Uh-oh, kids -- the world's about to end. Yes, that's right, two countries now have newly-elected female presidents: Liberia and Chile. Although these women are different, they both have two X chromosomes. Michelle Bachelet, the president of Chile, is a single mother of three children and a self-pronounced agnostic -- and a socialist. She is the wife of no one, and so is riding on no one's "coattails," as The New York Times recently printed. Meanwhile, the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is a 67-year-old Harvard-trained economist, who has held positions at Citibank, the United Nations and the World Bank. She has been jailed twice for voicing opposition to the former government of Liberia, and she is nicknamed the "Iron Lady."
This is not the first time women have been elected president. In fact, it has happened before in Latin America -- in Bolivia, Panama, Nicaragua and Guyana, among others -- and in Europe. Not to mention, Angela Merkel was recently elected chancellor of Germany. What is important to note is that these women, though they have matching reproductive systems, are ideologically different. Do I, as a woman, wholeheartedly support them? Maybe.
They are certainly entitled to the benefit of the doubt. I think every woman should be proud; the increasing number of women being elected to positions of power is a spectacular and inspiring trend. However, I want to make one important point before I'm burned in effigy as a man-hating feminist that supports anything with ovaries running for office. Even as a woman, I would not support every woman that were to run for president in the United States. I know who I should and should not be voting for, and I would never support a woman that supports President George W. Bush's ideology -- or who follows by not opposing it. I would never support a lesbian who does not value -- and, more importantly, vote according to -- my own values.
If I have learned anything about civics in this country, I have learned that you must vote for someone in whose stance you believe and with whose policies you agree. Your vote should not be based on character, gender, sexual orientation, race or class -- these unfortunately guarantee nothing. Justice Clarence Thomas is a black judge who repeatedly rules against minority rights, disagrees with affirmative action, and ignores the realities faced by minorities in the United States when making his decisions. He dissented in the Supreme Court decision that sodomy laws were unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas. He decided in Hudson v. McMillan that beating an inmate was not cruel and unusual punishment. He constantly sides with states' rights arguments, when those arguments were the very ones that enabled the continuation of blatant racist policies and segregation.
I don't like it when the gay movement supports -- or doesn't actively oppose -- candidates for political office who do not fight for equal justice, equal marriage or my other progressive values. I don't like it when women stand behind -- or declare that they would stand behind -- women who do not fight for women's rights, minority rights and the rights of the poor. So what if she's a woman? We need to get away from the single-interest nature of progressive politics. When I interned at a women's organization during Supreme Court confirmation hearings of John Roberts and the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito, I noticed the slow nature of the response to radically conservative judges by a great number of progressive groups, including gay rights, civil rights and labor rights groups. If a candidate is strong on gay rights but weak on women's rights or civil rights, a progressive must oppose the candidate's election or confirmation. A strike against one is a strike against all.
I understand that we need to reach a higher level of representation for women, minorities and all sexual orientations in government. However, I am not going to vote for someone because he or she shares my sexual orientation or belongs to a minority group. I deserve what every American deserves: a chance to vote for someone that not only looks and acts like I would in Congress or the presidency, but also someone who shares my values.
So, to all you progressives out there in Dartmouth-land: for these upcoming elections, don't settle for a politician just because he or she belongs to an underrepresented group. It's no guarantee of progressive ideology. We deserve more than a consolation prize for our American values. And that goes for all of our American values.
