Breaking the Glass Ceiling in 2021: About Damn Time!

Editor: Anita Newkirk Hackney

For centuries, men have dominated the White House, until now. On January 20, 2021, Senator Kamala Harris became the first woman to take on the role as Vice President of the United States of America. 

In the past, women were not treated as fairly as we are today. From the late 1400’s to the 1950’s and 60’s, women’s rights weren’t even a thought. In that time and era, women were only seen as nothing more than wives, homemakers and caretakers while men worked and fought in wars. Women were not able to work as senators, doctors, scientists, Supreme Court justices, or be a part of the White House. 

One woman who wanted to be heard was none other than Abigail Adams. A few months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Abigail Adams urged her husband John and other members of the Continental Congress not to forget the nation’s women when they fought for America’s independence. 

According to History.com:

“The future First Lady wrote in part, ‘I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

Throughout the years, women have shown men they are well capable to work in fields outside the home. Women are more than the fairer sex. We are skillful in multiple fields like government, literature, mathematics, science, and technology.  Women like Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, Mary Shelley, Katherine Johnson, Marie Curie, and Dorothy Vaughn have broken the glass ceiling, overcome the misogynistic prejudice and paved their own path for future generations to follow. 

Thanks to women like RBG, women have more rights than we did centuries ago; and on January 20, 2021, a new glass ceiling was shattered when Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice President. 

According to an Instagram post from the Huffington Post:

“Four years after women took to the streets to protest a misogynistic president, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female vice president of the United States. She is also the first Black and Asian American vice president. Her husband, the self-described ‘second gentleman,’ will be by her side. Not bad. For so many women around the country, particularly Black and Asian women, it’s an emotional day. Hundreds of thousands are wearing pearls in honor of Harris, who has worn her signature necklace at other pivotal moments in her life.”

“And as the vice-president has said, girls around the country were watching. Never again do we have to tell our daughters that a woman hasn’t been elected to the White House. Justice Sonia Sotamayor, the first Latina Supreme Court justice (nominated by the first Black president) swore Harris in.”

Kamala Harris is not the only one breaking the glass ceiling this year. Depending on President Biden’s cabinet approvals, we may have another monumental breakthrough.

According to Dan Cooney and Lynsey Jeffery from Google.com:

“If all of Biden’s nominees are confirmed, his Cabinet will contain more women and people of color than any other Cabinet in U.S. history.”

It’s hard to believe we finally have our first female in the White House. Our country was dealt a low blow by the Trump administration, and now we have a president and vice president that will get the job done. 

Women have come a long way from being only wives, caretakers and teachers. As women, we have fought for a long time to gain the equal rights we deserve.  Many thanks to women like RBG and other trailblazers who paved the way for the future women to follow. We have transcended from the women of the past and are treading forward as we follow Kamala Harris, our first woman vice president of the United States.