Jim Cohen
Staff Writer
Have you noticed that lately, when you turn on your television or pick up a newspaper there are a bunch of men all over the place mounting their egos and championing who is the toughest and loudest? Yep, we’re all over the place. And as a man, I feel no shame in saying that we men sure know how to get our egos in the way and mess things up big time.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t some of us who are good and do good. Unfortunately, we good guys lose out to the bad ones. As the saying goes, good guys always lose. I guess I’m a loser then because I don’t follow the grain of the bad ones making bad decisions from issues of war, the economy, opportunity, poverty and many other pressing policies falling to deaf ears in favor of political rhetoric.
Recently, I heard a female student say women were put on earth to serve men. As my jaw dropped in shock, she went on to say her beliefs were based upon the Genesis story. She said she believes women came from man’s rib and therefore are supposed to serve men. However, some Hebrew translations and religious scholars interpret that passage as woman coming from man’s “side” to infer that man and woman are equal. I like this translation much better.
If we are all God’s children, we must all be equal but different in our own right.
History has shown that in many cases, women have taken the reins of leadership and not only outperformed men, but they have saved nations. The Hebrew story of Deborah calling up and leading an army to defeat the Canaanites and helping to unify the Israelite tribes is a powerful example. The Hebrew writings of the Talmud speak of Judith, who risked her life to trick an Assyrian king and kill him in his sleep to save Israel from occupation. Modern-day Israel was led by Golda Meir through its early and tumultuous years to fight for recognition, existence and survival. Don’t forget about Joan of Arc. She helped reinvigorate and save France from English rule.
Margaret Thatcher was a lawyer and chemist who became the first female British Prime Minister. She took a tough stand against communism and terrorism in the 1980s. A decade later, Ireland elected its first female president, Mary Robison. She went on to serve as the commissioner of Human Rights for the United Nations using her Catholic faith as a tenet for her principles of equality and opportunity in the age of globalism.
Michele Bachelet is a single mother and the president of Chile. From a waitress sweeping floors to graduating from Harvard and being jailed at home and exiled abroad, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the newly elected President of Liberia. That is progress.
Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay, is leading the largest e-commerce corporation in the world with continued success. Carly Fiorina was the former chairwoman and CEO of Compaq/Hewlett-Packard, leading the world’s largest computer company for six years. Of course, there’s Oprah. She is an empire.
We shouldn’t forget the two most prominent female political leaders of our time, Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice. As Clinton readies herself for a presidential run in 2008, many of those egotistical men we see in the news make derogatory statements about her.
They call her “brittle” and “cold” to belittle her success because they are afraid to debate a smart, successful and savvy woman. It’s one thing to have legitimate ideological differences with her, but it’s another thing to offer shameful, “brittle” and “cold” character assassinations. It would be great to see her lead.
As for Rice, she is the first female and second black Secretary of State. She is an accomplished pianist with a doctorate in International Studies. She is a smart and successful woman who has worked hard for what she has earned. These are two great American leaders, but there should be more like them.
It is women who bring future generations into this world because if men had the responsibility of baring children our population would be nonexistent. It seems to me with such great responsibility, women can and should bare more influence in leadership.
That’s not to say name-calling, rhetoric or even war would cease to exist. It would be to a lesser degree and our focus would move away from ego-driven and failed leadership by putting the reality back into reality.
The world has seen how ego can lead to the politics of smear and fear and divide and conquer. The world has seen how ego can prevent two groups of people with so much in common fight themselves into centuries of hate and bloodshed. Yet, women have shown when given the opportunity to lead, they have found ways to bring people together by saving lives and nations from the tyrannical destruction of ego. It’s time for new ideas, views and perspectives on the world. It’s time for women to lead.
03-23-2006