Hillary Clinton Ran for President Like a Girl

Meredith Lou ‘20

It’s all over the news nowadays. It’s all over social media. It’s all people talk about. Just mentioning either of their two names sparks up fiery, and oftentimes unwanted, discussions in any situation. On November 10, 2016, America found out that Donald Trump won the presidential race against Hillary Clinton. Naturally, people all around the world reacted in many different ways, a majority of them being utterly surprised. Supporters of the president-elect were more than thrilled and enthusiastic for the changes that Donald Trump has promised to put into effect. But the results of the election devastated millions of others and made them terrified of what is to come.

Trump’s rhetoric throughout the election insulted a number of marginalized groups, which causes Ana-Sofia Kyros ‘20 to wonder, “How can people find this racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic man fit to rule this country?”
Trump has notoriously targeted the largest minorities: women. The comments that the future president made about females, including the 2005 clip of him boasting about sexually harassing women, his remarks toward Megyn Kelly, and more has disgusted a large number of the population. So now that the power goes into the hands of this man, what does this mean for the women of America?

In her concession speech, Hillary Clinton apologized for losing the election and reminded “all the little girls who are watching this [to] never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dream” [1]. She also expressed her disappointment, shared by her supporters, that the highest glass ceiling was not broken, but still kept her hope that someone would shatter it someday. Clinton’s message might not have resonated with enough women to push her ahead of Trump, but it still affected a great number of young women. Her words revealed the meaning and the goals of true modern feminism: to complete the final steps to finally be treated equally as men.

We need modern feminism more than ever after Donald Trump becomes our president; however, many take modern feminism as a joke. Too many times, I come across Facebook posts about “the sensitive and ultra-liberal feminists who don’t shave and hate on men.” When I tell others, including my friends, that I am a proud feminist, they share judgmental looks. When has advocating for equal rights turned into something of which to be ashamed?

I do believe that the highest glass ceiling will be overcome, and when the day comes and an empowering woman shatters it, society will never be the same again.

Sid Sasane ‘19 agrees, noting that “the glass ceiling will be broken soon, and the race for equality for women will not stop until it is reached.”

Most of the articles on the news after the election were about how America failed to elect its first female president; however, women across the nation broke through smaller, yet still important, glass ceilings. Cortez Masto became the first Latina senator. Stephanie Murphy became the first Vietnamese-American congresswoman. Ilhan Omar became the first Somali-American lawmaker. Kamala Harris became the first Indian-American and the second African-American to be a senator. These were only some of the many achievements for women. Although women only hold about 20% of Congress after the 2016 election, the small number is higher than ever [2].

While a long path lies in front of the United States, hope waits for us out there. As Michelle Obama maintained throughout her endorsement of Hillary Clinton, “When they go low, we go high.” Throughout history, when sexism threw low blows, women emerged taller and prouder than ever before. The 2016 election is just yet another low for America, but we will continue to grow higher.

[1] http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/hillary-clinton-concession-speech/
[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/10/one-election-bright-spot-for-democrats-women-of-color/