Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Today is Election Day here in the United States which got me thinking about the fact that we are one of the few Western nations that has never had a female head of state.   In our 200+ years as a nation, we have had two women run for Vice President, three female Secretaries of State, and one female Speaker of the House.   Yet we still haven’t managed to have a female at the top of the ticket, although we’ve come close.   Here is just salute to some of the female Heads of State in recent history (check out this link on Wikipedia for the complete list of current and former Female Heads of State). Some of these women were the first female heads of state in their countries.   Some came from political dynasties but all fought hard-won elections to become the head of State in their countries.   What surprised me was how many Latin American countries have female Presidents.   Yes, those macho countries have female Presidents!   Here’s hoping that we in th...

Even though technically I'm an adult, I still read graphic novels. A couple of months ago, I was in one of my favorite comic book stores when I found these comics by Blue Water Productions . Featuring Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Michele Obama and Caroline Kennedy in the first few issues, the initial mandate was to feature strong women in politics. These issues have been collected into one book. Since the first few issues, Female Force has done issues on Condoleeza Rice, Oprah, Barbara Walters and Princess Diana. The comics are about 35 pages, the art work is superb and best of all there is a bibliography of books and web-sites so that readers can find out more information about these women. I think they are great for both middle school and high school students. While they shouldn't replace reading biographies, it can give kids a strong sense of who these women were. Future issues will feature Nancy Pelosi, Stephanie Meyers (of Twilight Fame) and JK Rowling. While I...