Hillary Clinton. Condoleeza Rice. Meg Whitman. Oprah Winfrey. What do these women have in common? They are of the most successful women in the nation. Some would argue that they are also some of the most powerful in the world. They are not the only women who have risen to the top of their respective industries, but they are, I believe, symbolic of how far we have come as a nation as far as opportunities for women are concerned.

Some say this is something to celebrate; others say it’s simply not enough.

And now the Obama administration is getting involved in the issue. The Obama White House has established a council on women and girls with the mission to:

“…provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families.”

Women have come such a long way in this country that we had the first really viable female candidate for President in the 2008 election. Before that, President Bush appointed the first African-American woman Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. These are among the highest ranking officials in the federal government. Outside of Washington DC, Oprah Winfrey rules the talk show and television airwaves. When Oprah talks, people listen — and then go buy books! Every author wants to appear on Oprah’s show so that their book can skyrocket to up the New York Times bestseller list. There are so many more. But, to name just a couple more, Meg Whitman and Colleen Barrett ruled for years in their respective businesses, Whitman as the Chief Executive Officer of Ebay and Barrett over at Southwest Airlines.

All that to say that women have fared pretty well in our world. But here is the states mission of the council for women and girls, from the White House website:

* Improving women’s economic security by ensuring that each of the agencies is working to directly improve the economic status of women.
* Working with each agency to ensure that the administration evaluates and develops policies that establish a balance between work and family.
* Working hand-in-hand with the Vice President, the Justice Department’s Office of Violence Against Women and other government officials to find new ways to prevent violence against women, at home and abroad.
* Finally, the critical work of the Council will be to help build healthy families and improve women’s health care.

This makes some groups very happy, namely NOW, the National Organization for Women. The president of NOW, Terry O’ Neill, says, “We clearly have a friend in the White House.” But not all women’s groups are as enthusiastic. Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America (CWA), doesn’t agree with the administration’s view of women:

“Obama’s policies reflect the views of hard-core abortion and feminist groups. Considering the diversity of views among American women, it is insulting to assume that there is one ‘women’s view’ and it is represented by liberal feminist activists…. Obama’s choices reflect a stereotypical view of women who are abortion advocates who are dependent on government.”

What do you think? There’s always room for improvement. So is a Council like this one appropriate? Or do you think that it’s just another politically correct thing to do?

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(Original photo by Roger H. Goun, used under Creative Commons license.)