The White House Project

Jenny Choi, Intern    

“Hi ladies,” reads my computer screen every Sunday afternoon. The message that I’m writing is to the members of my club, which aims to instill a sense of duty and a call to leadership in young women by opening their eyes to the resources and privileges (especially education) available to them. I haven’t seen a male student at 11:50AM on Mondays for a while, probably ever since I founded the club.

Three times a week, I walk into the New York City office of The White House Project, where it’s a similar situation. We have one male working for the organization in our office. It’s women, women, women all around, fighting for more women’s leadership. I actually can’t remember a time when the fight for women wasn’t literally a women’s fight. Well, I probably haven’t lived long enough, but I don’t see male “feminists” in history textbooks either.

In school these days, I am taking a class dedicated to James Joyce’s Ulysses, and I think I might see some there, although Joyce was probably far from “feminist” in the style that most people define the term today. Ulysses does clearly draw a line between the two genders as any early 20^th century Western literature would. But its treatment of human nature, sexual attractions and frustrations, and the human relationship to language starts to haze the line a little, showing that we are all humans together before we go our separate ways in terms of gender.

This has really led me to question more and more the absence of males in the women’s movement of leadership. The one male student that came by my booth at my school’s club open house, attracted by my colorful website, turned around immediately when he saw what it was all about. I haven’t seen a single male intern at The White House Project during my almost-five months here.

Of course, it is harder to see yourself dedicated to a cause that doesn’t directly and noticeable impact you and your life. That’s part of human nature, and that’s totally understandable.

But how much can you do with 50% of the country when you’re trying to change the way that 50% of the country thinks? Not much. And that’s why persuading the general populace, not just women, about why bringing women into leadership is important for everyone should be on the to-do-lists of every person that’s fighting for the cause.

There’s a lot to work from. Working together with women has been proven to produce more effective results faster and more efficiently. Women are known to have the upper hand when it comes to negotiating and cooperating. There have been studies time and time again that show that having women in more decision-making seats will create real change.

Bringing women to leadership doesn’t do a favor for women only. The argument that women should be in more positions of leadership in government and the corporate world just because they constitute half the country perhaps still applies, but certainly no longer stands alone. Bringing women to leadership is good for 100% of the country. I call the 100% to step up and join their voice to the movement.