Power

There are 49.75% of women in the world in relation to men, yet just above 20% of them hold world political power. What’s wrong with this picture? Women’s needs and women’s confidence are way too low. When a woman is in office, they address what the typical women needs. They advocate for women’s health care rights, rights dealing with a women’s right to her body, and the rights for what the child needs because women are the primary caretakers of children. Men do not know what it is like caring a child, or what children need to be taken care of. Men do not know women’s health aside from the various students that go to medical school, in which these men do not hold political office anyways. Women’s practical importance of being political leaders is that they get the women’s voice out there.

Women’s symbolic importance is also very strong, if not stronger, than the practical importance of why women should hold political power. The face of a woman, whether or not she is making the right steps to advocate for women’s rights, inspires other women out there to make a difference. It gives them confidence to go out of the box and realize gender inequality exists and it takes major advocating to help stop it.

A great woman political leader in the United States that first comes to mind when I think of it is Hilary Clinton. As former First Lady and Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton advocated for women everywhere. Not only did she advocate for women’s rights, she was the leading Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election. She won more primaries and delegates more than any woman in United States history. She also was in the Senate for New York, being the first woman to be on the Senate after being the First Lady and the first women senator from New York. She is a great example of a leader women can look up to.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard provides a great example of a great woman political leader outside of the United States. As the Prime Minister and Leader of the Labor Party from 2010-2013 in Australia, she was the first woman to hold either position. She advocated a health reform where she led to the increase of 270 placements in emergency doctors, offered 3,000 nursing scholarships over ten years, and funded many hospitals for physical and mental health for the better well-being of Australia. She also extended tax cuts for parents who had trouble paying for their child’s education. These are just two of the many things Julia Gillard did not only for Australia, but to help women and gender inequality in Australia.