I never thought I'd see this day, but finally it has come. Hillary Clinton was nominated for the office of US President. Another crack in the glass ceiling of opportunities for women! Last night, Michelle Obama choked up when she spoke about how young girls and boys now take for granted that women can become president.
That wasn't my experience. I remembering being asked in interviews for teaching positions back in the early 1970s what sports I could coach, when I was getting married and if I planned to have children. When we got an apartment, the utility companies wouldn't let me have my name on the bills. When I bought a washing machine with cash, they asked what my husband's name was. Why does it matter? Well, because men usually make the calls for service, they said. Not in my household. When I started teaching in FMS, one of the men said, "You won't last, you're a woman." I outlasted every single one of them. In the early years, of being department chair, I challenged a few of the men about why they had skipped a department meeting. "We don't have to listen to you. You're just a woman," one of them spat at me.
My life has been easy compared to most women my age. I've had excellent health, a devoted husband, and a rewarding, well-paying job. That hasn't been the case for millions of women in this country and around the world. Hillary has been scrutinized and tortured for years, but she has never given up and she has persevered despite that misogyny. She's not perfect, but who is after a lifetime of public service? She's made serious mistakes, but she has served her country for a long time, while DT never has. It takes extraordinary courage to run for any public office, to expose your personal life to the world. Most people would have climbed into a hole to avoid the criticism she has endured. But she has been resolute. There is no comparison between the two candidates. One qualified and experienced, while the other is a fear mongering narcissist who claimed that fighting venereal disease was his own personal Vietnam.
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Our old Molly girl napping in the sunshine
Molly napping with Steve
The deck garden
Flasher family
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