I never doubted that I could be president. This was long before I had ever heard of Hillary Clinton. I distinctly remember considering plans for it when I was in elementary school (I envisioned myself as a Ross Perot style candidate- but successful, of course- being wildly sucessful at something else first, but then deciding that my country needed my leadership and making a run at it.) Ridiculous as that fantasy was, I never doubted that I could win, and I don't even remember considering that my sex would be an issue. I highly doubt that there are any little girls who are just realizing that they really could be president because of Hillary.

While I admire your clarity of ambition, I disagree that girls today somehow know that the presidency is an attainable goal for them. They only need to look around to see how glass ceilings affect their mothers, sisters or other female models in their lives. I too, as a young woman who excelled in the social as well as physical sciences though the sky was the limit for me. Though it has been nearly 40 years since I entered the workforce, and though a lot has changed, there is still the unwritten protocol...that any woman in charge is either a "b" or a "h".

If it is true in my profession of medicine, where women are more prevalent than men, then how can it be any different in other fields. Women who do make it to the top of corporations are required to produce more than any man; they are viewed as opportunists and ultimately incompetent. It is exactly how Hillary is being poytrayed. while she is not my choice of candidate, nor is her party the one I choose, the truth of the matter is that her desire for power is equaled or exceeded by any of the others (either party) who are competing for the top spot.

I disagree with you. Thirty years ago I entered the field of Law Enforcement for a County Hospital. I was not expected to be any different than any of the men that I worked with. I wasn't made to do more or prove myself any differently. Actually I was harder on myself than my employer was. Since it was still the early days of females in law enforcement I was the only female on my shift. At the time there was one other female who was a supervisor on another shift and she was treated no differently than the other supervisors. Although I am no longer in that field I do know that the other female is now Head of Security for another County Agency and has been for a while.

I have had both male and female bosses and I tend to prefer the male bosses because the female bosses I had treated me like it is a competition between us and tried to undermine everything that I did. A person's desire for power does not make them qualified for it and that is part of the problem. There are a lot of people out there (male and female) who think they are more qualified for a postion than someone else and feel that they are being discriminated against when someone else gets the position. Yes it does happen but not necessarily as much as people like to think.

When I was a little girl I wanted to be Wonder Woman and fly in an invisble plane and have a lasso that made anyone it was around tell the truth (but especially my sister - who was better than me at lying to our parents). Sadly, what we believe is possible as children doesn't always match up with reality. Hilary Clinton as President of the United States - hell, as "leader of the free world" would be such an unbelievable game changer, it's stunning to even think about. [I am sure there are some on this thread who would be stunned for different reasons than me!]. Is it possible? Who knows. But it's exciting to me as a woman to be closer to this reality than we ever have been before.