I don’t really know much about American politics. What little I know, I suspect it’s because I watch The West Wing. When asked if I am a Democrat or a Republican, I generally say Democrat only because I suspect it makes me sound good. And till a few months back, I announced loud and clear to anyone who bothered to listen that I loved and supported them. That was till an Indian friend told me to shut up. He said that we should support the Republicans because they help our economy back home. Apparently, most of the off-shoring of jobs to India began when the Republicans came back to power.
Basically then, I am quite the philistine when it comes to American politics. I’d be more than willing to talk about it and have my doubts clarified. Except all foreign students during their orientation process in this country are generally told to avoid talking to Americans about two rather sensitive topics: religion and politics.
So when I saw Larry King Live a few months back and King asked his guest - political analyst and satirist Bill Maher – about the possibility of a woman President in America in 2008, I was intrigued. With Hilary Clinton somewhat of a shoo-in as a candidate for the Democrats and the possibility of Condoleezza Rice for the Republicans, King and Maher debated furiously on whether America was ready for a woman President.
I paid little attention to the answer.
I honestly couldn’t get past the question.
My brain was churning.
I mean, wasn’t America the land of the free? Doesn’t America consider itself the most democratic nation in the whole world? Isn’t America the destination point for those who believe that there’s equality for one and all? Aren’t women given opportunities here that others can only dream about in different parts of the world?
And consider the milieu that people like me grew up in and why the above questions take on a whole new meaning. Imagine growing up in India and Pakistan and Bangladesh. While India is a democracy, the latter two are Islamic nations. One of the biggest political players of Indian politics was a woman named Indira Gandhi who was the prime minister of this populous nation for over two decades. In fact we are so democratic, that in a country teeming with well over a billion Indians, in our assembly elections last year, we traveled all the way to Europe and elected to power a party led by an Italian woman, Sonia Gandhi!
Then there is Pakistan – an Islamic state and America’s biggest ally in South East Asia. The recently assassinated Benazir Bhutto was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988. Bhutto created history when she became the first ever woman who was elected as the Head of Government of an Islamic state. Her government was followed by that of Nawaz Sharif and the two leaders alternated as the heads of state for a decade until the military coup in 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf. The other Islamic state in South East Asia is Bangladesh which also has the 7th highest population in the world. And for the past 15 years, the country has alternated between two major political parties – both of which are headed by women. Begum Khaleda Zia was the Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996 and came back to power in 2001. In the interim period between 1996-2001, Bangladesh was headed by Begum Zia’s bitterest rival, the leader of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina. To the south of India is the little island state of Sri Lanka and one of the biggest players of Sri Lankan politics is a woman - Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
Oddly enough, a lot of foreign students really have no idea that America has never had a woman President till they actually get here. It doesn’t seem possible. A friend of mine pointed out last week that a black man will become the President well before a woman does in the United States. Contrast that to the fact that in January this year, the small country of Liberia in Africa elected a black woman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the head of their country, making her the first female elected head of state in African history.
Isn’t it time that an evolved America caught up with the rest of the world?
Question shouldn’t be if America is ready for a woman President. The thing to really ponder is that in the year 2008, Americans are still asking such a question.
