I don’t just want a woman for president, I want a single woman for president

Women don’t need to be caregivers or even wives to be great politicians

I finally decided to bite the bullet and figure out what the hype was over the ABC show Scandal. While watching, I had a realization. My revelation wasn’t how amazing Olivia Pope is — anyone with eyes can see that. Instead, I realized  how much attention we still put on a president’s personal love life. Olivia is literally hired to make the President seem in love with his wife.

In the US, we still value the perception of an “all-American family” way too much. And while we do, we will never have a single woman for president. But that’s what the world really needs.

Marriage and families are great, but it’s 2017. Anyone can live a fulfilling life — and even have a family — without a spouse. And without a first spouse in the White House, the president would have to focus much less on personal matters and much more on the people.

Maybe one reason we focus so much on the President’s family life is to gauge how they interact with others or and to make them relatable. But really, what’s more relatable though than a single woman? And why do we judge our politician’s personalities and people skills by their marital status?

We need to eliminate these questions of why a female politician is married, why they aren’t married or whether they have a good marriage and instead ask the important questions.

We should elect our single woman on her stances. On how she leans financially, socially, and domestically. We should look to how she’s proven her words align with her actions.We should commend her on choosing to focus on what matters rather than forcing her to feel the need to settle down and distract herself with social norms.

In the past, we have made female politicians out to be good or bad based on how their family acts. But who are we kidding? Every family has its problems and there are some things that are just out of one’s control.

Let’s knock this standard out once and for all. Women don’t need to be caregivers or even wives to be great politicians.

If anything, it’s an advantage. There’s no one to have to apologize to when you’ve been working till midnight every night for a week. No one to feel guilty about not calling when your schedule is filled to the brim and then overflows with the next nation’s crisis.

If we are the land of the free and brave — we should really look to our free-living single ladies to rule the nation.

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