Opinion: Women Should Have the Right to be Successful in America

Kamala Harris was elected Vice President of the United States on Nov. 7, which is the highest political position a woman has ever achieved in our nation’s 244-year history. However, this was shortly after the Miami Marlins announced on Nov. 13 that they hired Kim Ng as their next general manager for the 2021 season, the first woman to have achieved this in the sport started a 151 years ago.

It is worth noting that Ng and Harris are also the women of color. And the children of immigrants. Harris ia first-generation American daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Ng is the daughter of a Chinese mother and a Chinese-American father.

As a male, watching these two individual women achieve their dreams, makes me realize that our country needs to welcome more opportunities for women to succeed and follow their goals in life. As men, it’s sometimes easy to fall into the habit of thinking a woman can’t do this or can’t do that, but these two women’s achievements are an incredible reminder that we (men) should encourage and welcome the opportunity to grow as one.

While the media broke out the news about Biden and Harris winning the election, woman of all ages across the country spoke out about how they are excited to see Harris be our next Vice President.

“I think what she means for women of the world is so extraordinary,” said Oprah Winfrey in People Magazine’s webpage. “For women here in the United States, we can’t even measure it. Because to see someone who looks like you in this role, you see what’s possible for yourself. Period.”

But Harris wasn’t the only female to overcome this gender barrier, as Kim Ng, a week after Harris was elected Vice President, becomes the first women hired as a general manager for any MLB franchise. Ng has been in talks of being possibly a general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2015, but never got the job until the Marlins finally hired her this year.

Before Ng was hired as general manager for the Marlins, the 51-year-old has had some experience being assistant manager of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. She was also a part other MLB teams like the Chicago White Sox which she was assistant director to baseball operations.

“It is wonderful seeing people accomplish their stated goals, and this has been a dream of hers for as long as I’ve known her,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman told ESPN. “… She will provide the Marlins with vast experience and institutional knowledge along with a calm demeanor and an amazing ability to connect with others — all of which will serve her well in her new leadership role as head of baseball operations.”

The reasons to why this stands out is because the MLB has always been mostly discouraged by women being a part of baseball, and the people around the sport didn’t welcome them to be a part of organizations. But Ng being the first women to break this stigma of denial by the league brings new light for women to be a part of something bigger than just being fans in the stands.

This year during the World Series, Jessica Mendoza was also the first woman ever host a broadcast for the Fall Classic.

The biggest take away we must learn from this is that women have been rather looked down on by men since this country has ever existed, and as men, we never looked into actually thinking that women could ever achieve such high standards. But the truth is, any woman can. As someone who has been guilty of looking down onto women, I realize that all females in this country should be able to achieve anything they want to do. Whether it is being the next Vice President of the United States, or managing a professional team in America, I and so many other men should be encouraging this moment in our country’s history that women can be just as good as any man in this country.