Katie Couric writes about being briefed at the White House by some "VERY senior administration officials" and feeling the discomfort of being the only woman at the table.
Couric should be encouraged. If the women in this country could get a little feminist leadership, or a little feminist grumbling at the top by women like Couric, Pelosi and Clinton, it could catch on. A little leadership might help women everywhere take a step or a leap towards equality while there's still an actual planet worth saving.
I can't even imagine what it would feel like to have feminist leadership in this country, but I'd sure like to learn.
Katy Couric:
[E]ven though I’ve been in this business for more years than I’d like to admit, and interviewed countless Presidents and world leaders, it’s still thrilling—and even a little awe-inspiring—to get “briefed” at the White House, no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office.
And yet, the meeting was a little disconcerting as well. As I was looking at my colleagues around the room—Charlie Gibson, George Stephanopoulos, Brian Williams, Tim Russert, Bob Schieffer, Wolf Blitzer, and Brit Hume—I couldn’t help but notice, despite how far we’ve come, that I was still the only woman there. Well, there was some female support staff near the door. But of the people at the table, the “principals” in the meeting, I was the only one wearing a skirt. Everyone was gracious, though the jocular atmosphere was palpable.
The feminist movement that began in the 1970’s helped women make tremendous strides—but there still haven’t been enough great leaps for womankind. Fifty-one percent of America is female, but women make up only about sixteen percent of Congress—which, as the Washington Monthly recently pointed out, is better than it’s ever been...but still not as good as parliaments in Rwanda (forty-nine percent women) or Sweden (forty-seven percent women). Only nine Fortune 500 companies have women as CEO’s.
That meeting was a reality check for me—and not just about Iraq. It was a reminder that all of us still have an obligation to ask: Don’t more women deserve a place at the table too?
Gender Politics Katie Couric Media News Feminism Patriarchy Male Domination
