Congresswoman Sara Jacobs

I want male leaders to understand, first of all, that their experience is only the experience of half the population and that I am tired of the days of when things that men experience are considered mainstream and things that women experience are considered women's issues, right?

Like, first of all, fertility isn't just a woman's problem.

I've heard leaders on both sides of the aisle who will say things like, we need to focus more on healthcare, not on those divisive issues like reproductive healthcare.

And I'm like, well...

Reproductive health care is my health care.

I'm a 36-year-old woman.

That is my health care.

And I really hope that my male colleagues, that male leaders really take the time to learn and see that what they're going through is only half of the story.

And it is not just mainstream because it's what they are going through.

And that these things that women are talking about are not just women's issues.

They're things that impact all of us.

I think for a generation of women leaders, they felt like they had to be perfect and that made them seem guarded.

And that actually impeded their ability to make true connections with populations.

And one of the things I think, they really thought they had to be silent about personal challenges, right?

That any sort of vulnerability was a weakness.

And I am so grateful to that generation of women because it has allowed my generation of leaders to be able to be as authentic as we can be and to know that this kind of radical authenticity, radical vulnerability is our superpower and is what makes us stronger and is what enables us to connect on a different level.

And I really hope

that the next generation takes that lesson and goes even further, that they are not so worried about being perfect and following this sort of should path, but that they know that actually being their individual self is what matters the most.

And the more true they are to that, the more successful they'll be and the better our whole society will be as a result.

Thank you.