Civilization took birth in India, Egypt, China and then spread
to the west. The Americas were discovered only other day by Christopher Columbus
and are hence called the new world. The ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the
teaching institutions of Takshila and Nalanda, the art in the caves of Ajanta,
the sculptures and the architectural wizardry of the Kailasa temple in Ellora
and the Sphinx of Egypt, the relics of Han civilization in China all stand
testimony to the rich history and civilization of the East. Varanasi remains
the most ancient living city and Hinduism the most ancient religion. When you
compare this heritage to what the West and the new world has to offer you know
how incomparable they are. We, the descendants of this civilization may not
have lived up to it of late, and fallen back on developmental milestones that
matter today but civilization once acquired cannot be lost. It is passed on
from one generation to the next and its essence is never lost and lasts forever.
Both in Hindu and in Greek mythology there have been countless
Goddesses who have been worshiped. Right from historical times women have
enjoyed a pride position in our societies and have been unhesitatingly accepted
as leaders in all spheres of life. Whether it was Rani Laxmibai or Rani Padmini
or Rani Chennamma or Razia Sultana or Begum Hazrat Mahal, we, both men and
women, had unquestionably accepted them as leaders and they never disappointed
by their bravery and courage. Similarly Cleopatra VII ruled ancient Egypt as
co-regent (first with her father, then with her two younger brothers and
finally with her son) for almost three decades. She was part of a dynasty of
Macedonian rulers founded by Ptolemy and an undisputed leader.
In recent times we have had great women leaders like Indira
Gandhi in India, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Sirimavo Bandernayeke and
Chandrika Kumaratunga in Sri Lanka, Khalida Zia and Shekh Hasina in Bangladesh,
Soong Ching-ling in China, Corazon Aquino in Philippines, Golda Maira in Israel
and Tsai Ing Wen in Taiwan who made a mark in public life and served their countrymen
with distinction.
Europe though had the once mighty British Empire ruled
ceremonially by Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth but took a very long time to
accept a woman political leader in Margaret Thatcher and later in the German
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Once again they ruled almost unchallenged and with
great distinction to steer their economy out of the woods. Julia Gillard was a
very efficient leader of Australia and now off course we have Jackinda Ardern
in New Zealand, Sanna Marin in Finland and at least in ten other nations in the
world today. So women undoubtedly can be very efficient, able and caring when
they are at the helm and democracies have repeatedly chosen them to lead. Even
the Inca and Moche civilization in South America again had many examples of
female warriors and high priestesses who ruled their land in the past and so
Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina have had female Presidents.
So now with this background I pose my question - why is the
United States of America not prepared to choose a woman President? Whether you
liked her or not, you cannot deny that Hillary Clinton was immensely qualified.
So was the Massachusetts senator and former Harvard law professor Elizabeth
Warren, who threw in her towel in favour of Joe Biden recently. An
excellent orator, with a brilliant track record as a Senator, why did she fail
to make the mark? Why do you think this blatant practice of sexism is
celebrated in America?
This is where civilization comes in. It is a new world they do
not have a history of trusting women with leadership roles. They gave voting
rights to women only the other day! Women's
suffrage in the United States of America, the legal right of women to
vote, was established over the course of more than half a century, first in
various states and localities, sometimes on a limited basis, and then
nationally in 1920. The demand for women's suffrage began to gather
strength in the 1840s, but the country chose to ignore and suppress it till
1920.
There have been many famous women in all spheres in America –
science, art, medicine, culture, films, media, sports, military and space but
before Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton they have no history of political
leadership of some stature by women and when even they fail to break he glass
ceiling Americans will still continue to ignore 50% of their precious human
resource while choosing their President. And we still call it a
developed country!
Regardless of their social and political
status and their individual culture's values, women everywhere have led active
lives. They have worked to bear and raise children; to produce food and
contribute to the household and social economy; to participate in the decision
making of their society; and to be major practitioners of spiritual rites. The
contributions of women to ancient civilizations continue to have an impact on
women's lives today.
The United States of America which supports other countries
to protect human rights, build international relations, avoid gender
discrimination and achieve economic development. Surprisingly, a country where
more than 50 percent of population is woman has never elected a female
president. This issue constantly draws attention because from the first
presidential elections in 1789 to present, Americans have always distrusted
woman candidate.
The history of Native Americans demonstrates a huge
division between the roles of males and females. Even after the foundation of
the US Constitution, legal gender discrimination took place. For example,
founder women were excluded from the list of Founding Fathers. Founding
Fathers, the use of masculine pronouns ‘he’ and ‘his’ in the US Constitution,
extension of the deadline of ERA’s ratification and pregnancy discrimination,
which still remains impeding factor for American women. Then again men are more
interested in politics than women and this is fundamental reason of women’s
under-representation in politics, but this is a world wide phenomenan. Male candidates routinely
out-poll and routinely raise more funds to run their campaigns than women do
This risk-averseness is compounded by
mainstream American media, which reflects the internalized misogyny of the
public. Not only does cable news pay an disproportionate amount of
attention to the white, male candidates, ensuring they stay high in the
polls but print and digital media reporters too are equally guilty. In a recent
study found, tend to describe them more positively. The Northeastern University
School of Journalism analyzed 200 articles, focusing on the five most-read
news websites according to Amazon's Alexa: The Washington Post, The New
York Times, HuffPo, CNN, and Fox News. Researchers looked at the percentage of
positive words used to describe 2020 presidential candidates. The candidates by
media sentiment from highest to lowest, were: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen.
Cory Booker, Beto O'Rourke, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy
Klobuchar, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. The pattern here
is unmistakable. Sen. Bernie Sanders even went on to say “Anybody knows me knows
that it’s incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president
of the United States.”
So, America will not have a woman President
in near future because this is a civilization thing.
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