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Dahlia, Meghan, like Jessica, I'm not so alarmed by the Girl Scout Research Institute findings (so that's where the Thin Mints money goes). Hillary Clinton almost became president this year, didn't, and now she's secretary of state. Sarah Palin could have become vice president, but wasn't ready for the job, and when you're not ready for a very public job, you can find yourself humiliated (ask Dan Quayle). Caroline Kennedy (whose paper doll image I played with as a girl, and so I find myself untroubled by the appearance of Malia and Sasha dolls) almost became senator from New York, but it turns out more than a famous name was called for, and a better qualified woman, Kirsten Gillibrand was chosen. I think the parents of the girls who took the poll need to help them to see that the lessons of this political year are that there are and will be plenty of opportunities for them to be become leaders—but that not everything will go their way, and when things don't, they have to be flexible enough to seize the opportunities they can. And also that Girl Scout training provides a crucial lesson in getting ahead: Be prepared.
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Dahlia, Jessica,
Like you, I'm not entirely surprised by the depressing Girl Scout stats. But two thoughts spring to mind: First, I wonder what a poll of girls 9-12 would show. In my anecdotal experience with pre-teens this past election (my mother ran a secondary school that I used to spend time in), the girls in the 10-year-old range were picking up the excitement of the fact that Hillary and Sarah Palin were strong female candidates, and little of the debate over it. Second, adolescent girls are hitting that moment when they do begin to doubt themselves (the Reviving Ophelia moment) and so I wonder if this age group was particularly susceptible to absorbing the glass ceiling message. Just speculation. It'd be interesting to know more.
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Dahlia, you're right that at face value, those Girl Scouts stats are disheartening. But the silver lining may be that these girls are thinking about themselves in leadership positions in the first place. As a teen, I never considered women in politics at all. I was not an especially political adolescent, but I didn't think about the glass ceiling for women running for office because I wasn't even in the room. That girls are even considering those barriers in the first place might be a small step in the right direction. At least Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are now sharing brain space with Taylor Swift and Zac Efron.
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