women around the world. The Global Gender Gap Index 2015 ranks 145 economies according to how well they are leveraging female talent based on economic, educational, health-based and political markers. One might think that the US would be at the top of such a list given our focus on equal rights. The US actually ranks 28 behind such countries as Germany, France, Norway, UK, and South Africa! One of the main reasons for the US ranking is our lack of women in high political positions.
The reason that is has taken so long is that even though we aspire to be a model of equality, fairness and inclusion, the truth of the matter is that we are not there yet. While we have made significant progress over the past 240 years, we have a long way to go. Who would have believed that in 2016 we would have a Republican presidential candidate that spews hate and racism and it essentially goes unchecked?
Hillary Clinton’s nomination juxtaposed to Donald Trump’s is very telling. It shows the struggle that we still have in trying to live the values that we espouse as a country. Other countries looking at The United States are likely confused about what we stand for right now. For that matter, we are confused about what we stand for. The stark contrast of polarized views does not bode well for a “United” States of America. Hillary Clinton is our only hope to move us towards an inclusive society where anyone really can achieve anything they desire.
