In the 'civil rights comes of age' thread, I mentioned my hope that we'll very soon see a female President of the United States. Others are more pessimistic that this will happen any time soon.
For me, it is a little surprising that it hasn't happened yet; the UK had its first female prime minister in 1979, Ireland's first female president was in the 1990s and her successor was also a woman; other European countries, including Norway, have had female prime ministers, as have had other countries including India, Pakistan, the Central African Republic and even (briefly) Canada. Of course, it can always be said that there hasn't yet been a qualified candidate, though I think most of us could name candidates who are qualified but who did not run, or who may have run but were not selected. Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice for starters; I remember at one time Elizabeth Dole was talked about as a possibility; and of course Geraldine Ferraro was a VP candidate. I'll just add here that when I say 'qualified' I'm talking about their experience and demonstrated ability in government/public life; it's not an invitation to comment on their political views and partisan orientation and use those as a reason to say they're not qualified!
So, throwing out a few points for discussion - and let's try to leave the partisanship behind, please?
- Why hasn't there yet been a female president?
- How long do you think it'll take before the first woman is elected president? Four years? Eight? Twelve? More?
- Is there a woman in public life today who you would like to see as president? Who do you think will be the first woman president?
Have fun debating!
Wendy
