Ever since the beginning of time, women have been seen as weak, vulnerable individuals. Because of the seemingly feeble and overly emotional nature of females, society has made it extremely difficult for women to develop leadership roles and achieve honorable feats. While strength, power, and potency are vital characteristics of a leader, one must also be able to express compassion and love in order to gain a following of supporters. In order to become a successful leader, individuals must find a happy medium between being composed, hardened, and tough, traits stereotypically applied to men, and expressing heartfelt, caring emotions, characteristics usually attributed to females. All humans must face obstacles when striving for power. However, women who desire leadership find themselves in an especially difficult situation. If power-seeking women openly disclose their emotions to society, the public may view that individual as weak and not fit for leading a group in need of grounded guidance. On the other hand, if women striving for leadership act as a strong, emotionally neutral individual and take on the part of a male leader, the public might view her as not genuine. Women seeking respect and power must channel both their inner strength and emotional side in order to be a well-rounded leader.

            The epitome of women’s struggle for power is shown through the life of Hillary Clinton, a well-known politician. In the past, critics of Clinton have ridiculed her support for the war in Iraq, arguing that because she is a woman, Clinton feels the need to prove her masculinity by advocating aggression. On the other hand, Clinton has also been criticized for her expression of “feminine” emotion. For instance, when speaking about her political career and her fight for the status of presidency, Clinton started to tear up, causing a mixture of passionate responses. Many Clinton adherents defended the politician and admired her ability to show true passion openly to the world. However, many individuals used this opportunity to attack Clinton’s expression of inner emotions, claiming her tears made her appear weak, vulnerable, and incapable of being an effective leader. In reality, the tears that escaped Hillary Clinton’s eyes were not really the cause of such an uproar. Instead, the fact that Clinton is a woman who shed tears is the true source of the controversial reactions. If a male became emotional because of his intense passion for leading and helping people, there may be a few jokes about the incident, but nothing detrimental to his career. In contrast, because society already views women as being incapable of shielding their emotions and remaining collected under pressure, one slip of heartfelt feelings can cause the public to question her leadership. However, while being grounded and strong for one’s people is vital, a leader must also be able to relate to the public. Because we are humans, all people harbor compassionate, sentimental, feminine-like feelings, regardless of if they express them or not. Individuals are not being weak or soft when they show true emotion and step out from behind the walls that humans so often hide behind. But rather, an individual, especially a woman striving for power, expresses true courage when he or she is willing to openly display his or her emotions to the public eye.