‘Gender stereotypes affect all of us’ Obama wrote an essay on feminism

Not that we needed another reason to adore Barack Obama, but having proclaimed himself a feminist yesterday, we can't help but love him more. 

President of The United States, Barack Obama, who recently celebrated his 55th birthday, has written a powerful essay for Glamour magazine on feminism and women’s long struggle for equality. 

"Gender stereotypes affect all of us, regardless of our gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation."

He speaks about how the important people in his life have always been women, so he has lived a life recognising gender discrimination. 

As a father to two young women, the struggle of gender equality is something that is very close to Obama's heart, and a cause he fights for daily. 

"You feel the enormous pressure girls are under to look and behave and even think a certain way."

In this 1500 word essay, the President celebrated the progress that women have made over the past century, while also promising to work on securing equal pay and reproductive rights for women in America. 

"There’s still a lot of work we need to do to improve the prospects of women and girls here and around the world" he wrote. 

The President wrote about the importance of changing people's attitudes toward women and men, with regards to stereotypes. 

The point he makes is that women should be able to work full time, and men can actually be stay-at-home dads, and nobody (male or female) should be judged for their life chocies. 

"We need to keep changing the attitude that punishes women for their sexuality and rewards men for theirs" 

Ultimately his message is clear… we all need to stand up for equality, and raise our children and grandchildren to do the same. 

"Michelle and I have raised our daughters to speak up when they see a double standard or feel unfairly judged based on their gender or race"

His closing statement is simple, yet hard hitting: "That’s what twenty-first century feminism is about: the idea that when everybody is equal, we are all more free."

What a man!