I was asked to Diary my established motives for supporting Hillary. It was a combination of a couple factors: the abuse I was enduring at home and the inherent support I have for equality or everyone. The relationship one has with their abuser (esp. one’s mother) and the famiial trust and deference one gives to the women in one’s life as a matter of course. My mother learned to resent the expectations husbands have of women regarding the cooking, cleaning, and nurturing that is expected of stay-at-home mothers. My mother had only contempt for time spent in the kitchen. It was a painful obligation, in her mind, and she performed those duties very reluctantly.
I was a resident of Conway, AR, moving in after Governor Clinton had been elected, but before he’d taken office, and my family moved to Dallas, TX, after he’d lost his bid for reelection, but before he left office. AR was my sixth state of residence at twelve years of age. My family’s women are universally feminists, so when Governor Clinton took office, great attention was paid to him, but even more to his wife.
In Arkansas, Hillary was an icon of feminism to its residents: Tough-minded, defiant about the role traditional society had defined for her, extremely intelligent, and having enough education in her own right to be capable of independence and demanding the respect she was due, despite rigorous social preconceptions.
When her office took an active interest in me as a preteen, I lied about my environment, looking to put them off so that I could continue to protect my sister. They ignored my attempts to brush them off. I was given options. While her office couldn’t see the interstate pattern of physical and psychological abuse, they had the instincts to assume that there was a problem, looking out for the welfare of my sister and me. I will never forget this interest in my welfare and I will die grateful to her for it, despite not taking any action about the abuse.