On August 18th, 1920, men decided to allow women to vote.

On June 17th, 2015, another man-- Secretary of Treasury, Jacob Lew, announced that he and his team would redesign the $10 note to feature the face of a woman. This change will come in the year 2020, just in time to recognize the hundred years that will have passed since women first claimed their right to a political opinion.

“Why don’t women have coins or dollar bills with their faces on it?”

 A nine-year-old girl named Sofia posed this question, via written letter, last year to President Obama. Although innocent, it turned into a dark reminder of the lack of patriotic representation for women in our country. After all, 239 years will have passed this Fourth of July, without a single woman having held office as the President of the United States; incidentally leaving half the population pretty much unrepresented for the past two centuries. But alas! The guys have finally decided to throw us a bone. I mean, we initially asked for the $20 bill, but we’ll get over it.

Here in the United States, a bill is more than just a piece of paper. In our Capitalist society, money is THE most powerful resource. If we have money, we can have almost anything. People kill for it, die for it, commit heinous crimes for it; the entire system of everything our country relies upon is designed around money. So you could say it’s pretty symbolic whom we choose to put on said bills.

A quick delve into pop-psychology articles (or just general awareness) will show that women, on average, feel less powerful in comparison to their male counterparts in many situations. Now consider this, every time a man rummages through his wallet in America, he has seen another man gallantly staring back at him. Although subtle, male-dominated currency is arguably a constant reminder to all sexes of the immense power men have had over women in most areas of society.

Now imagine you’re the parent of Sofia, who is suddenly curious as to why there aren’t any girls on our money. Is it because women haven’t done anything worthy of being on our currency? Of course not! So it must mean that the dead presidents we have deemed worthy of commemoration were beloved, just, kind, members of our society who we should all emulate and look up to. Eh, that’s definitely questionable. A quick Google search will tell you that Andrew Jackson, currently on the $20 bill, enforced a little thing called the “Indian Removal Act” and was also pretty much pro-slavery.

So now, Secretary Lew, you have asked and you shall receive; my personalized breakdown of who could be on your #TheNew10

(Two rules when it comes to designing U.S. currency: 1) George Washington will forever be on the $1 bill, and 2) all persons on the bill must be deceased)

 

ACTUAL CONTENDERS:

Eleanor Roosevelt – Badass FLOTUS that set the bar high for all first ladies to follow.

“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.

Susan B. Anthony – Social reformer and feminist who played a pivotal role in the women’s rights suffrage movement.

“It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Suffragist, social activist, abolitionist, and a leading figure in women’s rights.

“Woman’s degradation is in mans idea of his sexual rights. Our religion, laws, customs, are all founded on the belief that woman was made for man.”

Sojourner Truth – Abolitionist and women’s rights activist who played a role in the Underground Railroad.

“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down, these woman together ought to be able to turn it right again”

Harriet Tubman – The internet’s frontrunner for the face of the new $10 bill.

Maya Angelou – Author, poet, actress, dancer, and social activist.

“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possible, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”

 

STILL ALIVE aka ineligible

Gloria Steinham – Feminist, journalist, and political activist.

Sheryl Sandburg – Facebook COO and author of bestseller, Lean In.

“I want every little girl who’s told she’s bossy, to be told instead that she has leadership skills.”

 

FICTIONAL favorites from the Edge

Leslie Knope – “I am a goddess, a glorious female warrior.”

Tina Belcher – “I’m a smart, strong, sensual woman.”

Katniss Everdeen; Hermoine Granger; anyone/everyone from the cast of OINTB