Challenge #7: 2014

2♀14

It was New Years Eve, 2013. I was getting ready to host my friend, Kendall, for a night of baking (or, fulfilling traditional gender roles, as she would say) when suddenly the commercial below popped onto the screen. I turned around when I recognized the voice of the first girl, Malala Yousafazi, who I blogged about here, and was mesmerized for the next minute. I'd heard of most of the women it mentioned - Malala, Janet Yellon, Gabrielle Giffords. and Margaret Thatcher - but not all of them. I was inspired by their stories, whether I'd known them before or not, and felt proud to be a woman in a year that unfortunately had a lot of negative publicity for women. From Miley Cyrus's monthly scandals, to Kim Kardashian's baby-naming coverage, I felt like the women who were really making a difference daily had been overshadowed. 

The commercial made me hope for a better 2014, for all women, everywhere. It'll be a big one for me, personally. I'll graduate high school and enter college, and join other women who make up the majority of college students nationwide.  Two out of the three colleges I've been accepted to have more females enrolled then males - and at Georgetown, there's a 12 point gap (56% female, 44% male). 

2014 will also see more women take power. Angela Merkel will leader Europe's largest economy, Germany, for a third term. Janet Yellen will continue to act as the first female Chairwoman of the United States Federal Reserve. We'll have the 2014 mid-term elections, where women's issues will continue to play a large role in how citizens vote. Women running for office will (hopefully) continue to succeed and lower the gender imbalance in Congress, where they currently make up one-fifth of all Senators and about 18 percent of all Representatives. Both Democrats and Republicans are succeeding in getting women to run for office. I know I personally would love to spend my summer working on a woman's campaign in Illinois. In 2013, women were credited with ending the shutdown of the federal government - who knows what they'll accomplish across the spectrum in 2014.

Tulsi Gabbard, freshman Congresswomen who took office in 2013,
representing Hawaii's 2nd District. 

For the first time ever, the United Kingdom's list of New Year Honours for 2014 had more women than men, proving that women are continuing to dominate the media. 2014 will see women receive better access to preventative care measures specific to their gender, under the Affordable Case Act. The 'glass ceiling' for women has never seemed lower, or more breakable. Women in 2014 will continue to fight to decrease the gender gap in pay in the United States and fight for the rights that have been taken away in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and other countries, and they'll be more successful than ever before.

I wish everyone, regardless of their gender, good luck and fortune in 2014.

Cia♀,

Charlie