Confessions of a Female Enthusiast

Greetings from Manhattan and Boston! There's been a bit of a hiatus from blogging, and I apologize for the conspicuous (or was it?) absence. I'll blame it on the recent rush of activity in my normally "well-scheduled" life. Who loves excuses?! Anyways, down to business. While I have been, and hopefully will continue, to do my best to keep this blog unisex focused, today's post will be centered around some thoughts on females and their various contributions to modern day society. Ooh, light and airy!

First and foremost, hooray for Argentina's first female President! Congratulations to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the uh... former? first lady of Argentina. Apparently, that's South America's second female president in two years following behind Chile's Michelle Bachelet. I'll outright say that I don't know anything about South America, but at least in this regard it's fabulous to see the progressive changes that are being made there. Though there are some hanging questions about Ballot distribution which trouble me, it is quite heartening to know that women are pushing boundaries out in the world. Whether she is a capable leader has yet to be seen, but she definitely seems to recognize the burden that is resting upon her shoulders now.

"Kirchner declared victory late Sunday. In a speech, she said she felt not only a responsibility to lead her country, but 'an immense responsibility for my gender.'"

These first few women who are stepping into the Presidency are going to, as my favorite US AS History teacher used to say, lay the groundwork for paradigms of any women to follow. They will be judged harshly if they fail, and while I would love to believe in fair reporting, I would venture a guess that their accomplishments will only be lauded a fraction as much as a male President's accomplishments would be. Even the IHT article itself, while "fair reporting," smacked a bit of jabbing implications that Kirchner had won the elections both riding on the coat tails of her husband and with ulterior motives besides improving Argentina's foreign policy. The BBC article on key election concerns does help shed some light on the issue, but that article falls distinctly on the disparaging side as well. The least biased, or perhaps biased in the direction I prefer, article that I've found is this Q&A from MWC News. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm pre-disposed to looking for positive presentations of women in the media (duh?) but having seen the way Hillary has been portrayed in the American press I'm hesitant to believe that other women will be given neutral reviews. Then again, the nature of the press is such that there is no such thing as "neutral."

Before anyone asks about my personal beliefs on Hillary, I'll say that I'm glad she's trying for the Presidency. No matter how you slice it, that post is an incredible opportunity and burden not only for her as an American, but also as a woman. I've kept some tabs on her policies, and while I haven't chosen a candidate that I solely support, I hate to admit the lurking feelings of allegiance towards her for being a woman and, to be honest, for being an alumna of my alma mater. She has some good ideas, and if they were put into practice I'd like to believe that they would be functional and perform their purpose. But, I'm not a politics type of a person so these are just my uneducated two cents.

In other news on women to admire, the recent break about Dumbledore's sexual orientation has caused quite the stir. Suddenly, the story about the boy who lived became completely focused on the boy being led (misled?) by a man with questionable interests. Now, I'd like to pause for a second and say that realistically no one in the world is entirely altruistic, so there will always be "questionable interests." Furthermore, Rowling never tried to refute or paint Dumbledore in a light that would show him as infallible or that he wasn't trying to use Harry as a tool in many ways. Essentially, I don't see how his sexual orientation can suddenly alter the entire universe that she has created, and at least Edward Rothstein from the nytimes seems to agree with me.

On an individual note about Rowling, I will commend her again for the entire HP series. Much though everyone picks at the books, and tries to lambast the characters and plot, I am really in awe of what she has created. As an artist/writer, she did what politicians all over the world and human rights activists have been trying to do for decades. She got people to care about something. Whoever you are, wherever you were, if you were somewhat in touch with any type of current events or media you probably knew about Harry Potter and you were probably at the very least curious about the outcome of his life. She spanned socioeconomic divides and brought together an entire world by showing them our world using magic. That sounds hokey, I know, but all Rowling really did was present modern day society and the problems we face through the lens of the fantastic, mythic, and intangible. It disgusts me the way people rip into how successful HP has become and complain that she only wrote the stories to make money. I could be wrong, but as a writer you never know how well your work will be received so I doubt she was banking on her success. Not to mention, as an author, publishing is not the most lucrative industry to become involved in anyways.

Anyways, many nods and acknowledgments to both women mentioned here for their impressive accomplishments. I'll take my feminism onto the streets of Cambridge/Boston now. Surprisingly the foliage hasn't hit yet, but perhaps I'll have some photos to post for everyone's enjoyment later.