I can't even begin to address the third question, since I know far, far too little about American politics, politicians and public figures for that. (Ummmm... I like Oprah! But Oprah as the Presdident of the United States... naaahhh...)

But let me post a few musings about why it might be harder for a woman than for a black man to get elected President of the United States. First, the United States is not just any country, it is the First Country of the world. The President of the United States might in some ways be regarded as the President of the world. Of course, the world doesn't get to vote for this President, only the Americans get that privilege. So it is the Americans who decide not only who will be their own President, but also who will get to represent the full strength and power of their great country to the world. And will the Americans be content to let itself be represented primarily by a female face? Yes, it is possible, but I think that many Americans would rather have a man as Captain of the mighty American ship. I just think many Americans think that that feels safer.

Let me tell you something that may or may not be relevant, but that I myself consider significant. The largest church in Sweden, the Lutheran Church of Sweden, is very liberal. Anyone who wants to serve as a minister in the Church of Sweden has to agree to serve along with all other ministers of that church, including all its female ministers. But a small but vociferous group of conservative male clergymen demand the right to refuse to serve with female ministers and still be a part of the church. The church has denied their requests and said that these conservative clergymen can't be ordained in the Church of Sweden, and therefore they can't serve as ministers there.

So the conservative clergymen found that they couldn't be ordained in their own church. In response, one of them, Arne Olsson, turned to bishop Walter Obare Omwanza of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya and asked him to ordain him!

[Linked Image]

Arne Olsson, conservative clergyman of Sweden.

[Linked Image]

Bishop Walter Obare Omwanza of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya.

In other words, Arne Olsson would make a black man his superior in order to avoid the indignity of having to make a woman his equal. I do find that interesting.

Well, like I said earlier, I think that the United States is a special case, simply because it is the strongest power in the world. But that doesn't mean it is impossible that America will one day get its first female President. If so, what will that female President be like?

I think conservative and right-wing female politicians have a better chance of being elected leaders of their countries than left-wing ones, simply because a female leader's gender is provocative enough to the way things used to be. If she is not only female but also left-wing, so that she can be suspected of wanting to really tear down the existing structures of society, that may prove to be just too much for many people.

I think Margaret Thatcher is a good case in point. Thatcher is one of the most right-wing leaders that western Europe has seen during the last three or four decades. She was tough as nails, and whatever image she projected, it wasn't one of soft femininity and bleeding-heart compassion. Thatcher closed down a lot of British mines that didn't turn a profit, and she dealt a mortal blow to entire mining communities. The musical Billy Elliot, which is set against this background, is the most powerful and moving musical I have seen. Thatcher also declared war on Argentina over the Falkland Islands. No wonder she was called the Iron Lady!

It is interesting to compare Thatcher with Sarah Palin. Palin is also very conservative, but Palin's public image is very different from Thatcher's. Thatcher was married, and I believe she had two adult children, but she most certainly didn't come across as maternal at all. The way I remember her, she wasn't interested in talking about families at all, either her own or the ones of other people. But that way she also became a little less threatening to other women. She wasn't really telling them how to live their lives, even though she might very well be busy making their husbands' unemployed. And as far as I can remember, she never made any big deal about abortions one way or another. Compare that with Sarah Palin. Palin is extremely beloved by many conservative, pro-life women, but she scares a lot of other women off. Right now she is not someone who can unite a majority of Americans in general, and certainly not someone who can unite American women in particular. Of course the policial landscape can change a lot in four years, and certainly in eight or twelve years.

I think the female candidate who will have the greatest chance of becoming the first female American President is going to be someone who is relatively conservative, but not as conservative or as closely linked to the religious right as Sarah Palin.

Ann