Babes in the White House

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President-elect Obama is making pretty good strides insofar as promoting women to his cabinet. Possessing lady parts myself, this has been something that I’ve been following with a bit of interest. The first to get me really excited (and this is old news) is Ellen Moran, to be Communications Director. Moran was previously the executive director of EMILY’s List, an organization that supports pro-choice Democratic women in bids for office. And now (again, still not breaking news), Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano will be homeland security secretary, Susan Rice will be ambassador to the United Nations, and yep!, Senator Hillary Clinton has been chosen the post of secretary of state.

Now, while I still think Clinton would be better suited to another position in the cabinet, having her as secretary of state will be infinitely better than Condoleeza Rice, I imagine. Which brings me to my second point here: just because we support women in power, does this mean we have to let them off the hook, or hold them less accountable to do an excellent job? OF COURSE NOT. These women were chosen because they were the best choices for the new administration. Does this mean that they will be the best choices for the well-being of the majority of the country (or even the minority)? That’s what we will soon find out.

I love to celebrate the victories of women everywhere (especially as those who are chosen to head up Obama’s security team — a typically male-biased group), but by no means should we hold them to less than a standard of excellence. No easy routes! This is not what feminism is about. I applaud these women for their hard work, and I only hope they do great things (along with the men in the administration) for this country.

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