Women in Leadership Blog 3
Living life as a Swede has become more and more fascinating each day. I am very intrigued by the culture and the lifestyle and wanting to know more every day. We have been given so many opportunities to explore and learn more of the city. In this beautiful city we had the chance to tour Parliament and see the very same seats the government officials sit in. In class we have been discussing the topic of women in politics. In America women politicians are scrutinized for being too masculine and are sometimes over looked when making policies. The role of women also comes into play when we think about women in politics as well. Women are constantly over shadowed by men and the idea of then having children. Because of this we have never had a female President. When two women did decide to run for president their political stances were rarely ever the main topic of discussion. According to my roommate Beth's class presentation, women politician are misrepresented by the media who tends to portray them as sexual beings or making comments about body parts or the lack there of, referring to them as "Sexy Barbie" and the "Nutcracker."
As I walk the halls of Parliament I noticed the Swedish government was not that far off from the United States government. The Swedish government has never had a female Prime Minister however, from touring the "Women's Room" there was a mirror on the wall and underneath the mirror it said the following, "Sveriges forsta kvinnliga statsminister kan det vara du?" Which translates to, Sweden's first female Prime Minister, could it be you? It seems as though they are optimistic about having its first female Prime Minister sometime in the near future. I love the fact that any girl or women who looks into that mirror can envision herself as the leader of the country, besides being the Queen.
In our society having a woman as our leader seems very taboo. People tend to view women as too emotional, unstable and clueless when it comes to politics. However the opposite is true, yet women are not encouraged to run for office as much as men are. We continually place feminine leadership traits in a small box and deem them unworthy, and not "real" leaders. Our society has no optimism about women becoming future leaders of the United States. What will it take to change the negative views, how can our country transition to becoming more inclusive and open-minded about the abilities of future female leaders? In my opinion I think we need to develop more programs for younger girls at the elementary school age and expose young girls to wanting to run for office. Coming up with creative and innovative ways to include women in debates and policy rules at an early age is key in stirring up the desire to run for office. It's like a domino effect it all starts with one idea.
