It’s time to talk about Hillary Clinton.
The world is moving toward equality and putting the first woman in the oval office is a step in that direction.
Parts of the world are waiting on the U.S. to catch up. Other countries began electing female presidents as early as the 1970s.
In 2000, Tarja Halonen was the first woman elected president in Finland; she held the office for 12 years. In Iceland, Vigdis Finnbogadottir held the office of president for 16 years, from 1980 to 1996. Additionally, Violeta Chamorro was president of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1997.
Clinton is certainly no stranger to the political world, but things got rocky once she became a serious contender for the presidency.
At the beginning of the presidential race, the media was only concerned with her appearance. What she was wearing and how she styled her hair made headlines more often than her policies and what she was saying.
The media’s focus on trivial things sparked a stronger backing by women for Clinton, but still the conversation didn’t change.
Regardless of the increase in support, Clinton’s approval ratings didn’t improve with more than 50 percent of Americans–including women and Hispanic voters–having an unfavorable view of the candidate.
Why is this? Well, most of the American people have an issue with both Clinton’s political lifestyle rather than solely the fact that she is a woman.
The email scandal did a lot of damage to her credibility. Clinton violated State Department protocols by allowing information to go through her personal email server. Suddenly, the American people doubted her capabilities because of her actions.
Many Americans are not content with the choices for the 2016 election.But as young women, we can all agree that while Clinton may not be as trustworthy as voters would like her to be, her winning the election would be a big step for gender equality in the U.S.