Wouldn’t it be great to have a highly intelligent, highly qualified, objective female moderator quizzing the Presidential candidates on what’s what? Three high school sophomores–girls just like you–think so and have already acquired 120,000 signatures in their petition on Change.org.

Emma Axelrod, of the three girls, said, “It seems so doable to just have them pick a woman this election. There is such an abundance of strong, capable, nonpartisan, unbiased female journalists for them to choose from and it seems like a really good place to start and sort of begin to equal out the representation.”

Now couldn’t be a more perfect time, considering all the recent political moves and controversies made against women and their bodies. Oh, yeah, and not to mention, we still haven’t had a female president.

If you’re wondering if women are generally less qualified than men, here are a few stats to change your mind.

* 57-58 percent of college students are women.

* Women are more likely to complete their degrees in 4 years (the expectation) whereas men tend to take 5 years or longer.

* Women get better grades in college.

* 20.1 million women have Bachelor’s degrees, compared to 18.7 million men.

* 10.6 million women have a Master’s degree or higher, compared to 10.5 million men.

Women are clearly competent, capable, and qualified but here are some more facts that should . . . piss you off.

* Women are still paid less than men. Women only make 77 percent of what men make. Think of it this way. You and your friend Bobby work at the same coffee shop at the register. For every 1 dollar he makes, you only make 77 cents. If you guys both work 20 hours a week, and get paid $8 per hour, Bobby will make $160 per week, but you’ll only make $123. Even though you both did the same job. Makes no sense, right?

* Single women only make 78 percent of what married women make, which means they only make 57 percent of what men make. (Yeah, we still discriminate against single women because proper girls marry men? *eyeroll*)

* 50.8 percent of the U.S. population is female, yet only 15 percent make up U.S. Senators, while only 16.6 percent are in the House of Representatives.

Girls are working hard, but is it really paying off?

Women are generally just as qualified and in some cases more qualified, yet they’re scarcely represented in most places. When I was in college, if you stepped into any journalism class there was an overwhelming majority of women studying to become writers, reporters and editors. Yet, whenever I would intern at magazines and newspapers the staff was overwhelmingly male. Women clearly outnumber men in the pursuit of long term careers, they even perform better in college, yet it’s mostly men getting their foot in the door.

This is why a female moderator is SO important. Allowing a woman to play such a prestigious political role, in front of the entire nation, is a powerful thing. It’s a step in the right direction of female equality. How long can we exclude more than half of the population from having a voice? A population that time and time again proves itself–only to be unfairly criticized by the public, by bosses, by the media?

It’s amazing that teenage girls are at the forefront of this cause. It’s truly wonderful that younger generations won’t stand for unfairness in a country that says we’re all created equal. This is feminism at its core.

Do you think we should have a female moderator? Let us know in the comments!

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Next check out 10 Reasons We Love Gabby Douglas!

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