Abstract
At an International Peace Institute speaker’s event in September 2012, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf shared this revealing anecdote about the gradually shifting gender roles in her country: A teacher asked one of her male pupils what he wanted to be when he grew up and he replied, “Vice President.” When the teacher prodded the student further, wondering why he opted for the second highest elected office and not the first, the young boy said emphatically: “You want my friends to laugh at me? President…that’s women’s work!”1
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aidoo, Ama Ata, 1998. “The African Woman Today,” in Nnaemeka (Ed.), Sisterhood Feminisms and Power: From Africa to the Diaspora, 39–50. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc.
Dunn, Elwood D., 2009. Liberia and the United States during the Cold War: Limits of Reciprocity. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
Dunn, Elwood D., Amos J. Beyan, and Carl Patrick Burrowes, 2001. Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press.
Gbowee, Leymah, 2011. Mighty Tie Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer and Sex Changed a Nation at War. New York, NY: Beast Books.
Hofstede, Geert, 2001. Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations. London: Sage Publications.
Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, 2006. Inaugural Address of H. E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Executive Mansion, Monrovia, Liberia. http://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/inaugural_add_1.pdf
—, 2009. This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
National Elections Commission, Republic of Liberia, 2005. “2005 Elections/By-Elections Results.” http://www.necliberia.org/results/.
—, 2011. “2011 Presidential and Legislative Elections.” http://www.necliberia.org/results2011/
Nnaemeka, Obioma, 1998. “Introduction: Reading the Rainbow,” in Nnaemeka (Ed.), Sisterhood Feminisms and Power: From Africa to the Diaspora, 1–35. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc.
Norris, Pippa, and Ronald Inglehart, 2000. “Cultural Barriers to Women’s Leadership: A Worldwide Campaign,” paper for special session “Social Cleavages and Elections,” April 3, International Political Science Association World Congress, Quebec City.
Oyewumi, Oyeronke, 2003. “Introduction: Feminism, Sisterhood, and Other Foreign Relations,” in Oyewumi (Ed.), African Women and Feminism: Reflecting on the Politics of Sisterhood, 1–24. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc.
Rehn, Elisabeth, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2002. Women War and Peace: The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building. New York, NY: United Nations Development Fund for Women.
Sadiqi, Fatima, and Moha Ennaji, 2006. “The Feminisation of Public Space: Women’s Activism, the Family Law, and Social Change in Morocco,” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, 2: 86–114.
Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund, 2012. “God First, Second the Market: A Case Study of the Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund of Liberia.” New York, NY, and Monrovia, Liberia: Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund.
Steady, Filomina Chioma, 2006. Women and Collective Action in Africa. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
—, 2011. Women and Leadership in West Africa: Mothering the Nation and Humanizing the State. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
Wells, Julia, 1998. “Maternal Politics in Organizing Black South African Women: The Historical Lessons,” in Nnaemeka (Ed.), Sisterhood Feminisms and Power: From Africa to the Diaspora, 251–262. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2014 Baba G. Jallow
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pailey, R.N. (2014). Patriarchy, Power Distance, and Female Presidency in Liberia. In: Jallow, B.G. (eds) Leadership in Postcolonial Africa. Palgrave Studies in African Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137478122_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137478122_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50223-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47812-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)