An Answer to Ayn Rand (About a Woman President)

In December 1968 Ayn Rand published her controversial essay "An Answer to Readers (About a Woman President)" in which she expressed her opposition to the election of a woman as President of the USA.

Firstly, Rand starts her case against a Madame President by stating that: For a woman qua woman, the essence of femininity is hero-worship - the desire to look up to a man.

Then, the Objectivist philosopher defines what she means by "worshipping" and whom a woman is to worship: Her worship is an abstract emotion for the metaphysical concept of masculinity as such - which she experiences fully and concretely only for the man she loves, but which colors her attitude toward all men. She goes on to add: It means that she never loses the awareness of her own sexual identity and theirs. It means that a properly feminine woman does not treat men as if she were their pal, sister, mother - or leader.

Why can't she be a leader? Because if she were, she wouldn't have any men to look up to, but only men who’d obey her, which would go against Rand's definition of feminine woman.

Moreover, by Rand's claims, one may infer there is a correlation between the sexual nature of a woman and her admiration towards a man, which isn't explained by the philosopher, but really seems to refer to a certain narrative according to which the woman is subject to her male partner. Otherwise, one could not explain why a man can and ought to be President, although he certainly wouldn't forget his own sexual identity.

However, the real problem is with Rand's idea of a feminine woman.
"Femininity" is by definition the set of characteristics that are proper to a woman for her being a woman; in other words: femininity is the feature that an ideal woman must possess (in order to be happy), just like virility is the model for men. Thus, to say that femininity is the desire to look up to a man means claiming that a woman's ideal life is based upon worshipping a man.

And that leads to the deduction that a woman cannot be happy without a man to admire, which is exactly the opposite of the Objectivist principle that every individual is the means to their own happiness.