Welcome to this week's edition of Mothers of Intention, my (hopefully) weekly moment when other mothers from the blogosphere can express their political views on the Presidential race or issues or causes they feel strongly about. This week, please welcome Nataly, founder of Work It! Mom. She's got a few things to say about Hillary Clinton.
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I didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
What seemed like an easy decision at first – I don’t like her for many reasons, both as a leader and policy-maker -- became more difficult as I considered the fact that she was the FIRST. WOMAN. EVER. who could become President. The enormity of this achievement, the effect that I thought it could have on everything from pathetic maternity leave policies in the US to seeing more women at the top of large corporations wasn’t something I could just ignore. In the end, I decided that I couldn’t vote for Hillary just because she was a woman.
I believe I made the right decision and I am still not a big fan of hers. But after watching her campaign and seeing the ridiculous double standard that she consistently faced as a woman in a male-dominated field I now know that I’d stand up for her in a fight. Not that, you know, she’d need me or call me for help, but I would. Because as I watched her campaign I saw her deal with many of the same issues I’ve dealt with as a working woman and working mother in the male-dominated business world.
The first time I felt this way was when the Washington Post published the now-infamous article about Hillary’s cleavage. (She wasn’t even officially campaigning at that point, but we all knew that she was.) As I read it I remembered a conversation I once overheard between two business partners of mine. We had a big presentation to a new client and one of them said that he hoped “Nataly will wear one of her tighter shirts so that (client’s name) gets distracted and doesn’t beat us up on pricing.” Yes, that’s a direct quote, I doubt I’ll ever forget it.
And there were the endless accusations of Hillary Clinton being bitchy or too aggressive. If I had a dollar for every time I was called aggressive or bitchy by someone at work I’d be buying myself a few pairs of Joe’s jeans right now. (Yes, the overpriced kind.) As women we’re asked to walk the thinnest of lines between being too aggressive (read confident) or too soft (read honest about our emotions). Boy, Hillary, could I relate to what you were going through.
I still wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if (or when?) she runs again, but if she needs someone to have her back when a reporter calls her cold and aggressive, I’m there. All she needs to do is just use the red phone to call me.
You can find Nataly at her place, Work It! Mom. Tune in next week for more Mothers of Intention!
4 comments:
Great post, Nataly! Early in the school year a male colleague offered to have a "talk" with my class so they could hear behavior expectations in a "male voice." No, I'm not working with him next year. It's his loss: I have 10 years more experience on the job than he does! I'm a Hillary supporter, but not because she's female; because she's an achiever.
Nataly, Thanks for being a Mother of Intention!
Yes, great post, Nataly! And you summed up perfectly why so many women had a hard time with HRC.
Great points, Nataly. I kind of felt the same way. I have a friend who really emphasized the fact that Hillary is our "one chance to see a woman president in our lifetimes" (we're in our 50's)and couldn't understand why I would be supporting Obama. But like you I didn't want to vote for her just because she's a woman, since I had other reasons that I was not crazy about her.
That said, like you, I was very aware of the sexism and unfairness of the coverage she received and I resented it. I think in this primary season the main loser was the mainstream media - they were pathetic.
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