By Cady Trausch
Manzanita City Reporter
With Arizona Girls State starting for the year of 2025, I thought it was important to address our next door neighbors, Arizona Boys State. While it is only our first full day at Girls State, the amount of collaboration, communication, and mutual respect I have seen from all the girls has been very welcoming but not surprising, it is in women’s nature to have kind souls.
Girls in this program get to construct their very own State with their own laws, committees, and representatives. Now, going into this I knew this would not be a huge feat for us girls. Girls are born with, and then are conditioned throughout their whole life by our society to be polite, nurturing, and sensitive.
Now some may look at these traits as a weakness to society, but these traits plus the many more traits that accompany every unique female individual create the perfect storm for an efficient, organized, compassionate state.
Now when I found out that Boys State was convening not only at the same time as Girls State but in the same location it got me thinking. What would their society look like? Would they be able to be as empathetic and collaborative as a Girls State is?
But during these thoughts, I realized how easy they would be to answer, considering the United States and many other countries have been living in a real life Boys State since the genesis of their government.
Now by pointing out that Boys State is a close replica to early US government being that both are run by young men with little to no experience, I am not negating the importance of teaching boys about the works of government. With them not only taking place at the same time, but at the same location the juxtaposition between the two is stronger than ever.
I am asking society to look at both governments and notice the difference in collaboration styles and relationships that form between citizens.
Our society tends to overlook the talents women bring to the table, often meaning women are excluded from leadership roles. With a program like this that takes away the aspect of gender hierarchy, it gives women a chance to show society the capabilities women have.
And with the addition of the exact same program happening for boys I hope society can see how talented women are not just in comparison to Boys State, but all governments. This week can not only be used as a teaching opportunity for the young women and men but for all individuals to recognize the talents of each gender.