If you haven't yet encountered the wistful wit of @IfHillaryHad, the Twitter handle that tweets what might be happening if Hillary Clinton were currently our 45th president, you have been missing out. (She would be eating nachos with RBG; that much is certain.) The account imagines an alternate universe in which strong, intelligent women with years and years — and years — of political experience would of course be holding the highest leadership positions in the land. Well, apparently that alternate universe exists. And it's called Turks and Caicos.
You may know it as the site of last summer's Jenner Sisters Birthday Extravaganza, but the small Caribbean island should be most famous for having shattered the glass ceiling. BBC reports that in Turks and Caicos, women hold the majority of top government positions: deputy governor, chief justice, attorney general, chief magistrate, director of public prosecutions, five of seven permanent secretaries...the list goes on. Plus, the British territory recently elected its first female premier, Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson.
But that's not all: Now that high-achieving women have become the norm in Turks and Caicos, the island's Gender Affairs Department, which once focused on lending women a helping hand, has turned the tables to provide services for young men — from vocational courses to anger management training. Deputy Governor Anya Williams told the BBC that the Department's new goal is to help high school boys "become more focused and take up pivotal roles in society."
So what's this tiny island's girl-power secret?
Cartwright-Robinson told BBC that her extensive work in politics, including eight years of parliamentary experience, simply made her "the best man for the job." She adds that there may remain a few men on the island "who think women can't lead, but because of the work I have done...I wasn't looked at as a woman but as a person who could get the job done."
Wow. What a novel concept.
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