I’ve been compulsively reading diaries and comments since early this morning. There have been a few ball-spikers, and a few Not-ready-yets, and plenty of Backoffs!. There have also been a good number of Welcomes and We’re with Yous, which I have been happy to see. But one diary, written by Purlieu, has resonated the most for me. I want to follow up that affirmative diary with one of my own (by all means, read and rec Purlieu’s diary).
I am not a woman, but I was raised with the example of strong women.
First, there were the Mormon women on my mother’s side. It may seem odd nowadays, but there was a time when the Mormon church was on the cutting edge. Not long after the migration from Nauvoo to Utah, Brigham Young sent young women East to go to medical school. In those days, all the doctors were men. If a woman had an ailment, the doctor would hand her a doll, and ask her to point out where the problem was. Naturally, this style of examination had limited success. So, Young sent women out to become doctors; women were too precious to waste.
My great-grandmother Ethel, whom we called Granny Cook, travelled on a buckboard, as a child, from Utah to Southern Arizona. GC was a feisty piece of work, who lived to her late 90s without losing mind or spirit. Ethel was a college graduate, around the turn of the century.
Her father owned a pharmacy, so it was decided that my grandmother Geneva should go to USC and study to become a pharmacist. Which she did. Geneva was the first woman licensed as a pharmacist in Arizona; right around 1926. (She was the 9th licensed overall). As Geneva got older, she would contact USC once a year, and ask for the name of a deserving student in the pharmacy school, who was struggling financially. She would then quietly, and anonymously, pay that student’s tuition, room and board.
A little earlier than that, my grandmother on my father’s side, Alice (or Big Mom), left her family in Rocky Ford, CO, to go to music school in Chicago. (Alice told me the real story not too long before she died. There was an “undesirable” man, whom her parents were trying to get her away from. Naturally, she met my grandfather in Chicago, and they eloped.) Alice and Robert ended up in LA eventually, and Alice worked as an organist. When the Depression hit, and Robert was unable to find work for years, Alice went to work fulltime, playing in churches and theaters. The family survived because of her strength.
Alice was a Christian Scientist. For those who don’t know anything about CS, it was founded by a woman, Mary Baker Eddy. I won’t go into detail, but I will tell you that Eddy believed in a Father/Mother God. So, I was raised to pray to a dual-gender deity.
My mother followed her mother to USC. But she didn't want to be a pharmacist. She was interested in international relations. So, right around 1950, she went to the head of the international relations department to declare her major. He informed her that women didn’t belong in international relations. She disagreed, and ended up as the first woman in that department to graduate from USC. She graduated with high honors. The prejudice evidence by that man followed her into her job search. She was only offered one job, as a secretary for the CIA. She demurred.
While my mom was still in college, she was offered a chance to go to the 1952 Republican convention, as an alternate delegate for Ike. Her aunt Hazel was the secretary of the Arizona Republican Party, and got her the slot.
My sister Deb wanted to be a ballerina. She worked hard at it, for years, and performed with the SF Ballet company several times. Until the day that her teacher told her she was too big, and should quit. It was a crushing blow. She overcame it by advocating in high school for a club to study religion. And, when she got to Cal Berkeley, she was one of the founders of the women’s hockey team. Deb went to New York City several decades ago, and is recognized to be one of the world’s great experts on contemporary prints.
What is the point of me writing all this? Well, that is why I have never understood the idea that women might somehow be anything other than equal to men. And it is bewildering to me that we stand here only now, celebrating something that should have happened already, a very long time ago. I think of the great women of the past, all of whom could have fulfilled this office. But here we are.
I want to keep the tone positive. But I need to respond to something I have heard over and over again over the last many years. That Hillary is somehow inadequate to the demands of the job of President, or is not otherwise good enough. As if she is just a garden-variety person of gender, who does not deserve this moment. And that just isn’t true. Even eight years ago, when I supported, first Edwards and then Obama, it never occurred to me to think that Hillary wasn’t up to the task. The truth is that Hillary is the most important and influential woman in this country since Eleanor Roosevelt. (Who would have been an amazing president, thankyouverymuch).
Indeed, the objections that many of my friends have had to Hillary are a direct response to her having been a person of immense consequence. And she is recognized as such around the world, having been designated the most admired woman for 15 years in a row.
I won’t go into the many reasons I have supported Hillary this time around. I do not expect anyone to blithely accept my opinion that Hillary, with her strength, her empathy and her passion, will be a great president. But please, take a moment to savor this day of consequence, regardless of whom you have supported in this primary season. A barrier, which should never been there in the first place, has been shattered. It is a very big deal. For Ethel and Geneva and Alice and Pat and Deb. And for me. And for all of us. Bless you all.