I have been reading so many posts about what happened in the recent Presidential election. Many are blaming the Democrats for choosing Hillary Clinton as their candidate. I read one post where the author said the Baby Boomers are to blame because they didn’t vote for Clinton. I am not sure about that because I think many Baby Boomer women (and men) did vote for Clinton. I have heard negative remarks made against the Baby Boomers before. That we are to blame for everything wrong with the world. I am always shocked to hear this type of rhetoric because the people who are making these claims most likely are the children of Baby Boomers. Not my children but other people’s children. And I wonder why they think it is right to talk this way. I did not personally create all the world’s problems and supported many causes to attempt to correct them.
I am inspired to write this because of a post in the Huffington Post by Amanda Terkel,
“For Many Women, It Wasn’t Just About Defeating Donald Trump. It Was About Electing Hillary Clinton.”
She writes,”But many women in this country have wanted Clinton to be president for as long as they can remember. They didn’t just want to have the first female president ― they wanted her to be the first female president. And they took it as a given that she would be. Many diehard Clinton supporters described how Clinton was the most qualified woman they’ve ever come across. If she couldn’t do it, who could?”
It is because women like me lived through all the oppression against us in this country for so many years. We watched Hillary Clinton stand up for women’s right to be equal. We heard her say ” Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” I thought she would have a better chance of working with Republicans in Congress than Bernie Sanders. She didn’t want to blow up the system but was more pragmatic. As we get older, I think we get more pragmatic. When I was young I was definitely more radical but I have not lost my ideals. And I don’t think she has lost her ideals either.
I do think there was fear and resistance to having a woman President. After all these years, there are still those who can not see a woman in a top leadership role. The glass ceiling is still in place.
This loss has been painful. In the day after the election, I looked around for comfort in reading others reactions that were similar to my own. One place I found comfort was in the words of a young woman, that I voted for, who has been elected State Senator for California. I heard Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech and found these words very comforting,
(From Tin Hay via You Tube)
I wish her all the success in the world. She is one of my champions now.
Featured image by Gage Skidmore on Wikipedia.