The Diva Problem

Two women. Two nations. Same post, but different job descriptions. And this is a might- President of the United States of America, the other President of India. Two highly respected women in politics. But here comes the real question- how ready are the people of either nations for a woman president?

Forget for a moment their powers if and when they get the job- they will essentially represent the highest authority in either of the countries; irrespective of a parliamentary or presidential form of government. But like I said earlier- how ready is the general public? In India, I am quite certain that the citizens are ready for a woman to be the head of the state. After all, we have had Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister. Pratibha Patil's nomination was welcomed, but not by all. But in general, it was viewed with pride for she was a woman, who had stood the test of time in politics and worked her way up in a testosterone packed scenario. She is widely respected and deserves to be President, or at least for the moment nominated. Why are Indians ready, you might ask? We are a developing nation that still needs to taste success of a healthy economy, in spite of what some of our highly optimistic politicians and citizens say. Women in this nation need to get out and prove their worth. It is predominantly a male dominated society and sporadic incidents of a woman emerging in any field is definitely worth one's while. Now how competent she is a whole different issue but Indians in general are willing to trust a woman president/ prime minister

Take a 24-hour long, nerve wrenching, tiring flight towards the West, and you hit the United States of America. Currently in the midst of numerous internal turmoils, one of them being a highly extravagant Presidential campaign, more than a year before elections. One of them contesting is Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton. But this whole gaining a day thing, will tell you almost the same story but with a different outcome! Never had a female president, is a predominantly male dominated political arena, is a super-power; ready for a female president- absolutely not. Youngsters like us are skeptical of her too. She does not have the experience she needs to be the president. She is playing the Bill-Clinton-card way too soon. She is easily threatened by Barak Obama and she is clearly doing the girly thing- trying her hand at the sympathy votes. I remember Annie saying she would move somewhere else if Clinton became president, and I actually echoed her feelings, even though I am a democrat(at least I say so). Some of her plans seem like they were pulled right off the box and put on a teleprompter.

So how do citizens cast their vote in a situation like this, where you sort of have the same problem, but in different scenarios. I know a lot of people who would vote for a female candidate just because there has never been a female head of the state! Naive you might say, and without question it is, but they voted and did their duty! How informed one is, will definitely matter.

Divas will come and go, diva presidents... are here to stay

~Shreya