Is it Really too Much to ask for a Woman President Before I Die?

Amber Fraley
From Kansas, Not Dorothy
4 min readMay 8, 2019

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I was born in the early 1970s, in the era of Dorothy Pitman-Hughes and Gloria Steinem. Growing up, I was told I could be anything I wanted, and I believed it. I watched women become astronauts and coaches and government representatives. Sure, the presidency would come in my lifetime. Since I was a little girl, I never had a doubt.

Now, I do. And it’s incredibly sobering to be so profoundly disappointed in one’s own country, and the soul of that country. But the older I get, the more I see that women are simply not valued in America.

It is disheartening, to say the least, to see so many Dems dutifully lining up behind all the white, male candidates announcing their run for president. Most especially Joe Biden, but also Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. It’s not bad enough women were cheated out of our first president last time; now we’re being told we’ll have to wait at least another four years, and possibly eight. I’ll be almost 50 when trump’s first term is over. Is it really too much to ask of the greatest country in the world to elect a woman president before I die?

Are we really that immature in this country?

There are great women candidates out there. Candidates who are far less problematic than Hilary Clinton was. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren…

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Amber Fraley
From Kansas, Not Dorothy

Writing about abortion rights, mental illness, trauma, narcissistic abuse & survival, politics. Journalist, novelist, wife, mom, Kansan, repro rights activist.