Now, onto an important message as we head into the last 48 hours before Super Tuesday.
College life has generally prevented me from posting as often as I'd like, despite my efforts to stay political involved and engaged on campus. However, reading the previous post on the Green Room, I felt compelled to make a last stand before leaving voters and readers to make their decision without the harassment of the media, on or offline.
What sparked this entry was really a quote by Oprah Winfrey. She said words which struck a chord with me; words which summarily prompted this entry and enforced one of my main reasons for supporting Hillary. The Politico quotes Oprah as saying at a recent Obama rally in California,
“We have won the struggle,” she declared in her best preacher’s tone, adding the two candidates are “a declaration of victory for women’s rights and civil rights and now we are free – free from the constructions of gender and race,” meaning “for the first time we can vote what we believe.”"We have won the struggle." "A declaration of victory for women's rights." We have won the struggle. Won the struggle? My mouth remained agape as I read these words. Perhaps to the average reader they do not seem some incredulous. Perhaps to a male, they might not strike him in the way I was struck. But for me, I gave a look of shock, then a snort of laughter when I read Oprah's words.
Women have not won the struggle. Women may have come a long way from women's suffrage, the Equal Rights Amendment (er, still working on that) and the Second Wave of feminism, but that is all relative. Did someone shatter the glass ceiling while I wasn't looking? Oprah, if you define "winning the struggle" as the status quo, then I'm deeply disappointed in you, as a fellow woman and a fellow minority.
I hate to break it to you, but we [women] have not "won the struggle" nor can we "declare victory." Last time I checked, we're still 78 cents to the dollar. One in four collegiate women will be sexually assaulted. Roe v. Wade stands a few hairs away from being overturned. As Jessica Valenti rightly states in her book, Full Frontal Feminism, "What's the worst thing you can call a girl? Bitch, slut, whore, cunt. What's the worse thing you can call a man? Pussy, sissy, girl, 'mangina.' Notice anything? The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl...That is royally fucked up."
If you could see me throwing up my hands in total agreement and simultaneous exasperation, you'd be in for quite a visual treat. Valenti summarizes the subconscious sexism that still exists. Women still have a long way to go--there's no way we're out of the woods yet. Are you happy with America right now? Are you? No, clearly not, since we've all been vehemently opposing Bush and his policies. I'm pretty upset with our economy, our foreign policy, the state of our nation's education system, women's rights (or lack thereof), the state of race and ethnicity, and hmm, I guess, all of our domestic policy. Now, what does this have to do with all this women's stuff I keep spewing? Well, women's rights are humans rights. Equalize the status of women in a nation, and you will be creating progress in most fields. Women are scoring lower than men in math and science exams. Women are disproportionately afflicted when it comes to job security and welfare. They are one of the largest demographics afflicted by the failure of our healthcare system. You want to repair our country? Improve our nation's education system? Change healthcare? Then fix the gender status.
Why am I so focused on all this gender stuff? Because honestly, I'm only 20 years old but good gracious, am I tired. I'm tired of my emergency contraception, my Plan B, and my birth control being restricted in parts of the country. I'm tired of other nations like Chile, Germany, heck even LIBERIA, having female leaders in political power. I'm tired of women's issues not being topical. I'm tired of white males deciding what I do with my uterus. I'm just tired.
My tiredness has led me to believe that Hillary Clinton is not only the right woman for the job, but the right person for the job. The wonderful thing about Hillary is that regardless of her gender, she's still the most qualified, the one with the most experience, the experience that will actually be able to create change.
I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't inspired by Barack Obama's dashing good looks, outstanding rhetoric, and youthful appeal. But what I'd also tell you is that Hillary stirs something in me emotionally, something that I can't articulate in fancy words or with trembling voice. I would tell you that when I hear her speak, or read her policy, or see her campaigning, I feel in my gut that she is not only the woman who's not only going to fight for change but the woman who's going to make it happen, too.
