What’s Different When Women Run Things

The people who say they won’t vote for Hillary Clinton just because she’s a woman are driving me nuts.

It’s the latest thing in feminism, apparently, to eschew voting for an extremely well-qualified female candidate in favor of another in the legion of white men who have run the country since the beginning of time. But yes, the essence of freedom is that people – men and women – are free to vote regardless of gender or race or anything else.

Still, I think things are different when women run things. And because things are different when women run things, I obviously, strongly think that women should run more things.

What’s different when women run things? you ask. Let’s think about ten powerful women in a room charged with solving an enormous problem. How will they behave?

1. There will be a lot of talking. Women will think out loud, try out ideas, put things on the table, take them off the table, and fill the air with words and ideas.
2. No one will be hiding. A group of women is, to me, by definition, a safe environment. A reticent person will be drawn in to the discussion. A blowhard will be tamped down. The group will move in waves and rhythms that will be easy to ride.
3. The solution will be the focus. Women don’t jockey for points because they see that for what it is – a game better suited to middle school than to places where grown-ups hang out. How do we solve this problem? That will be the focus of the group, not how do I look like the smartest person in the room. Big difference. But you all who are so convinced that men can handle it all without women wouldn’t really know that. You can trust, though. That’s a good approach.
4. There will be worry about impact. A room full of women will worry about how their solution will affect people. They will act to minimize bad effects for children and families. They will think about mothers waving goodbye to their children going off to war. They will do what they do everyday: make sure that everyone else is okay.
5. They will love the problem-solvers. Advancing the solution will get the respect, not grandstanding or obstruction. What brings the group together behind a fine idea will bring joy to the group and each member will own it.
6. They will hang tough. There is nothing tougher than tough women who have linked arms on a plan. Nothing.
7. The solution will be better. Because women create an environment where the solution is the focus and where all opinions are welcome and great ideas celebrated and solidarity valued, the solution to the enormous problem will be better. You ask me how I know. I’ve seen it happen. None of this is abstract.

But, this is just me thinking about what could be, sometime in the future when women take their 51% of the action. Probably not in my lifetime, but that’s fine. As long as we landed a man on the moon, who can complain?