From where I stand: “Today, I am living my dream, because I got a second chance”
unwomen.org - From where I stand: “Today, I am living my dream, because I got a second chance” Aissata Ibrahim Maiga on why women’s representation in media matters
I wanted to be in the media since I was a child. But I was pregnant at 14 years of age and by 15, I was married. My parents supported me to continue my education and I graduated, against all odds.
The contributions that women make at all levels of our society must be seen and heard. This is what drives me in my work as a journalist—young girls must be able to see that Malian women are fully capable of contributing to the development of our country when given the opportunity.
Being a woman in media means that you have to prove your professional competencies continuously, so that you are not judged (poorly) because you are a woman. For the most part, in Mali, men perceive women as weak and don’t see our strength. It’s important to change that perception.
I created a website—www.maliennemoi.org—to tell women’s stories, to show the women in Mali in all their diversities, and to reduce the negative perceptions about African women that remain both inside and outside our borders.
To capitalize on the momentum of the Women's March, feminism must be much more inclusive
qz.com - America, as characterized by some of the first words Donald Trump spoke as president of the US, is a dark place of misery, ridden by poverty, crime, and lack of opportunity—a theater of “American carnage.” Yet Saturday (Jan. 21), in Washington, DC, and all around the country, America was quite the opposite: colorful, energetic, and determined. Women of all ages and ethnicities took to the streets to march, chant, and laugh. They came out by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions, by bus, by train, and by plane; some even ran to the march. And they made it clear that they’re not going to quietly tolerate the new administration’s threats.
A large part of Saturday’s massive turnout was, surely, motivated by the election of Trump, a man who bragged about assaulting women, and ran a presidential campaign rife with sexism and general intolerance. But it also seemed to represent a new wave of feminism that’s been building for the past few years but has yet to find a suitable outlet.
The last large women’s protest in DC took place in 2004, when over a million people showed up to contest the curtailing of abortion rights. Despite the prominent role gender equality has claimed in the public discourse over the past few years, there has been little public celebration of it.
Women Leaders, Relying on Their Peers’ Power and Their Own
nationalgeographic.com - This story appears in the January 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine. For 3 Questions this month, we interviewed two leaders who have blazed trails on matters of gender. Writer and activist Gloria Steinem, 82, has been one of the world’s leading feminists since the 1960s. In her memoir, My Life on the Road, the Ms. magazine co-founder describes a life of nearly constant travel, from her itinerant childhood to her ongoing global advocacy. Sheryl Sandberg, 47, is a champion for women’s leadership and the author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. After years of government service, she leaned in to the tech boom, first with Google and now as chief operating officer for Facebook.
Steinem and Sandberg answered our questions in separate interviews, which have been edited for length and clarity.
What was a defining moment in your life, related to gender?
Gloria Steinem: It’s difficult to think of a defining moment because gender, in my generation, was just so assumed. I never remember wanting to be a boy, except perhaps to put my feet over the movie seat in front of me in the theater. And I never remember feeling limited as a girl, because I was not going to school very much. It came as a shock and surprise when I got to be a teenager and gender became very limiting and very important. There were always whispers and rumors about girls who got pregnant and had to get married. If someone was raped, it was her fault. In my teenage years I became aware of being careful.
Rowan Blanchard Gets Real About Intersectional Activism After the Women’s March
teenvogue.com - The Women's March on Washington truly became a national, and international, movement, with hundreds of thousands of people marching across the United States and around the world in support of women's rights. In downtown Los Angeles alone, 750,000 people marched and one of those was actress and activist Rowan Blanchard, who took to the podium after marching to address the crowd. And though she regularly educates and informs her millions of followers on social media, there’s something about addressing almost a million faces IRL that would probably spook anyone just a little bit — but not Rowan. Although she began her speech by addressing the initial despair she felt after Donald Trump’s election win, she then eloquently explained why she won’t let fear impede her work as an activist in these next four years. “I believe in art,” Rowan told the crowd after reading a passage on hope from a Rebecca Solnit text, “but more than that, I believe in the ineffable power of community.” She went on to note that the strength of marginalized communities is what teaches us that organizing works: “If women, if queer people, if people of color have survived this long in a world that refuses to represent them, that must amount to a force much greater than one man with nothing more to invest in but his ego.” Make no mistake: Her speech is definitely a must-watch.
Three Lessons to Make the Women’s March Worthwhile
taketheleadwomen.com - I’ve marched in and organized many marches. So I supported but wasn’t planning on going to DC for the January 21 Women’s March, feeling good that younger women were rightly leading this time around. As the time grew nearer, Take The Lead’s Leadership Ambassadors created an Action Party event that grew just as the Women’s March itself was growing beyond all expectations. I had to be there—for our event and in solidarity with the millions of other marching women and men around the world. A delayed train back to New York after the march gave me a few moments for power shopping. I spotted a red raincoat I couldn’t’t resist. Nor could I resist asking the cheery salesperson, who by appearance and accent seemed to be from India, whether she had attended the march. “Oh yes,” she said. “It was very important. I got permission from my boss to close the shop for four hours, and I took the other two employees and my daughters.” Her words touched me profoundly as a microcosm of stories that brought so many people out onto the streets.
Race And Feminism: Women's March Recalls The Touchy History
npr.org - The streets of Washington looked vastly different the day after Donald J. Trump's inauguration than they did the day-of. Instead of the largely white crowds that lined Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day, people of all colors, classes and ages filled the streets for what's being called the most diverse march for women's rights ever. The Women's March On Washington drew tens of thousands to the nation's capital to press for protection of women's rights, including reproductive health care, LGBT issues and equal pay. "Sister marches" held concurrently in every state across the nation, (and in several cities abroad) added to the numbers and the diversity.
But all that diversity came with a cost: racial tension — not just around the march itself, but around the feminist movement, who leads it and why. Some bemoaned the discord as a distraction from the march, saying on this occasion, "we should all be women first."
Grace Hong is not surprised. A professor of Asian American and Gender Studies at UCLA, Hong says for decades, white women didn't have to consider any interests beyond their own because "historically, the category 'woman' has, implicitly, meant white women." The call to put womanhood above all else, Hong says, is based on the idea that "critique and dissent undermine a unity that's based on the lowest common denominator: Find the one thing everyone has in common."
Chicago-based filmmakers drove across the country to find inspiring women
chicagotribune.com - In 2013, Sarah Moshman and Dana Michelle Cook packed a minivan with camera equipment and a film crew and drove from Los Angeles to New York, capturing the stories of 17 remarkable women along the way: an astronaut, a brewmaster, an architect, an admiral and more. The road trip lasted a month. The impact, they hope, will last a lifetime.
They turned the stories into a documentary called "The Empowerment Project," and they've spent the past three years showing it in high school auditoriums and college lecture halls, in cities across the country, in countries around the world — from Haiti to Holland, from Rwanda to Australia.
On Tuesday, it was released on iTunes and Amazon.
"The film encourages girls and young women and young men to think about what they would do if they weren't afraid to fail," Cook, who lives in Lakeview, told me.
In preparation for the road trip, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds. When the campaign reached its goal, they asked the 404 people who'd pledged money to tell them whom they'd like to see profiled. The suggestions poured in.
What intersectional feminism means
usatoday.com - "Intersectional feminism" is much more than the latest feminist buzzword. It is a decades-old term many feminists use to explain how the feminist movement can be more diverse and inclusive. If feminism is advocating for women's rights and equality between the sexes, intersectional feminism is the understanding of how women's overlapping identities — including race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation — impact the way they experience oppression and discrimination.
A white woman is penalized by her gender but has the advantage of race. A black woman is disadvantaged by her gender and her race. A Latina lesbian experiences discrimination because of her ethnicity, her gender and her sexual orientation.
Intersectionality has received increased attention in part due to how the Women's March on Washington came together. The rally, which began organically on Facebook, was initially criticized for failing to include any women of color as organizers. Now its leaders include Tamika Mallory, an African-American civil rights activist and former director of the National Action Network; Linda Sarsour, a Muslim who heads the Arab American Association of New York; and Carmen Perez, a Latina activist who directs Harry Belafonte’s Gathering for Justice. The march's policy platform is called "Unity Principles," which include the belief that "gender justice is racial justice is economic justice."
Why girls must have the opportunity to lead
plan-international.org - Yadis, 15, from Colombia took over the role of Mayor of Madrid on International Day of the Girl 2016. The world could be a very different place if more women were in charge.
You just need to look at International Day of the Girl last year to see what that could look like. By persuading leading public figures, including the President of Nepal and the President of the National Assembly of Ecuador, to stand aside for the day, over 300 girls and young women in more than 50 countries were able step into their shoes and call on governments around the world to tear down the barriers that deny millions their rights.
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen gave up her position for Loveness (second right) on International Day of the Girl.
I took part myself as a 17-year-old girl from Zambia took my place for the day. It was a humbling experience and I learned so much from Loveness about her life, ambitions and potential. Across the world, the ‘takeovers’ were a brief but powerful glimpse of the world we want to see. Our aim was to change perceptions about what is possible for young women and girls, and to inspire millions of them to demand their voices be heard. Our challenge now is to make a future in which every girl has the chance to take up positions of political leadership – for more than just one day.
8 important things Michelle Obama has done for feminism as first lady
home.bt.com - Seeing as Michelle Obama will no longer be FLOTUS from Friday onwards – we know, we’re not ready for it to happen either – we’ve been thinking a lot about how inspirational her time in the White House has been. Here are a 8 reasons Michelle Obama is our feminist idol.
1. Supporting women and their education has been a constant part of her time as first lady.
While her husband’s been doing his thang, Michelle has been creating her own legacy – including the “Let Girls Learn” initiative started in March 2015. The idea of it is to help educate the 62 million girls around the world who aren’t in school. And she wrote an essay for The Atlantic in 2016, when she talks about the initiative, which we can’t help but feel sums up why she is a feminist idol. Barack Obama GIF – Find & Share on GIPHY
“I see myself in these girls, I see my daughters in these girls, and I simply cannot walk away from them. And I plan to keep raising my voice on their behalf for the rest of my life. I plan to keep urging world leaders to invest in their potential and create societies that truly value them as human beings. I plan to keep reaching out to local leaders, families, and girls themselves to raise awareness about the power of sending girls to school.”
Kenya Can Lead the Way to Universal Health Care in Africa
ipsnews.net - Kenya Can Lead the Way to Universal Health Care in Africa Siddharth Chatterjee is the UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya.
NAIROBI, Jan 16 2017 (IPS) - Consider this: every year, nearly one million Kenyans are pushed below the poverty line as a result of unaffordable health care expenses.
For many Kenyan families, the cost of health care is as distressing as the onset of illness and access to treatment. A majority of the population at risk can hardly afford the costs associated with basic health care and when faced with life threatening conditions, it is a double tragedy-inability to access health care and lack of resources to pay for the services.
According to the World Health Organisation, a large percentage of poor households in Kenya cannot afford health care without serious financial constraints as most are dependent on out of pocket payments to pay for services. Nearly four out of every five Kenyans have no access to medical insurance, thus a large part of the population is excluded from quality health care services.
Read The Women's March On Washington's Beautifully Intersectional Policy Platform
We were encouraged and excited to see that the upcoming Women's March on Washington—planned as a main march in Washington, D.C. together with sister marches around the United States and elsewhere in the world—proudly proclaims that marchers advocate for all women. The Intersectional Policy Platform, an outline of the goals of the march, is truly intersectional: recognizing activists that came before, keeping in mind those who will follow, and recognizing women of color, LGBTQ women, and many more. Read on for more, check out the Women’s March on Washington, or read the entire platform here. We look forward to seeing more activism like this: Civil rights conversations (and fights) that reflect the needs of everyone. huffingtonpost.com - The organizers of the Women’s March on Washington just released a four-page document outlining the principles and goals of the protest, and it’s the definition of intersectional feminism.
The Women’s March will take place on Saturday, Jan. 21 in DC with sister marches all over the country (and world) to “affirm our shared humanity and pronounce our bold message of resistance and self-determination,” according to the official platform. After a rocky start, the organizers have put together an inclusive and intersectional policy platform.
The document lays out the march’s purpose, values and principles, and gives an important nod to movements that came before them: the suffragists and abolitionists, the America Indian Movement, the Civil Rights era, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street and the fight for LGBTQ rights.
“Our liberation is bound in each other’s,” the platform states. “The Women’s March on Washington includes leaders of organizations and communities that have been building the foundation for social progress for generations. We welcome vibrant collaboration and honor the legacy of the movements before us.”
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27 Nonfiction Books By Women Everyone Should Read This Year
huffingtonpost.com - New year, new books. At least, that’s what we wrote back in December, when we were just starting to add titles to our 2017 reading lists. Now that we’re nine days into the new year, our to-read list has only grown. And while our first book preview was filled with all the fiction you could handle, we wanted to take a moment to talk about the incredible wave of nonfiction we’re expecting this year, too.
Particularly, we’re talking about nonfiction from women authors ― because a single year that includes memoir and essay collection releases from the likes of Roxane Gay, Patricia Lockwood, Joan Didion, Yiyun Li, Mary Gaitskill, Samantha Irby and Camille Paglia is worth celebrating.
Behold: 27 nonfiction books by women everyone should read this year.
For many of us working full time in urban environments, the prospect of studying mushrooms or catching fireflies seems like a faraway fantasy. In 2012, writer Kyo Maclear was inspired by a musician she met who had fallen in love with birds ― one of those rare natural spectacles readily available in cityscapes. The author spent the year devoted to the winged things, observing them and documenting the changes she underwent along the way. Birds Art Life chronicles her journey, exploring the many shapes passion can take, and the many spaces natural beauty can occupy. ― Priscilla Frank
As the number of female directors in Hollywood declines, experts ponder governmental intervention
nytlive.nytimes.com - Despite the efforts of Hollywood’s leading women to raise awareness about issues such as the gender pay gap and the obstacles faced by female directors, a new report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University appears to show that opportunities for women in the movie business are not increasing, but, rather, declining. According to the report, the percentage of women directors working on the 250 highest-grossing domestic releases declined from nine percent in 2015 to seven percent in 2016. The number of producers working on the top 250 films of 2016 also declined by two percent from the year before, while the number of women editors declined by five percent. Overall, 96 percent of the year’s top films lacked even a single female cinematographer.
“I would say I’m dumbfounded,” said Martha Lauzen, executive director of the center and chief author of the study. “It is remarkable that with all of the attention and talk over the last couple of years in the business and the film industry, the numbers actually declined. Clearly the current remedies aren’t working.”
Meet 9 lesser-known women behind the civil rights era's biggest achievements
mic.com - Jan. 16 marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day honoring the legacy and achievements of one of the foremost leaders from the civil rights movement. But while male leaders like King and Malcolm X are renowned for their contributions to the influential movement, the role women played in the civil rights struggle goes largely unnoticed. Americans may know the names of Rosa Parks or Coretta Scott King, but the numerous other women who played key roles in the fight for equal rights are too often wiped from the history books.
"There's a Chinese saying, 'Women hold up half the world,"' the late civil rights historian and NAACP chair Julian Bond told NBC News in 2005. "In the case of the civil rights movement it's probably three-quarters of the world."
Here are just nine of the lesser-known women who made indelible contributions to the civil rights era:
Described by President Barack Obama as "the godmother of the civil rights movement" upon her death in 2010, Dorothy Height served as the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years, making her, the Washington Post notes, "arguably the most influential woman at the top levels of civil rights leadership."
Bangladesh’s Women Journalists Rise Against the Odds
ipsnews.net - DHAKA, Jan 11 2017 (IPS) - Journalism is a profession that attracts both sexes, but social taboos and hostile office climates have kept the numbers of women working in Bangladesh’s media sector dismally low. Still, a new generation of women is stepping up, with the support of their path-breaking colleagues. According to an October 2016 report by senior female journalist Shahnaz Munni of News 24, a private TV channel in Bangladesh, women journalists in Bangladesh’s media industry account for only 5 percent in print and 25 percent in electronic media.
“You have to face some obstacles, some real challenges. And they start straight from your own home." --Wahida Zaman
Braving these odds and obstacles, young female graduates are increasingly joining the profession. Wahida Zaman, for example, recently joined United News of Bangladesh (UNB), an independent wire service, as an apprentice sub-editor.
“Unlike many other classmates of mine, both male and female, I chose to study journalism by choice. Before being a journalist, I was actually a photographer. Nothing thrills me more than the thought that journalism can give me all these opportunities in one package,” Zaman told IPS.
Happy that feminism is being talked about in film industry: Kalki Koechlin
indianexpress.com - Kalki Koechlin, who has always been vocal about women issues, is appreciative of the on-going discussion on feminism too. Kalki Koechlin, who has always been vocal about women issues, is appreciative of the on-going discussion on feminism too. Actor Kalki Koechlin feels it is great to have a conversation about equality in the industry, and says it is important to keep the discussion going. The actress also said that it doesn’t matter if the term ‘feminism’ is only being used since it is in fashion, as long as the discussion is on.
Also read | I fear getting complacent in showbiz: Kalki Koechlin
“It is great that it (feminism seeping into the industry) is coming in conversation. I think it is our job, and we need to keep that dialogue going and not just let it be a phase or fashion,” Kalki told IANS. The actress, who has films like Dev.D, Shaitan, Shanghai and Margarita with a Straw to her credit, added: “Feminism is definitely coming into forefront because the work force is with women. It is a new thing…There are a lot of questions around it but all these questions are great.”
11 Resolutions To Make If You're Considering Running For Office In The Next Few Years
bustle.com - For many Americans, November’s election results were (and continue to be) incredibly disheartening — but for some of you, they were also galvanizing, inspiring you to enter the fray and be an agent of change. Fantastic! But where to start? There are things to do if you’re considering running for office in the next few years that will help you get your foot in the door of the political process. Your presidential run might be a long way down the road, but, by making some important resolutions now, you can put yourself on the path to elected office, and you can do a lot of good in the meantime. There have been a lot of think-pieces written in the wake of the election, and no doubt experts will continue to unravel the forces that brought Donald Trump to power for a long time to come, but one thing is clear: Our government could definitively use fresh blood, on both sides of the aisle. It’s especially important that more women become involved in the political process. Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, and yet they fill only 20 percent of seats in the U.S. Congress. The underrepresentation of women in government starts at the local level: A 2016 report from the CUNY Institute of State and Local Governance found that, in the largest 100 American cities, only a third of city council members are women, and only 18 percent of mayors are women. The issue isn’t that women can’t get elected — they can and do — but that they don’t run in the first place; CUNY found that only 19 percent of mayoral candidates are female. The report cites a number of problems that keep women from running, including “gendered social roles, negative self-perceptions, limited exposure to politics, and lack of support.” And, of course, this lack of women getting into politics on the ground floor is bad for gender equality on the national level — because there simply aren’t enough women making it into the top echelons of government.
Punjabi Filmmaker of ‘Patiala Dreamz’ gives you ‘Phullu’,satire on women health issues
indialivetoday.com - New Delhi, Dec 28 After receiving ecstatic reviews for their Punjabi Film ‘Patiala Dreamz’, filmmakers Anmol Kapoor and Abhishek Saxena have now come up with a comic satire “Phullu”, which raises women health issues. Anmol, who was in the national capital for the promotion of the film, scheduled for release on March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s day, said,”There are many myths regarding the women menstrual cycle.
It has become a stigma in our society.
Our protagonist Sharib Hashmi (Phullu) asks questions that why sanitary pads are not used by the women.
Why they use clothes, which later leads to infection.
” “It is a dark topic.
We wanted to make it entertaining besides giving education to people.
Though there were many challenges yet the movie can change the history of India.
We want to show it in every village and city,”the filmmaker said.
Speaking about the film, ‘Filmistan’ fame actor Sharib Hashmi said, “Phullu is an innocent pure man who notices this social stigma and deals with the problem in a comic way.
WIIW Editor and Teen Son Discuss Election, Strong Women and More
The first time my son—now a 14-year-old high school freshman—took an interest in U.S. politics, it was watching two girls (Sasha and Malia Obama) as their father was inaugurated. Now the older of those girls—the daughter of our first African-American president—recently voted for the first time, in an election that almost saw the first woman President of the United States. As a mother who knows it's essential to grow up recognizing that success and inspiration can come from anyone, I'm pretty excited that my son has had such a diverse and inspiring introduction to the leadership of our country.We’ve had hundreds of conversations since that day, and this year we decided to attend rallies to hear both Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton speak in person. It was one of the highlights of our year—and even though a woman still hasn’t been elected president, it was an invaluable opportunity for my son to see these strong, inspiring women. We sat down to discuss our impressions of the rallies, the conversation about women leaders and more.
Kimberly Hosey, Editor in Chief, Women Investing in Women Digital
Kimberly Hosey: So what do you think about the last few weeks? We’ve been busy: Seeing Michelle Obama, seeing Hillary Clinton, learning about all the candidates, seeing how close she came … and, honestly, being pretty disappointed. What stands out?
David Hosey: Everything! I loved the rallies. I was really hoping to see Hillary Clinton win. I thought she was going to. But it was still interesting to be involved in the political process, even if I can’t vote yet. Also, I definitely wanted to learn more about politics and the candidates, especially because sometimes my friends talk about them and I feel like they don’t have all the information. Now I know more about it, and I can even speak up sometimes.
Kimberly: Is it hard to speak up?
David: A lot of the time it’s hard because we live somewhere where a lot of my friends are from families who have different political opinions from our family, so if I’m sitting at a table at school I might be the only one there with a certain view. But also, sometimes people have some bad ideas about certain issues and people, and I don’t know where to start because we’re not even talking about it the same way.
Kimberly: Like what?
David: Well, like they don’t always understand LGBT issues or racial issues. I have multiple friends [who are LGBT], and some people think it’s dumb to even care about being sensitive to them. And lately especially, when people talk about Hillary Clinton they just say a few of the same things about her over and over and over. I understand if you don’t agree with her politics, but they just talk about her voice or her husband, or they accuse her of things without giving reasons.
Kimberly: Do you think it’s because she’s a woman?
David: Sometimes, definitely. I think it’s possible to like or not like someone who’s a man or a woman, but when they just accuse her of having a harsh voice even even though male politicians also yell, or when they say she doesn’t “look right” even though she has way more experience, it definitely seems sexist.
Kimberly: I love that you’re having these conversations. Maps projecting what the voting results would have been with only young people voting are really progressive, which is great news for a lot of groups and will be a big difference no matter what. Your generation’s involvement is crucial.
What about when your friends say an opinion isn’t sexist even if you think it is?
David: I don’t know. I can tell it’s sexist in some cases no matter what they say or even if they don’t realize it, but I guess all we can really do is make sure we add in as much information as possible so they have more knowledge the next time. Also, I make sure to listen to what other teens are saying even if I think it’s wrong and then I grant them what points i can before I say something. People are more likely to listen that way, and I learn a few good points.
Do you think some of the criticism of [Clinton] is valid? How can you tell the difference?
Kimberly: I know she can be a polarizing figure, but I do think much of it is unfair. Still, I don't love her unreservedly. I agree with the overwhelming majority of her policies and causes, and I recognize her competence and strength. So criticisms against her qualifications, yeah, I think they're biased. If we're talking about real, researched issues and not personal attacks, it’s more likely to be valid. In some cases the criticism is fair, but even in some of those cases the tone or the extent to which she’s criticized can be overblown compared to the criticism of almost anyone else. I think that difference can often be sexist.
David: But you can’t really prove it, can you?
Kimberly: Maybe not, most of the time. I think when they do things like side-by-side comparisons, which we saw a couple of times during the campaign, it’s pretty obvious. But otherwise, you just have to keep slogging through the conversation point by point, and you eventually make some progress. Kind of the same way Hillary Clinton has kept working so hard! OK, OK, maybe not just like that. But you get the point.
So, back to the rallies. What were your impressions of the rallies? What stuck out for you?
David: First, I was just excited to go! I can’t believe we got within a couple feet of Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton; that’s cool no matter what. I really wanted to shake their hands, but still, we were some of the front people when they came to speak in Arizona, and Arizona was a big deal this year. It was cool to know there are so many other people in our state who came out for progress, women’s rights, LGBT rights, education and things like that.
I think Michelle Obama’s speech was really, really inspiring. I love how she connected with the crowd, and you could tell she cared about reaching everyone. She’s one of the most inspirational people I know. I know she’s gotten a lot of hate since Barack Obama became president, and she’s been nice the whole time and also inspired everyone.
Kimberly: Why do you think she’s so inspirational to so many people?
David: It seems like she really cares, and she’s also passionate and personal with her message. She doesn’t want people voting or deciding anything out of fear and anger. She kept talking about living up to the best parts of who we are.
Kimberly: She didn’t only talk about good things, though. What about when she talked about women being harassed and assaulted, and how our girls—and boys—deserve better? She was angry about that. People were crying about it. It’s upsetting.
David: That is tough, but it was really important and good to hear. I like that she mentioned sons as well as daughters. I know girls have a lot of struggles, but the idea that boys or men are expected to act a certain way hurts us too. Feminism is against that for girls and boys. I know people who think it’s OK to talk that way about girls or other people, and they don't even understand what feminism is sometimes. Some people think to be a feminist and support women and girls, you have to be against men and boys. That hurts girls, and the idea that we have to act masculine can hurt girls if they're mistreated or boys when they don't get to be themselves—or it might even make it so we're not listened to if we're abused.
Kimberly: So you really liked that Michelle Obama included everyone while still sending a strong message.
David: Yeah. She included everyone—boys and girls—but she did it in a way that made a good point about how we talk about girls and women. I think everyone needs to hear that.
Kimberly: I think one of my favorite parts was when she said “This is what hope looks like. It's that belief that we can do better for our kids. That even in the darkest hours, there's always a brighter day ahead—and if we’re willing to work for it and fight for it, we can make it happen.” You could tell she meant it, and I love that she made hope into something strong.
What do you we can do make it happen?
David: I can keep talking about it, like we were saying. That’s hard to do all the time because sometimes I just want to have a normal day, and then they bring it up. But I can speak out when something is wrong and talk to people who are willing. Also, I like the tallies of students’ votes; I always participate in those. I would like to learn more about politics and maybe volunteer in the community.
Kimberly: What do you think about the different styles we saw at Michelle Obama's rally and Hillary Clinton's rally? The rallies and how the two main speakers addressed the crowd were pretty different.
David: First, the rallies were kind of different even before we saw the main speakers. At Michelle Obama’s rally it was mostly talking and getting to know each other in the crowd; at Hillary Clinton’s rally it was like a dance party and a fired-up political rally. I thought it was cool that the styles kind of matched how they talked later: Michelle Obama was more uplifting and conversational, and Hillary Clinton was more intense and purposely persuasive. She was also more serious.
Kimberly: Did you like one more than the other?
David: Personally, I preferred one a little bit. But I liked that they both had their own way to be inspirational and strong. What did you think?
Kimberly: Michelle Obama’s style is a little more what people are comfortable with in women. I absolutely love her and I know it’s genuine, but I’ve noticed that a little bit in how people react to her. She’s the epitome of class and grace and she almost never mentions the “other” side by name. She’s easily relatable. She’s even a fashionable dresser.
I think those are all fine qualities, but I think Hillary Clinton’s good qualities are just as important: work ethic, intelligence, seriousness. She’ll call people out. Even some of the “being a politician” that gets her a bad reputation can be a good trait. She even wears pants instead of dresses or skirts most of the time. Hillary Clinton makes a point of being who she is even when it doesn’t match people’s expectations. I like that.
David: Both women are most of those things. Intelligent and inspiring and all the other good qualities.
Kimberly: Oh, absolutely. I just think we have a lot of male candidates or leaders who get to be known for being a certain way; whether that’s a good listener, a powerful speaker, a fiery leader, a cheerful man of the people or a grouchy advocate for what’s right. Men can be loud or quiet. Men can be attractive or not as attractive, thin or fat, young or old. And we don’t spend nearly as much time talking about what they wear.
David: They’re more encouraged to be strong in different ways than women are.
Kimberly: Exactly! I think that’s such a loss. Especially since Hillary Clinton was trying to integrate some of the gentle traits as well as the powerful ones. In her concession speech she said that it was “about the country we love and about building an America that's hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted.” I like that she thinks being compassionate is strong.
David: Me too. And if more girls and women are encouraged to be that way, which they already should be, without it being something against their gender; then it will help boys too. Being understanding or anything else isn’t a male or female thing. It’s just a human thing.
