Girl Power

Girl Power Eight-Year Old Style

“SHHH.  Be quiet.  I need to hear this!”  So yelled my eight-year old daughter at her brothers.  Scott Pelley’s recent interview with Hillary Clinton was about to air on the CBS Evening News.

My daughter, you see, is an unwavering Hillary fan and supporter.  She doesn’t really understand the issues yet, particularly as they relate to her well being.  She does, however, strongly believe that it is time for a woman to be president, and in Hillary she sees someone very presidential.

Now remember, this is a child whose first birthday roughly corresponds with Obama’s first victory.  She has never known anything but a black president, and may never really take the time to focus on the historic nature of his election.  Instead, I hope she will judge him on his accomplishments.

Where Have they Gone?

My daughter’s commitment to Hillary is particularly intriguing given that so many young, female Democrats are drawn to Bernie Sanders.  These women seem attracted to the idealism of the Sanders campaign.  The ‘gender’ card argument falls flat on them.  As Jill Filipovic wrote  in the New York Times Review, it is not so much that these women aren’t feminists, but rather that their feminism is expressed more on an issue by issue level rather than by means of breaking through a barrier.  

Older women, however, are generally staunch Hillary supporters.  My mother is certainly one of them.  When I asked her why she didn’t hesitate:  “She has a serious command of complex issues.  She has been in or near public office for nearly forty years.  She was a very effective Senator from a large and important state.”  And her list goes on…..

My mom has been a Hillary fan for a long time.  She credits a 1994 PBS Frontline episode celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hillary’s class at Wellesley with convincing her that Hillary deserved a shot in her own right.  She was particularly impressed with how, as valedictorian, in response to a very condescending address, she “ignored her prepared remarks and spoke from the heart, effectively ripping his thesis apart.”  From her perspective, Hillary showed then that she had the grit and perseverance to operate effectively as a woman in a man’s world.

Coming Full Circle

I love the symmetry of how these different reactions to one candidate coalesce.  Each is feminist in its own way, be it breaking barriers or focusing on issues that matter.

As a Gen Xer who bridges the gap between Millennial voters and my mother’s Baby Boom generation, I find I am somewhat swayed by my eight-year old.  From her perspective, HIllary comes across as the most presidential:  her being a woman in a bonus, but what really matters is that she seems most qualified to do the job.

For her sake, I hope to see a woman President sooner than later.  I would like to see the conversation move beyond historic firsts towards ability, experience and ISSUES.  Let’s hope that this happens well before 2028, when my feisty one gets to vote.