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Home Page > Articles in English > A Woman President in the White House? Commander-in-Chief A Woman President in the White House? By Tekla Szymanski "I hope [a woman president] will only become a reality when she is elected as an individual because of her capacity and the trust which the majority of the people have in her integrity and ability as a person." — Eleanor Roosevelt, 1934 In the ABC series Commander-in-Chief, Gina Davis plays Mackenzie “Mac” Allen, the first woman president of the United States. She is tough and compassionate, brainy and powerful. The blatant chauvinism of her opponents fuels her indignation and ours, and many women hail the show as a daring breakthrough. What a pity. Too bad, that ABC has decided to take the series off the air: the show has been put on hold; it will return in the fall as a 2-hour movie and will then gradually faded out. That speaks volumes for what TV executives, and, apparently the audience, are comfortable with (Read Bob Herbert's column (published in the New York Times on May 18, 2006) and a letter to the editor to the Times, written by The White House Project, reacting to Herbert's column.) As a European, I find it disappointing that Americans were watching TV rather than do more in the real world to advance female leadership. The United States is in 63rd place in the world in terms of elected female representation in government — behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Yet, more than 90 percent of Americans said they could envision a female president in 2008 according to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll. If only. Eighty-five percent of the members of Congress are male, in the Senate — 77 percent. Only six of the 50 states have women governors; of the top 100 US cities, only 15 have female mayors. One might argue that we're making progress; but in fact over the past five years, women’s representation has stayed constant. Yes, there were (and are) strong women in politics and beyond in America. But so far, a female intern and her stained dress have triggered the most buzz in the White House. What a contrast with where I grew up. Europeans didn’t need a TV show to get their act together. Germany’s last government was 43.6 percent female, and the country just elected a female chancellor. Since 1988, no Norwegian government has been formed with less than 40 percent women. In 1999, Sweden had more female ministers than male, and conservative Spain has eight women and nine men running its government. In contrast, the Bush Administration has a sad showing of three women versus 17 men. On Commander-in-Chief, the First Husband (a ”wuss” in the eyes of his son) must decide whether he wants to accept a job outside the White House. He feels undervalued and under appreciated. No law denies the spouse of a president a career outside the White House. Who knew? Yet in reality, half of the American public believes it inappropriate for a First Lady to hold a paying job outside the White House, while two-thirds think that it would be acceptable for a President’s husband to do the same (according to a USAToday/MacNeil-Lehrer Productions/Gallup Poll conducted in 2004.) What does that say about Americans and how they see women leadership? American women are different from European women, because they have become complacent. They take their rights and opportunities for granted without aggressively debating the larger issues that affect them. American women may think of themselves as progressive feminists, but in truth, they, compared to their European sisters, are mostly followers — not leaders. In Europe, politicians’ spouses continue with their professional lives because they were not elected into office, and no one cares what they do. No loud howl is heard when a woman is elected into higher office in Europe — not even a proud collective self-congratulating shoulder slapping. To be sure, European women haven’t broken every gender barrier — especially not the glass ceilings in the corporate world and in business. But behind their self-imposed veil of feel-good feminism, American women should take a cue from Europe and demand real representation in politics. “The one thing I do not want to be called is ‘First Lady’,” Jacqueline Kennedy once said. “It sounds like a saddle horse.” Postscript: Read my blog-entry on a related subject, Hillary Clinton's primary race for the presidential nomination, here. The blog is featured on the New York Women in Communications Web site, www.nywici.org.   For further reading: American Women Presidents Equal Voices — Electing Women The White House Project - a nonprofit organization for advancing women's leadership NOW - National Organization for Women Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership: Woman Ministers and Woman heads of Government University of Maryland's Women's Studies Database WWWomen International Women's Democracy Center Women World Leaders Women Rulers and Leaders The Wall Street Journal's Special Section: "Women to Watch" The Women's Media Center   Home Page > Articles in English > A Woman President in the White House?