Powerful Women

Forbes magazine recently released its second annual list of the world's 100 Most Powerful Women. While I was disappointed that the list included no religious leaders, I was impressed by the number of women who are heads of state. Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister of the Ukraine, and Gloria Arroyo, president of the Phillipines, are both in the top ten. (Granted, Arroyo is facing possible impeachment.) The leaders of Ireland, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka are in the top 25.

Having read the list, I am even more upset that the United States has never had a female president, that a woman has never run for president on a major party ticket, and that only one woman has run for vice president on a major party ticket. If Bangladesh and Latvia can have women as heads of state, why not the U.S., a nation known for equality and opportunity. (Of course, we've never had a minority president either.)