Does it Matter That Hillary Clinton is a Woman?
Feminists Madeline Albright and Gloria Steinem stirred up a conversation about whether or not Hillary’s gender matters that went viral recently. They insinuated that if you are a woman who does not support Hillary, you are either boy-crazy or going to hell. Both women have apologized since the media frenzy, though I am sure they would stand by their basic premise that women need to think long and hard about not supporting Hillary for president.
As a twenty-one-year-old woman, I get their point. I have been privileged to grow up without the same severity of discrimination that Steinem, Albright, and Clinton felt when they were my age. I hear stories from my moms about their fights as Title IX rolled out and about their lawsuits against employers for equal pay. Women like Steinem and Clinton are just two of the many, many women who have swung at and cracked that glass ceiling, helping women of my generation climb to new heights.
While this election reveals just how far a woman can make it in politics and in society generally, it also raises serious questions about how far women in America are from true equality.
In 2008, after finishing second in the race for the Democratic nomination, Hillary recognized progress while also recognizing the distance she and other women still need to travel. In her concession speech, Hillary said, “If we can blast fifty women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House. We weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time… but the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope.”
Many Hillary 2016 supporters, like me, are questioning the lack of progress since 2008. The glass ceiling feels more like safety glass—cracking, but not breaking. Sexism in this race for the Democratic nomination exposes a gender binary, with rigid boxes for male and female. These gender boxes have been reinforced in our culture for generations: women are held to a different standard. For example, during a New Hampshire debate, Hillary raised her voice and Twitter blew up: “Listening to #Hillary scream all week, it’s easy to see why Bill lives in a separate house,” or “Why does Hillary seem to scream when she's making a point? Reminds me of a mean high school teacher. #DemDebate”
And it’s not just everyday Americans on Twitter. Journalists like Bob Woodward, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said Hillary “shouts” too much. “Has nobody told her that the microphone works?”
Hillary is rated on a “woman’s scale” on everything from her tone to her past votes to her marital relationship. Hillary has mastered playing within the strongly structured gender box to which she is confined, but it’s not enough. Bernie screams and hollers facts and figures and lacks both detailed action and the same leadership experience, yet our generation is enamored with him. The way Hillary is received does not just say something about her; it says something about the state of all women in America.
In many ways, Hillary makes the best of a challenging situation. She has learned to use gender dynamics to her advantage. As secretary of state, she used her gender to advance the place of women across the globe. Secretary Clinton launched initiatives such as the Secretary’s International Fund for Women and Girls, which researches solutions to combat violence against women as well as creates economic and political opportunities for women across the globe.
Running for president, Hillary Clinton also plays to her gender. She could never have made it to this point if she were a radical, messy-haired, socialist Independent. She has played within the system. She has played within her gender box. She has stuck to party lines, and she has slipped through many cracks in the unshattered ceiling. The experience and know-how she has gained from every new position—from first lady to senator to secretary of state—now make her the most qualified person to run our country.
In navigating amidst the gauntlet of sexism, she has learned that it will take more than just her passion to build on the progress women have made. Hillary has outlined realistic and comprehensive policies on everything from healthcare and advancing the Affordable Care Act to investing in American jobs and to reducing our nation’s carbon footprint through and increased use of solar panels. These are programs that the Democratic Party supports in theory, but these are also programs that Democrats in Congress will fight for and defend. She is the progressive candidate who knows how to get things done, and she has proposed policies that could actually be enacted by her administration.
A person should never vote for a candidate solely based on the candidate’s gender. But we should be more aware of how gender influences our judgments about who should lead. At the end of the day, Hillary’s gender limits her ability to do things that make men admired and electable. Try for a moment to imagine Hillary behaving like Donald Trump and garnering support for that kind of behavior. Not happening.
I urge our generation to recognize the gendered facades of these two candidates and to try to adjust our lenses. We have the ability here to warp these strongly structured gender boxes. I urge everyone to think critically about each candidate's leadership experience, qualifications, and ability to push America forward.
I support and admire Hillary. I like her policies. I trust her experience and leadership. She gives me hope for the future of America. I have a unique opportunity to support her as a college-age female voter. Young women like me have an opportunity to lift an incredibly qualified woman into the White House. Young women like me can pound hard on that ceiling like our foremothers, and we have the power to elect the first female president of the United States. These women have lifted us to new heights, and I think it’s now our time to hoist them through the cracks they’ve created for us.
Picture for a moment, climbing through cracks in a glass ceiling on your own. Albright, Steinem, and Hillary have been bruised, beaten, and scraped by the glass ceiling they’ve worked to break. I believe women in our generation have the unique opportunity to blast a hole in that glass by electing Hillary—for this generation and many to follow.
The image featured in this article was taken by Marc Nozell. The original image can be found here.