Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates, Feminist of the 21^st Century (English Summary)

Yenlin Ku 

September 13, 2019

    Melinda Gates is the daughter that liberal feminists have dreamed of and strived for since the 19^th century.

     Born into a family that loved sons and daughters equally, she received an education no less than any boy of the same background. Her female high school teachers as well as mentors at IBM and Microsoft paved her way to a successful career. In return, she did her best to help other women, especially poverty-stricken sisters in the third world, to also have the opportunities to fully realize their potentials.

    Her equal partnership with her husband Bill is another feminist dream coming true. The “companionate marriage” advocated by Locke and Rousseau of the 18^th century, though based on contract between free and equal individuals, still submitted women to their men in exchange for favor. On the contrary, 19^th century male feminist John S. Mill believed that

The ideal marriage is made up of two persons of high ability, identical in opinions and purposes, have the best kind of equality— similarity of powers and capacities, with each being superior to the other in some things, so that each can enjoy the luxury of looking up to the other, and they can take turns in the pleasure of leading and the pleasure of being led in the path of development.

This ideal is echoed in Melinda’s description of love, respect, teamwork and leading and being led in her marriage with Bill after she finally overcame her shyness to speak out in public as an equal partner for their joint foundation.

As a veteran feminist having too often witnessed Idealism being shattered by power struggle, I could not but wonder whether feminism would remain a distant star in the dreams of female Don Quixotes. Melinda’s book comes as a rescue and inspires new hope.

Her story is indeed one of the best footnotes for feminism today.    

         (Original Chinese recommendation written for the book The Moment of Lift: How 
           Empowering Women Changes the World)