Lesson Module: Women and the Presidency

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Women_Presidency

 

Perspective: Teaching about the United States Presidency often means, by nature of its occupants, teaching a very white, male history of the nation’s most powerful political role. However, gender is far from absent in understanding the presidency and in helping students develop a more diverse image of who might sit in the Oval Office. In this module, we offer multiple resources and ideas for integrating gender into lessons on the presidency and/or creating a lesson solely focused on women and the presidency.

Goal: The goal of this module is to provide resources and ideas that will alter young people’s image of the presidency as a male/masculine space. Students’ view of an ideal president should be disrupted so that women are viewed as potential contenders and they should also recognize other ways in which both men and women can have a voice in the White House (e.g. through the ballot box and through executive appointments).

Content: To meet these goals, we provide information on the women who have run for president and their successes, the importance of women’s votes in electing our presidents, and the presence of women in presidential cabinets over time. We offer activities that push young people to think beyond the masculinity of the presidential office, and additional resources to highlight the ways in which women have and will wield power in the nation’s highest executive office.

 

Materials

 

CAWP Fact Sheets

Graphics

Books & Articles

Video & Web Resources

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Discussion Questions

Recommended for elementary-aged (K-5) students K-5

  1. Who is the president of the United States? Is the president a man or a woman?
  2. Has there ever been a woman president? Why not?
  3. Who in your life (family, friends, etc.) do you think could be a good president? Why?
  4. Do you think you could, or would want to be, the president? Why/why not?

Recommended for middle school-aged (6-8) students 6-8

  1. What do you think are the most important traits (e.g. friendly, smart) and skills (e.g. public speaking) to someone who serves as president?
    1. Do you think that any of those traits or skills are more common among men or women? Explain.
  2. Why do you think we have not yet had a woman president in the United States?
  3. Do you think a woman will be president in your lifetime? Why/why not?
  4. Who in your life (family, friends, etc.) do you think could be a good president? Why? (Probe on gender if responses are skewed by gender of potential president.)

Recommended for high school-aged (9-12) students 9-12

  1. What do you think are the most important traits (e.g. friendly, smart) and skills (e.g. public speaking) to someone who serves as president?
    1. Do you think that any of those traits or skills are more common among men or women? Explain.
  2. The first woman ran for president of the United States in 1872. In the 140+ years since then, only 13 more women ran for president. What do you view as the barriers women have faced to both running for and winning the presidency?
    1. Do those barriers still exist? Which ones?
    2. Can they be overcome or eliminated? How?
  3. Do you think a woman will be president in your lifetime? Why/why not?
    1. Does it matter to you (to your community? to the country?) if a woman serves as president?
  4. As a child, did you ever see yourself as president – or in any other political leadership position? Do you see that as a possibility now? Why/why not? (Look for gender differences among responses.)

Recommended for college students College

  1. When asked to picture the president of the United States, what image(s) immediately come to mind? Describe that/those image(s). (Probe on race/ethnicity and gender in particular.)
    1. From where do you think these images come?
  2. When asked to give essential character traits and/or skills of the president, what would you list among them? Why?
    1. Do you believe any of these traits or skills are more common to men or women? Explain.
  3. The first woman ran for president of the United States in 1872. In the 140+ years since then, only 13 more women ran for president. What do you view as the barriers women have faced to both running for and winning the presidency?
    1. Do those barriers still exist? Which ones?
    2. Can they be overcome or eliminated? How?
  4. The United States lags behind many other countries which have already elected female heads of state. Why do you think other countries have achieved this milestone before the United States?
  5. Do you think a woman will be president in your lifetime? Why/why not?
    1. Does it matter to you (to your community? to the country?) if a woman serves as president?
  6. As a child, did you ever see yourself as president – or in any other political leadership position? Do you still see that as a possibility? Why/why not? (Look for gender differences among responses.)

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Activities

What’s missing from pictures of previous presidents? K-5 6-8
Present students with photos of all 44 presidents to date (link) and begin a discussion about their similarities and differences. When gender comes up, proceed with a discussion about whether or not the lack of gender diversity is a problem in the view of students.

What does a president look like? K-5 6-8
Provide students with materials and ask them to draw an image of what they perceive as an ideal president. In addition to the image of the president him/herself, the students can include descriptive terms and traits about their president (e.g. personality, experience/credentials, demographics). Once complete, the images should be shared and following questions posed to students as a group:

  • How are these images the same and how are they different?
  • Choose a trait and explain why you view that as important in an ideal president.
  • How many of you drew a woman? Why? Did you hesitate?

Presidential Poll 6-8 9-12 College
Take a poll of your students, asking the following questions, and report the results to the group. You can compare the responses to the findings from the same questions asked in a 2009 CBS/NYTimes poll.

  • Would you vote for a woman for president if she were qualified?
  • Is America ready for a woman president?

Mock Presidential Election – Will you be the first woman president? 6-8 9-12 College
Provide students the opportunity to be nominated and to run for the presidency. Students will learn the nomination process, tenets of campaigning (speaking, developing materials, and seeking votes), and how votes are counted with the electoral college.

Women and the Presidency Crossword Puzzle 6-8 9-12
Have students complete a crossword puzzle that includes clues and answers related to women’s political history vis a vis the presidency. Discuss the answers with students.

Presidential Gender Trivia 6-8 9-12
Either via paper or as a group, pose a set of trivia questions to your students. In addition to providing them the correct answers (where available), use these questions to spur discussion about women and the presidency. Discussion ideas are included in parentheses.

 

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