Hilary Robertson-Hickling

Senator Hillary Clinton's announcement that she is running for the presidency of the USA in 2008 is welcome in a world which is desperate for solutions, new people and ideas. While her bid may not yield a revolution, it will certainly transform the thinking of Americans who currently dominate the world and its affairs.

The end of the Iraq war, access to healthcare, the minimum wage and the other areas which the majority of Americans demanded in the recent mid-term election are part of the agenda for change.

For women across the world there are possibilities for women to be assessed for their intelligence as opposed to their appearance; for women to cease to be inferior and become equal, for women to be respected in their own right as opposed to being the wife of someone. Perhaps it will be the President and the former president.

The power couple is finally coming into its own. It is now possible to admit that a woman can be as smart as her husband as well as even smarter. I look forward to that shift in thinking which will unleash women's mighty power for good across the world. Let us be honest, women coming to power cannot make the world any worse than it is today.

The obsession with women's vital statistics and their clothes must be replaced by a new respect for those who lead with probity and integrity and help to heal a world which is currently fractured by so many ills.

Stood by her man

Senator Clinton's handling of her husband's infidelity indicated that she was a woman who not only stood by her man, but was wise and strategic in holding a marriage of many years together.

All of her detractors had to admit that this was a woman of sterner stuff. I have been amazed that there are Americans who have vilified her instead of recognising what she has to offer. People should be free to dislike someone, but to respect their contribution.

There are implications for our own situation in Jamaica. Some may not like the Prime Minister, but that should not stop them from giving her the same chance that the men in leadership have had. When I saw the picture of a woman of my own age getting her belongings together to leave her home in Big Lane after 34 years to flee from the killers of her two sons recently, and another one some years ago, I grasped a Jamaican tragedy which requires some urgent solutions.

There are too many internal exiles running from place to place in Jamaica, fleeing persecution and violence. Let us work together to address the problems in the country and let us show greater respect for each other as men and women.

Men are rarely described as charming, and the assessment is usually made based on their actions. Many years ago one of my mentors, the late Gloria Knight, a great Jamaican, provided great insight about our ambivalence about women's power. We need not fear it. We need to embrace that power and put it to good use. I look forward to the rise of the kind of men who are secure and strong enough to embrace the powerful women in their lives.

This would free us all to exercise our freedom and imagination wisely as opposed to pulling the strings from behind the scenes. This has implications for mothers who need to raise their children in partnership with fathers and demonstrate that power can be shared. This new century requires that both men and women need to get in touch with their feminine selves.