As a 16-year-old girl whose future relies on the outcome of the 2024 election, it’s about time that we have a woman to represent us as president, specifically Kamala Harris.
I’m aware that I can’t yet vote, but that doesn’t mean my opinions are degraded. I live in a world where one election can determine how many rights I will have within the next four years and beyond. The United States is supposed to be a leader in world democracies, yet we still haven’t had a female president.
After everything our country has been through, we still struggle to keep basic human rights alive for women. Our rights have been declining in the past few years, which is the opposite of what we have fought for. Women have only been able to vote for 27 of the 60 elections held in this country. We fought for the right to vote, to ensure that our future generations have a voice. We have worked hard to progress as a world, yet women still have to struggle for control over their bodies–in the U.S.
According to Pew Research Center, only 59 countries in the United Nations have ever had a female leader, which leaves 139 states that have never had a female representative. Out of those 59 countries, the United States should have the first female president, based on how much we gloat about our freedoms and rights.
Our country has never been represented by a female president, which speaks volumes on its own. It’s 2024, and considering how “woke” our generation is, we are seriously lacking intelligence and awareness. The new perspective that hasn’t been explored before is an important factor for our country to experience and gain knowledge.
The first woman prime minister was Jeannette Rankin, elected to the U.S. Congress in 1916. If people in 1916 were secure enough to have a women representative, why have we not made progress in 2024? Our country hesitates to let a woman become president when at this point, it has nothing to do with electing a democratic woman president, since republican women have run for president as well. The first woman to run for president was conservative Victoria Woodhull in 1872. Women have been trying for 152 years to elect a woman as president. It’s so pathetic for the U.S. to keep denying these changes because of fear.
Angela Merkel led Germany from 2005 to 2021 as their prime minister. With an understanding of Germany, she was able to negotiate the 2008 European Economic Recovery Plan, which managed funding and investment to counteract the Great Recession. For some reason, people find that surprising, while I see just a strong leader. Being a woman does not diminish the ability to perform the same as a man. Merkel was trusted to create a better nation, which was reflected in her outcome as prime minister.
Women support each other, and encourage revolutionary movements such as protesting for the right to vote. The argument of having a woman as president has nothing to do with my political views, but how I want the quality of my life to be as an adult. I don’t understand why I should repeat it so much, other than the fact that people still believe women don’t deserve the same rights as men.
The United States is known for our individual rights, yet it feels like they are slowly being dragged away of us, one gender at a time.