Hillary Clinton, Madame Secretary, Bill Clinton’s Wife, “Crooked” Hillary – we’ve heard it all before. She’s been involved one way or another in politics all of her life, and nothing has been hidden from the public about her. Thanks to WikiLeaks, even attempted cover-ups (yes, I’m talking about those ‘damn emails’) are brought to our attention. We have heard every argument for or against Hillary based on her past and present. All scandals aside (unless you want me to bring up Donald Trump’s record list?) – I will be voting for Hillary Clinton and yes, one of the biggest deciding factors was simply because she is a woman.
Currently, there are eleven female presidents, ten female prime ministers, and one female chancellor in power across the globe. The first female democratically elected as a head of state was in 1980, in Iceland. Women in power are nothing new to the rest of the world. Yet here we are, in America in 2016, a world “superpower”, and still debating whether or not we should elect a woman as our president for the first time. In 2008, we finally elected a person of color (also old news to the rest of the world) and in 2012 we even re-elected him. Without going into my whole spiel of great things President Obama has done for our country, the fact that he is black is historic in itself. Being a privileged white American, I can’t even imagine how it would feel as an African American to vote for and see Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
What I can imagine is voting for and seeing a woman in the Oval Office. I imagine terms like “bossy bitch” go into extinction. I imagine the young girls that I coach basketball for explaining to me their future career goals instead of only their future marriage and family goals. I imagine news headlines reading “Corey Cogdell Wins Bronze Medal in Trap Shooting at the 2016 Rio Olympics” instead of “Wife of a Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics”. I imagine living in a country where I no longer feel the need to prove that my ability and intellect are just as good as a man’s. I imagine women in the public eye being judged for their character instead of what they wore that day. I imagine women are referenced as “people” instead of “wives, daughters, and mothers.”
Racism in America did not disappear the day Barack Obama got elected. Sexism will not disappear the day Hillary Clinton is elected. However, to see any progress regarding race and sex expressed in our government gives me hope. It’s not enough—not even close— but it gives me hope that one day, the United States of America will be a place for everyone, and not just for the Donald Trumps of the world.
Even if you have decided not to vote for the President, there are local women in your area that need your help on November 8th. Make sure to find your polling place and help those nasty women get elected.