Last night I watched Hillary Clinton become the first woman to be the presumptive nominee of a major political party.
I can’t say I’ve been her most ardent supporter – I passed her up eight years ago as soon as Obama burst on the scene – but last night filled me with pride. Regardless of where you are ideologically, I hope we can pause as a nation and acknowledge what an awesome moment this is for women. For 240 years, we have not seen someone who looked like us standing at that podium. For me, it was an emotional night.
I hear all the time that younger women are unimpressed with the idea of the first female nominee of a major political party. This is perhaps the greatest success of the women’s movement, that many of its beneficiaries now see it as sort of beside the point. But as a woman who can remember being a girl and looking out on a sea of white male legislators and wondering why women didn’t get to participate, I am beyond proud and moved. It may well be that we’ve empowered our girls to the point that they think this moment is no big deal. That’s awesome. But to the girls who still remember being called “sweetheart” at work or being denied credit as an unmarried women or being told that management training course was not for you, this moment is for you.
Sure, this campaign is probably about to get bloody. But for this moment, let’s be proud. Not for the figurehead this elevates, but for all the girls and women watching and whose concept of what’s possible just got a little bigger. And for all the men who care about women’s progress. This is who we get to be for right now. So proud.
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