The Hidden Side of Hillary

Lily Zappulla Student Contributor, University of Connecticut

U Conn Contributor Student Contributor, University of Connecticut

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Conn chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

On Tuesday, September 29th, Lena Dunham posted an interview with Hillary Clinton to launch her new email newsletter, Lenny Letter. Wanting to focus on “women in their 20s who are in that space between college and the real world” who are “not sure what they want to be,” Dunham asked Clinton questions that reveal a more hidden side of Hillary that many UCONN students may relate to.

On Clinton’s post-graduate uncertainty:

“Absolutely, I don’t trust anybody who says that they didn’t have some questions in their 20s. That’s a period of such exploration and often torment in people’s lives.”

On race issues and police brutality:

“… It’s not only a question of white versus black. It is a question of how force is used, how our law enforcement are trained, what kind of mind-set they have as they go about their daily jobs.”

On the fear that Clinton might lose her identity by marrying an equally ambitious man:

“I was terrified about losing my identity and getting lost in the wake of Bill’s force-of-nature personality. I actually turned him down twice when he asked me to marry him.”

On student debt, specifically high interest rates:

“I want to just compress those. Drop those. I want to get more young people with debt into programs where they pay a percentage of their income as opposed to a flat rate. That will make it a lot easier to save some money and not be so stretched all the time.”

On whether she considers herself a feminist:

“Yes. Absolutely. I’m always a little bit puzzled when any woman, of whatever age but particularly a young woman, says something like, ‘Well, I believe in equal rights, but I’m not a feminist.’ Well, a feminist is by definition someone who believes in equal rights!”

On self-discovery:

“I think that’s part of what your late teens and 20s are all about. You have to decide what you really believe. You can certainly carry with you some of the values that you’ve inherited, but you have to make them your own or you have to add or subtract from them. And that’s what I did.”

On fashion:

“This is what’s called a cold-shoulder dress. And I wore it for one of our first big events at the White House, in 1993. It was a design of my friend Donna Karan. And like everything I do, it turned out to be controversial. I’m hardly a fashion icon…. Donna always says that no matter your age, your size, your shoulders always look good.”