Women have always known that this day would come — but that doesn’t make Hillary Clinton’s victory any less momentous, or inspiring.When I was a little girl, I used to hear people say things like, “In America, anyone can be elected President, ”and a little voice in my head would respond, “yeah, right.” The words weren’t there, but the sexism — and racism — was implied. White men only need apply.
Hillary’s achievement brings us that much closer to the equality envisioned by women’s rights leaders nearly two centuries ago. The women who gathered in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY to convene the first women’s rights convention in the U.S. believed a woman could some day be elected President of the United States. So did NOW’s founders in 1966, who said, “the time has come for a new movement toward true equality for all women in America, and toward a fully equal partnership of the sexes, as part of the world-wide revolution of human rights now taking place within and beyond our national borders.”
Hillary Clinton has won the nomination despite the double standard routinely applied to strong, talented women. She has shown us that not only can we break through the glass ceiling; we can also shatter the prism that distorts the view of women in politics.
Today’s news is tomorrow’s history, and Hillary Clinton is making both.
Contact
Laura Gross , lgross@scottcircle.com , 202-255-2054
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