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As a Kid, I Didn’t Think a Woman Could Be President
How and why I changed that little girl’s mindset.
I was in six grade when Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as a running mate in the 1984 election. I lived in a pretty white bread, middle class, suburban neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona.
When my grade did a mock election, only one kid in the entire sixth grade voted for Mondale. Our political beliefs mirrored our parents’.
I distinctly remember listening to men talk about Ferraro in terms of coming to power as President should anything happen to Mondale.
It’s interesting to me that I never remember there being discussion of a woman actually running for President. It just seemed absurd to think that would happen.
No, if Ferraro was to be President, it would be handed to her by virtue of succession.
I never took the idea of having a female president seriously. I remember hearing a lot of back patio talk and words said by man and boys around me.
Women are too sensitive. Women aren’t a tough enough. Women are too emotional. What she going to do? Wage a war and hit a big red button every month when she gets her period?
