Strength of Women

I’ve been considering what it means to have strength as a woman. Obviously, I believe that there is a particular strength that women have. Yet, the (now) old fashioned theme of feminism from the 60’s and 70’s has become a relic of an older generation (yes, mine). “I am woman, hear me roar” is just so… unnecessarily zealous, it defeats its purpose. When you possess real power or strength, you do not need to proclaim it so loudly. And if you do, the strident proclamation belies itself. Expression of strength lies in the strength itself. One should not talk about being capable: be capable. One should not talk about being independent: be independent. One should not talk about being a leader: lead. I recently saw an example of my idea of the expression of strength in women. Time Magazine recently named is 100 of the world’s most influential people. One of them was France’s Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde. Her write up is by the US Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner. He wrote: “As president of the New York Fed and as Treasury Secretary, I’ve met Largarde a number of times. In each encounter, her lightning-quick wit, genuine warmth and ability to bridge divides while remaining fiercely loyalty to French Interests have been a source of admiration.” I also saw Lagarde on The Daily Show during the weeks after President Obama’s inauguration when the world’s financial markets were near collapse. She graced the screen with such calm reassurance and intelligence, I thought then that she was the epitome of the strength of women. Watching her one could believe that the all those gigantic and risky financial decisions were being made by people who knew what they were doing and would carry the world through to safety. Watching her one could feel that women can have that greatness about them formerly only felt about men.