Today Hillary Clinton becomes the first US presidential nominee of the democratic party, which makes me proud to be her supporter, because ultimately it's she who supports us. Nearly 100 years after women were finally granted the right to vote, we have a nominee who's lived our struggles, understands and represents us.
Some people reading this will inevitably write me off as "voting with my vagina" (I'm looking at you Susan Sarandon) but frankly, my vagina cringed and tried to crawl back into my ovaries at the prospect of Carly Fiorina (also purported to be a woman). Nope, it's that Hillary is smart, successful, compassionate, empathetic and vastly qualified to lead one of the greatest nations on earth.
Growing up, I watched my mother struggle to keep our large family going, she wasn't a bra burner but she taught piano lessons and worked as a crossing guard so she could help bridge the gap between my dad's wages and the needs of our family all while still being home for us, as women were expected to be. When it was my own turn to make my way in the world, I slid behind the wheel of a taxi cab in Philly in 1979, eager to earn enough to pay for my college tuition. There weren't many women driving cabs then, and I had fares who refused to ride with me, because I was "a little girl" and Philly had some arguably tough neighborhoods. From there I went into the United States Air Force (USAF) where my grades and test scores qualified me for any career field I could choose - except of course, the great many which were reserved for men only. When I landed at my permanent duty station, there were only 3 women in my unit and while the military was sometimes further ahead than the civilian world in equality, there were constant hurdles, simply by virtue of my 'vagina'.
I'm not complaining. I've had it better than many women. I wasn't trying to raise a family on my own, with no support, no childcare and no health insurance. I wasn't struggling to get an education while working to support hungry mouths, I wasn't also fighting racism or religious intolerance. I was one of the lucky ones able to overcome the barriers in civil engineering and software while looking across the table at stodgy men in business suits, telling me that I had good ideas but the men would take it from here. I had to make many sacrifices, like marriage and family in favor of a career while my male counterparts were never even faced with those choices. They could have it all.
But then I remember voting for Bill Clinton and being so thoroughly in awe of his first lady Hillary. After years of fighting (in relative obscurity) for children with the Children's Defense Fund, watching her take on healthcare was like experiencing your first sonic boom. She was driven, fearless, tireless and resonated with all the women I knew. She believed it was possible. I watched her and learned that perhaps my own struggles paled in comparison to others. She taught me compassion, empathy and the lesson that we are all responsible for, and to one another. She weathered outrageous sexist attacks on everything from her appearance to her choice to stand by her marriage vows. The attacks extended to her daughter, young and innocent but not above attack by angry republican men who feared the power of Hillary's sheer intelligence. They couldn't attack her on the things that mattered so they got in the mud and threw shameless buckets of it, seeing what would stick (much like they still do). She took it on the chin and overcame not by cowering nor by striking back. Her ultimate victory was her ability to draw on the power of her convictions and keep moving forward to draw more people into the vision she was creating.
Women play a unique role in bringing us together to be that village (of her famous quote "it takes a village") because we've all experienced adversity and we are the flexible strength this nation needs right now. We know that 'my way or the highway' only serves to make our paths to success more difficult. We know that it's never a question of 'us or them' and that finding a path of inclusion for everyone is a far greater aspiration. We know this whether it's in our families, our schools, our businesses, our charities or our world view because we live it daily. We are the agents of compromise who affect change.
I know that many of today's younger women can't relate to those struggles, and if not, then we've done our jobs. We want to make each generation of young women, more self-confident, more powerful in their own right without facing the barriers that our mothers and grandmothers faced simply to earn us those rights. But never, should we forget that our grandmothers marched as suffragettes, our mothers fought for rights outside of the home and that we (and Hillary) have fought to shatter the glass ceilings. We should be proud, but never forget the journeys that got us here and be ever mindful of the road ahead.
So today, with tears streaming down my face for this momentous achievement, I'm proud to stand behind Hillary Clinton as a woman who champions my causes, represents women better than I could ever hope to and stands up as a proud American ready to represent our diverse cultures and values to the world at large.
As Hillary says; "If that's the woman's card? DEAL ME IN!"
Please join me and be sure to visit Hillary's website for any further info - her policies and proposals are published for all to see.
Your post brought tears to my eyes; thank you. I have walked a similar path to yours; Hillary was out in front of us. I have raised two strong Millennial daughters who tell me that they have never felt inferior due to their gender - and if the world tries to tell them they are, they just laugh as if that's a silly idea. Having been raised in an era that implicitly acknowledged Male Privilege, I cannot say the same.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Cali, just think what your daughter's daughters will accomplish! All of us have a role in that and like you, I'm proud of us all!
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