Dear Editor,

I thank God for my wife, mother, grandmother, daughters, sisters, nieces, aunts, stepmothers, surrogate mothers and all the women who have done almost magic to keep families, the church and, by extension, the country, organized. As a matter of fact, many major organizations are led by women.
I know that there are a few men who sincerely believe that they are grooming their daughters to be all that they could be. Why not to lead a political party? Who said that only men should lead? Why not a woman and why not right now?
Conniving, influential men will use women with low self esteem, causing them to fight amongst themselves as the men achieve the ultimate prize.
The argument about women being "temperamental" is lame, especially because as time goes by, we are seeing more and more strange behavior from men.
But do we really, honestly believe in and trust women to lead? Does the male chauvinist really feel like women are equal or do they just pay lip service in front of the camera? They laugh when they hear of women being beaten, on the one hand, then they pretend to embrace women outside. Amazing!
Which leads me to this: Do the FNM, PLP and DNA think so little of women, believing they are not good enough, wise enough, compassionate enough, do not possess enough courage and are not stable enough to lead a political party and, by extension, the country?
Are our women so insecure that they would not want a woman leading unless it is them? Are we honestly impressed with the men who have led us so far? You mean no one can do it better than what we've had?
So who are Ivy Dumont, Janet Bostwick, Italia Johnson, Wendy Craig, Sharon Wilson and the many women who have led and are still leading corporate Bahamas from behind the scenes?
For the petty-minded Bahamians, and those who think little of Bahamian women, I guarantee that Hilary Clinton, a woman, will be the next and first female president of the United States.
Maybe they in America respect women more than we do in The Bahamas because Bahamian women will only be allowed to 'fry the fritters'!
Lord knows we need to pave a different road. The previous roads are obsolete.
- Ivoine W. Ingraham

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