A Woman with what it takes

Women today are claiming more attention in the world of men and not in the sexist way.  They are now challenging men for position and power.  I hope in doing this they do not lose the nurturing, feminine side of being female.  In my lengthy lifetime I have known some very strong women who were also very much female.  An example:

When I was in 7th grade, my home room teacher was also the math teacher.  Tall, white-haired, neat in dress, firm yet sympathetic in manner, she was on occasion, the brunt of our youthful, critical comments and snickering.  For one thing, her white hair was not always pure white, for it had a natural yellowish tinge.  So she did what was done at that time to alleviate the yellow.  She rinsed her hair with bluing.  Bluing is/was a dye used to whiten clothing which had developed that aged yellow hue.  Every now and then she overdid it, appearing in class with actual blue hair.  To our early teen minds that was hilarious.  We were brutal.  She never changed her calm demeanor, never spoke about the whispering and giggling, though she most certainly was aware that she was the subject.  She treated us as though we were adults, ignoring our mean-spirited behavior.  Class went on. She stood before the class in her sensible shoes, her wool skirt and neatly pressed blouse, pointer in hand, tapping the blackboard as she tried to enlist our enthusiasm for algebra.  One day, she dropped her piece of chalk.  She bent over to retrieve it, and as she straightened back up, the elastic on her bloomers apparently snapped.  Her bloomers dropped in a snowy  heap to her shoe  tops. We all saw.  Momentary breath holding. And I am sure at that moment we thought we would have our greatest laugh yet.  But that woman simply bent down again. Lifting each foot lightly, she removed the bloomers, wadded them up and quickly stuffed them in her pocket.  She continued on with the lesson as if nothing at all had happened.  No one laughed.  In those few seconds we had all witnessed savoir faire.  A real lady.  

I am not  in favor of women replacing men in positions of power.  I do not want to see a woman president of the United States.  A First Lady can have just as much power (and several have--notably Eleanor Roosevelt) behind the scenes and still maintain her noble position as a woman.  The loss of womanhood to me is very sad.  Already the children growing up without a feminine model show the effect.  

I know almost nothing of our new VP Elect.  I hope she will be very effective in her position and still remain a model of femininity.  I do hope President Elect Joe Biden stays healthy.  That he listens to her proffered advice, entertains her ideas and gives consideration to her wisdom.  I hope he remains at the head though.  

Of course I am "old-fashioned" in my thinking.  Yet I am convinced women are special.  They should not have to imitate men to be of value.  We women are strong, but soft.  Firm yet compassionate.

We have an inborn strength not found in our male counterparts.  There is a reason why it is females who give birth.