Dear Mr. or Madam President,

You have entered the white house, and now you have a whole new set of responsibilities to the people. Coming from an all girls school, I have had the opportunity to see first hand what empowered women look like, but unfortunately this is not the case all around our country. Women make up 51% of the world’s population; now is the time to recognize us for what we are, and treat us with equality.

There is a great chance that our next president will be a female, so I ask you how will you help to uplift us given your experience as a woman in this world? And to your male counterpart, who has been known to call women derogatory names, how are you going to change your outlook on our gender and assume the responsibility of being fair-minded?

It is 2016, and while it may be true that the plight of women has improved, we are still a far way off from equality. Women still earn only 79 cents to a man’s dollar; this may be better than the times not too long ago when women weren’t even allowed in the work place, but we can not settle. There is nothing about earning 20% less than we are deserve that women should have to accept any longer.

This is the apex of the feminism movement, and if something is not done now then I fear America’s progress will be set back to zero. I urge you to set a good example for future generations so that gender inequality is not something they have to grow up struggling with. I challenge you to make the change that will a turning point for the world as we know it.

In conclusion, I believe you can learn a great deal from the “HeForShe” speech given by Emma Watson. Pay close attention to the end when she asks “if not [you], who? If not now, when?” The time for calling girls “bossy” is over, and the time for letting us be then bosses is upon us. The time for merely talking about the issue is over, and the time to actually do something is now.

Cordially,

Lily L.