At Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign event, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” and I completely agree with her.
But I don’t pick my presidential candidates based on whom I most want to help.
I vote for the candidate who I think will take this country in a direction I agree with, who will help those who actually need it. On that front, I disagree with Albright.
Clinton has long been an important political figure in this country.
Despite having trouble gaining a female support base for her campaign, she has done a lot for women in politics. She’s the closest any woman has come to being president.
And yet, Clinton still has trouble capturing the vote that Albright seems to think should be inherent. In New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders received 54 percent of the female vote. Politico described Clinton as having a “woman problem.”
This problem seems to be baffling to Clinton as well, given her style of pandering to women voters. During the first Democratic debate, she answered the question of how her administration would differ from Obama’s with what basically amounted to, “I’m a girl.”
That’s not enough for me. Being female is a large part of my identity, but it’s not the only thing I am.
There is more to Clinton than just being a woman, and her gender is the least important thing about her to consider when picking a presidential nominee.
Having a female president would break a glass ceiling that desperately needs to be broken. However, supporting candidates based solely on gender devalues the progress women have already made in this country.
Feminist icons of previous generations must have little faith in the reasoning skills of women under 35. Gloria Stienem said young feminists support Bernie Sanders because “that’s where the boys are,” on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Talk about devaluing the progress of the women’s movement.
The idea that women choose their involvement in politics based on where they are most likely to find a husband is incredibly insulting, and I’m shocked the quote came from such a respected woman and feminist in the media industry.
The regression of my identity to just a female wife-to-be is completely against what I believe feminism represents.
I’m disheartened to find this is what feminists from other generations think about us. But it doesn’t make me ashamed of my generation, as much as it makes me question theirs.
Steinham has since apologized on Facebook for her statement and acknowledged “young women are activist and feminist in greater numbers than ever before.“
Older feminists are understandably enticed by how close Clinton is to the highest office in the land, but younger feminists grew up in a different world, where we don’t have to compromise political beliefs.
That’s why young feminists also don’t support Carly Fiorina, or Sarah Palin.
I support the feminist movement and progress on women’s issues, but I do not support candidates who don’t stand with my political beliefs.
jordrile@indiana.edu
@RiledUpIDS
