I'm glad of that. I saw an afternoon segment on, I believe, Megyn Kelly's show on (dun dun DUN!) Fox News a couple weeks back in which a mix of analysts who were there for something else took an aside to discuss the mystery of when there will ever be a female President. It was sort of a take off from "The Iron Lady", in fact. They all -- conservative and liberal alike -- expressed mutual gratitude that candidates as diverse as Hillary Clinton and Michelle Bachmann in their unsuccessful runs appeared to have cleared the hurdle of having to answer for the fact that they were women in terms of validating their candidacy (i.e. they didn't have to justify their presence over objections to their sex), but that there are still not nearly enough women in a lot of these races. Good project, and good on Gina.

[ edited by KingofCretins on 2012-01-16 17:49 ]

KingofCretins | January 16, 17:48 CET

Am I the only one who immediately thought "No, why not you, Gina?" I think I might still be under some sort of Jasmine-esque spell, because I'd follow that woman anywhere.

But not in a creepy way.

Carnelionne | January 16, 21:33 CET

Oh good for her. I know nearly nothing about Gina Torres, but this is a great start!

guidedby | January 16, 23:45 CET

If a woman can't make it happen on her own, I don't want her leading anything. Yes, that takes a massive force of personality and intellect (Hillary Clinton was valedictorian at Harvard). That's the point.

dispatch | January 17, 20:32 CET

That ignores the continuing social pressures upon girls to convince them they aren't capable of making anything like that happen, and shouldn't try anyway. That's the point.

The One True b!X | January 17, 20:50 CET

There's also a fair amount of sexism in politics and political coverage still. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is a prime example of that. She wasn't my favorite candidate, and I'm rather critical of how her campaign handled some things, but there was a pretty brutal double standard at work in terms of media coverage and it did her a disservice. It's difficult convincing women to run partially because of that atmosphere.

Sunfire | January 17, 21:38 CET

If a woman can't make it happen on her own, I don't want her leading anything. Yes, that takes a massive force of personality and intellect (Hillary Clinton was valedictorian at Harvard). That's the point.

First, Hillary went to Wellesley for undergrad and to Yale for law school, and trust me, those snooty Yalies will make sure that you damn well know the difference. To wit:

She allegedly chose Yale Law School over Harvard Law School after meeting a chauvinistic Harvard professor at a cocktail party. Hillary Rodham became a member of the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social Action and met her future husband Bill Clinton at the Yale library.

Second, what b!X and Sunfire said about the sexism. Women in politics still face hurdles that men do not have to deal with. Just the other day, presidential candidate Rick Santorum's staffer was busted for circulating an email saying that children's lives would be harmed by having a woman president. You're right that a run for higher political office by anyone requires massive force of personality, but it also takes a huge support system to get any individual across the finish line.

[ edited by BrewBunny on 2012-01-18 20:36 ]

BrewBunny | January 18, 20:36 CET