If America advocates women's empowerment, why is it so hard to achieve? 

The message from both government institutions and private enterprise to women publicly encourages them. You can do it. Then Facebook CEO, Sheryl Sandberg famously told women, to lean in from her eponymous  book. In a Presidential Proclamation, President Barack Obama said, “Across the globe, there are girls who will one day lead nations, if only we afford them the chance to choose their own destinies.” While the word “women” was mentioned 82 times in a 2013 State of the Union Address -- more than any other -- the overall reaction to the speech on Twitter was negative.