Thanks to all the Hillary folks who are swallowing the hurt they must feel, and coming on board for a larger goal...
I may not have been a Hillary fan, but I do feel and understand your pain to an extent. I was one of the few who actually admitted out loud my undying love for Dukakis, and my heart was broken as I watched that campaign go down in flames. I was smart enough to recognize then however (albeit grudgingly), as I am now, that it was as much the campaign itself that flamed out as it was the Rethug machine that killed it.
For those whose heart's are breaking now tho', who feel like they've lost something important, this is something to keep in mind, and hold close to your heart: "True gender equality" is less concrete and more ephemeral than achieving a specific goal or title. I believe, and have always believed, and hope you can come to do so as well, that gender equality is what you make of it.
Follow me across the divide...
I don't believe for a second that I am any less capable than a man in many things that matter. I humbly defer to men in upper body strength, though I'm sure there are plenty of women who don't have to do so, but I'll match my mind, and a goodly portion of my skills against one any day, and hold my head up proudly. I own a business that is 99.9% male owned and male worked. I not only own it, but I work it. I'm a "freak" in the world I occupy, and many men in the field have trouble comprehending that fact that I'm capable (and more), even in the face of watching me do it. :) But I don't go out of the way to shout "Look at ME, I'm a WOMAN doing this!" - Like it or not, that alienates far more folks, male AND female, than it engenders respect. Haven't you noticed that the ones that crow about it loudest, and use it an excuse, rationale, etc., are often the ones that are less able to actually DO it? Whatever it is?
Titles aren't what give us equality. Strength, calm, and the ability to simply DO IT is what gives us equality. Screw the titles. We could elect a woman to the Presidency, and she could still turn out to be an absolute imbecile (NOT talking about Hillary, just in general terms). What's the point of claiming superiority over titles, "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo I got there first" - claiming achievement, if the end result is that we've then set back the belief that a woman can do the job? The more we scream about gender, precedents, inequality, ability, women united, etc., the more we draw attention to the GENDER, and the more we take away attention from whether we can actually get it done or not. Ya know?
I prefer "stealthing" my way in rather than charging in and waving a virtual strap-on and pretending to be a man, shattering glass ceilings whether they need be shattered or not. "Stealthing" is better - Just like we're doing in the House & Senate, Governorships, Business, etc. Just slowly infiltrating, doing the job, until folks look up and say, "Hey! Y'all have been here this whole time?" It's what I did in my business, and both my chosen careers. I didn't announce it, I didn't make a gender issue of it, I simply DID IT.
Would you (virtually you, not literally you) rather be known as the first Woman President, regardless of your abilities? Or one of the best Presidents in history, who happened to be a woman, period? My gender is not an issue to me. Again, if it needs to be done, and I'm good at it, I simply do it.
Don't dwell too much on the titles. We'll get there, we just shouldn't make the TITLE be the end all to be all. Be VERY happy with the fact that Hillary was considered an actual, valid candidate, and not a just a figurehead ALA Ferraro. THAT's achievement in and of itself. The other campaign was better organized, and more of a ground swell. It happens. The end result doesn't lessen women. Only actions, and attitudes leading up to, and actions and attitudes afterwards can do that.
Be of good cheer and welcome aboard!
Thanks for all you did for Hillary, and all you will do for Obama.
Cheers!
SophK