Obama Creates White House Women's Panel

Today I heard about the President's new panel that will work across all of the cabinets and focus on issues pertaining to women and girls. As a woman/girl I welcomed this news. My increasing knowledge of women's issue, both at home and abroad, have greatly broadened my awareness and I feel that there is a very real need for this type of panel.

Too often in this generation, many women, those who are my age of 21 or near, do not consider themselves feminists and do not seem to be concerned with women's issues. First off, anyone who believes that women should be able to seek opportunity the same way men do, are feminists. That being said, women's issues are still very important and also very ignored. I think that women in my age group are used to being encouraged to go to college, to follow their dreams, do what they want to do, etc. This type of encourage is positive and all young people deserve this during their upbringing, however, I think it has caused many young girls to forget the fight of the bra burners who made this type of encouragement possible decades ago.

Patriarchal Mentality. Simply put, this is what made me automatically do my boyfriends laundry without asking him if he wanted me to do so, nor did he ask me to do it. It is the idea, or the mindset, of gender roles. The reason that women automatically take their husband's name and then give it to their children as well. Even in our society where this type of mentality is under challenge, most women do not even think or consider keeping their maiden names. The main function of being female, childbirth, is itself inherently unfair to a woman. Don't get me wrong, I love children and I will have children some day, but as a future mother, I will always sacrifice more in my personal life and work life then my children's father. With the type of sacrifices made on the part of a mother, it is interesting that the mother is not the one honored by being able to give her child her name.

Whoa, slight tangent there, but anyways. I am happy that our new President has recognized that women's issues are still relevant even in a time when the Speaker of the House and the Secretary of State are both female. As long as patriarchal mentality exisists, women's issues will remain issues.