Hillary Clinton’s victory securing the democratic nomination shattered a glass ceiling for women across the US and marked a very important step forward for women in politics all over the world. Clinton’s victory is a sign of feminist progress. It is a sign that people in the US are thinking differently about women in power. This is a very big moment for all women particularly for the younger generation which expects that there will be a woman President and that in the future they may be able to follow her example. More generally, that they will be able to do any thing that they want to. It is on them she focuses when she says that her campaign is about making sure there are no ceilings, no limits on any of us and this is our moment to come together. Hillary Clinton’s highest level of support among all women registered, including republicans, are ages 18 – 34 (66%).
Hillary Clinton should not be voted for only because she is a woman and because it is time to have one as President of the US. She should mainly be voted for because she is a feminist.
In a recent television interview marking twenty years since the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing, she said that in the 21st century the biggest piece of unfinished business is achieving the full rights of women and girls, and that is what we should focus on.
So we have a candidate for the US presidency that is not only showing that she has real political will to make a difference concerning the needs and rights of all women, but she is also committed to the full implementation of these rights.
Beijing was a landmark, breakthrough for women’s rights. Hillary Clinton was present there a
nd her role in making this conference a success was undeniably important. She proclaimed that women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights. What she said was not only important from the point of view of substance. It was more important because someone with her influence in the White House was prepared to say it.
However, at the international level, while the UN since Beijing has devoted more attention to the status and conditions of women and some progress has been made, there have been some alarming developments. Violence against women has become a worldwide epidemic.
So Hillary Clinton has a very important challenge before her. It is the moment when she must take action to achieve real transformations concerning women’s human rights nationally and internationally and try to win many more women to this cause, in particular women politicians.
It is a historic opportunity for women in the USA and globally. She should be supported by the women’s movements.