Nashauna Drummond, Staff Reporter
Prime Minister-designate Portia Simpson Miller receives a congratulatory hug from Member of Parliament Delroy Chuck during a ceremony of thanks to Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding and member of Parliament at Gordon House on February 28. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
WHILE WE revel in the historic win of Prime Minister-designate Portia Simpson Miller, women generally as well as many women's organisations are expecting her to perform miracles.
But even if she does, we should not be expecting them in the short term. Mrs. Simpson Miller has earned her current position of responsibility after years of hard work. It did not happen with the wave of a magic wand.
Similarly, we must be realistic. First she will be facing tremendous pressure and possibly and the opposition of her detractors. Secondly she's a woman and gender still remains an issue in our society. And finally, it will take nothing short of a miracle to restore Jamaica to a shadow of its former glory.
ABILITY
Talk is rife about our first female Prime Minister and every day we hear how, "it's woman time now." I'm a strong advocate of female equality, but we need to keep Mrs. Simpson Miller's gender out of the issues that are uppermost in the minds of people now. I think the delegates elected her more for her ability than because of her sex. Similarly, when she names her new Cabinet, the choices will be made based on ability and not on gender.
No doubt Mrs. Simpson Miller will be shaking things up and stepping on some toes as she sets about effecting change. But before the ordinary citizen begins to see any signs of tangible change, a lot of internal party reorganisation and national groundwork must be done. So as women, we should not expect our centuries of discrimination and anguish to automatically come to an end because we suddenly have a female Prime Minister.
I think Mrs. Simpson Miller deserves the same amount of time and opportunity to do her job that would be afforded to a man.
And, we cannot forget that she's human and there's a lot of work to be done by all of us.
We Want To Hear From You Flair is your magazine, so tell us what's on your mind. Send letters to: Flair, The Gleaner, 7 North Street, Kingston; or e-mail, lifestyle@gleanerjm.com; fax, 922-6223 or 948-1804
