Marianne Schnall
Why has there never been a woman president?” my 8-year-old daughter, Lotus, asked me in 2008 when Barack Obama became our first Black president. It was such a thought-provoking question it inspired me to write a whole book of interviews to explore the answers. Sixteen years later, Lotus said sadly, “I’m still asking the same question at 23.”
Since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election, I’ve been thinking about all the girls and young women across the country who, like Lotus, saw yet another highly qualified female candidate lose to a white man for president. And not just any man, but one who’s been convicted of 34 felonies and found liable for sexual assault and defamation and has a long history of racist and sexist remarks, particularly toward female leaders.
What effect will that have on girls’ perception of leadership, their self-worth and their ideas of what is, and is not, possible for women to achieve? (Not to mention the bad example it sets for boys and how it may shape their attitudes and behaviors toward women.)
In addition to other concerns we may have about Harris’ loss and Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency, here’s something I urge us to be vigilant about: making sure the outcome of this election does not deter girls from aspiring to become our next generation of leaders. We need their important voices, vision and influence to help create a better, more equal world.
As a mother of two daughters, and from my decades-long work to advance gender equality and women’s leadership, I am acutely aware of how important it is for young girls to see women in top leadership positions to visualize what is possible for themselves. Without enough examples of female leaders, girls and women can feel restricted by the idea that “you can’t be what you can’t see.”
The symbolism alone of a Harris presidency, of finally breaking that barrier, would have undoubtedly positively affected women and girls, made even more significant with Harris being multiracial. Losing this opportunity to make history is also a lost chance to show girls of all races and ethnicities that they, too, could achieve their most ambitious goals and dreams, including holding the highest office in the land.
As disheartening as that loss may be, it’s all the more reason why we must affirm our commitment to gender equality and women’s representation in politics, proactively uplifting girls’ belief in themselves as future leaders.
There are many ways we can do this as we move forward. We can shape a positive narrative for younger generations, so that Harris’ loss is not merely a reminder of the challenges female leaders face but rather a pivotal moment to build upon — while emphasizing and celebrating all that she did accomplish.
We should also actively support women’s leadership more broadly to help increase women’s representation: mentoring younger generations, advocating for other women at work, speaking out against biased or sexist media, and supporting female candidates locally and nationally. This will provide girls with more role models and normalize women being respected as leaders for boys and men, helping shift gender bias in our culture.
This is especially important given a recent report from the 2025 Reykjavík Index for Leadership showing a decline in perceptions of women’s leadership, particularly among younger groups. In the U.S., only 47% of respondents were “very comfortable” with a female political leader. “This is an era of, at best, stasis, and at worst, increasingly regressive attitudes towards women leaders,” the report states.
Let’s be intentional about encouraging leadership qualities in girls. Everyone who influences girls’ lives must consciously cultivate their confidence and self-worth, helping them envision a future in which they can achieve whatever they set out to do. And we must ensure they understand their own political power, including voting, being civically engaged, speaking up for causes they care about and considering a career in public service if they are so inclined.
We should remember — and emphasize to young people — that pivotal moments like these often fuel some of the most impactful change. Trump’s 2016 win inspired women to turn their outrage into action. The Women’s March drew some 5 million people across the world, and an unprecedented surge of women ran for office, resulting in a record number of women being elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm elections.
Yet achieving parity remains a significant challenge. Women hold only 24% of U.S. Senate seats and 29.2% of seats in the House. These numbers, which are even lower for women of color, have stalled and could even backslide if we are not proactive.
Although progress is moving slower than we’d like, this election did bring advances, such as a new record of 13 female U.S. governors, two Black female senators elected to serve simultaneously for the first time and a record number of women serving in state legislatures nationwide.
We can draw on these incremental gains and the energy generated by Harris’ historic run to motivate and sustain our work and inspire girls to imagine themselves as leaders. Our efforts will ensure that more women enter the political pipeline and are seated at decision-making tables, so that one day we can finally achieve the milestone of electing a female president and a more reflective democracy overall.
Let us choose to respond to this moment with determination instead of defeat. If we all stay engaged in cultivating the next generation of female leaders, I know that soon young girls, like my daughter at 8 years old, will no longer have to wonder why we haven’t had a female president. Instead, they’ll be aspiring to be the next in line.
(Marianne Schnall is a widely published journalist, author and interviewer.)
