Tuesday, July 4, 2017

There's a fundamental misperception that only women can effectively advocate for the issues that women care about or are touched by.



Signals that the Trump administration may disband the White House Council on Women and Girls have set off a new round of attacks against President Trump. But there's no malice in objectively assessing whether this office is needed to advance the concerns of girls and women, or to ask whether it's just a tool to advance a narrow set of issues and solutions.

Assessing the need for a Council on Women and Girls is in part about good stewardship. President Trump made it a priority for all federal agencies to conduct a top-to-bottom review — looking for areas of duplication and waste....

Women's issues too often get narrowly defined as paid leave and reproductive rights. All issues are women's issues and we are impacted by all policies, from infrastructure to tax reform and energy to technology. Looking at the council's track record under President Obama, we see an office that selectively promoted progressive policies to the neglect of the other roles that women face. Women are small business owners, employers, and students too....

Americans are tired of the politics of division which pit women against men and girls against boys. In a household, everyone is working for the family's benefit, not just for the girls or the boys. Why shouldn't we expect the same of our leaders?