I read this morning that India has elected their first female president this past Saturday. According to the “New York Times”, Pratibha Patil won with 2/3 of the votes. Good for you India! It is insane that despite the fact that there is still a percentage of Indians that regard their women as a liability, still manage to have a female as their leader. How is it that the United States, where women are a respected equal, has yet to elect a woman as our leading lady??
Edna St. Vincent Millay grew up at the height and the most exciting part of the Suffrage Movement. Isn’t it amazing to think that less than a hundred years ago women were considered by law to be the lesser of the sexes? I could be wrong, but it never appeared to have dawned on Millay at all that she was ever the weaker of the two. She was married to Eugen Boissevain, who was a self-proclaimed feminist and abandoned his own career to work for her as an agent booking tours and such. Plus, from day one was encouraged by her mother to be a strong and self-sufficient woman. So it really didn’t seem to faze her about what was going on for women and their right to vote.
But, she still was a voice for the strong independent and modern woman. Edna was an example of how to be a woman with strength and power. So, I’m sure if she was sitting beside me right now and India’s first female president happened to come up in conversation (because obviously it must come up in everyone’s day to day life), I’m sure she’d feel the same way I feel and applaud India for taking a bold step in the right direction. Now if only the US could follow their example…
One Comment
I agreed with you