Laura Chinchilla on Sexism

Former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla has a great op-ed in the Spanish edition of The New York Times about sexism and female presidents. Even using some data, she shows how women are valued less, their governments are written about less, and their personal characteristics get more attention (she notes how often she was asked if she cried after some dramatic event). She lauds the quota laws that are common in Latin America, which bring more women into politics.

She ends on an optimistic note, talking how some trends toward equality are now irreversible. Perhaps most importantly, people know women can be president, which of course is something we haven't yet tackled in the United States.

I will end on a less optimistic note. I could not find an English version of this article.

In other words, an article about sexism falls to sexism. Since we in the United States have a difficult time accepting the notion of a woman as president, and since we refuse quotas despite having legislators who are overwhelmingly male, we're the ones that need to see it.