Will Women Bring Peace?

Critical Resource Response: TED talk “How women will lead us to freedom, justice and peace” by H.E. Ellen Johnson

Today, more women hold power positions than ever before. While this is a significant advance in history, all of the problems surrounding gender have not been solved. In the TED talk “How women will lead us to freedom, justice and peace” by H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, she claims that putting women in top positions will solve many of the problems related to the suppression. Despite what Sirleaf says, women being in top positions is not always the solution to solve issues of suppression.

Over the years, the metaphor of the glass ceiling has been used to describe the barriers women have faced when trying to reach top positions of power. Sirleaf claims that, “once the glass ceiling has been broken, it can never be put back together.” Although it might be easier to maintain the freedom for women after this ceiling has been broken, it is not guaranteed that it will never return. Strategies still must remain in place in order to keep the power for women. It is an ongoing process that involves more than just selecting women to hold these seats.

With the higher prevalence of women in positions of power, there is also the idea that only women should have those seats. In the past, “women had been those who suffered most… and women had been the ones to resolve it.” Because of this, Sirleaf claims that she wants women to be in all of the top positions. Although this does defy the norm, it is not a guaranteed success. It would create bias and risk the chance of creating similar suppression problems for men. There should be a mixture of people of different genders that hold power, and it should be based on experience and expertise. So, it is not always the most important thing to break the norms.

Sirleaf also talks about breaking the status quo. This is important if we want the world to change, but she claims that criticizers are the root of the issue. “For there will always be those who will tear us down, who will tear us apart, because they want the status quo to remain.” First of all, not all criticizers are wanting to keep the status quo. They simply disagree with the opinions of those in power and want to change that. Also, there is no escaping criticism. Whether it is based on gender or not, there will always be dissatisfied people. So, there is not a way to satisfy everyone.

Overall, Sirleaf makes some good points in her TED Talk; however, her main point that women in power will lead to greatness is flawed. There is not one solution to all of the world’s problems. The glass ceiling can be put back after broken, women should not always hold top seats, and criticizers are not always wrong. It is important to take this information and use it to improve the future for women.

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Work Cited

Sirleaf, H.E. Ellen Johnson. “How women will lead us to freedom, justice and peace.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Dec. 2019, https://www.ted.com/talks/h_e_ellen_johnson_sirleaf_how_women_will_lead_us_to_freedom_justice_and_peace.