A cold and broken hallelujah
It's been nearly a week since the US election and I (like so many others) have been trying to come to terms with what it all means. I had written a blog post on the day that Hillary Clinton was formally made the nominee of the Democratic Party, but for some reason I didn't post it at the time. Here is that blog post in its imperfect composition, with a call to action to do everything we can to support women of all ages and backgrounds to put themselves up for political leadership:
Why Hillary Matters - 29 July 2016.
When I was 12 I announced at my primary school graduation that I wanted to become Australia’s first President and to be the first women in Australia’s highest political position. By the age of 12 I was both a feminist and a constitutional republican.
Over the next 10 years I threw myself into everything political that I could find. My first election was to the role of Youth Governor of the local youth parliament program. At age 18 I represented my community in New York at an intergenerational dialogue on women, youth and poverty and our recommendations were delivered to both the US Congress and the United Nations Special Session on Children. I began law school and I volunteered for my local member of parliament, joined a political party and got heavily involved in student politics. In between organizing rallies and fundraisers I door knocked for candidates and got myself elected to the role of student president for a major sandstone university- not a bad effort given that kids from my working class area were unlikely to go university at all, let alone represent the student body in front of Senate inquiries, to the national media or in the stuffy halls of the law school.
But somewhere in amongst all of that work my passion for politics was squashed. I started to listen to the warnings that women “can’t have it all” and asking myself whether I would want to put myself and my family into a potential media spotlight by running for pre-selection. I began to experience the kind of treatment that is so sadly felt so often by those women that stick their hands up and ask for their views to be heard- of alienation, of unwanted compromise and of people either flat out ignoring or even worse actively white-anting me and my ideas. I watched as I saw my male colleagues go on to prime paid roles inside of the political system and for some to go on to pre-selection in safe seats. I watched as my highly talented female colleagues got out of politics and went instead into public service, diplomacy, legal roles and academia. I too decided that politics was not a life for me and instead began a role first as a public servant and now as a social entrepreneur. Sadly in less than 10 years I had, like so many smart, talented women, opted out of my political dreams before I’d even entered my mid 20’s.
Last week I was asked if I knew of any young women that could potentially work in an entry-level role inside of a political office. I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t think of even one.
I was 12 in 1995- the same year that Hillary Clinton said in Beijing “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights”. Now, 21 years later, Hillary Clinton has been preselected as the first woman candidate for US Presidency by a major political party.
I cried when I heard Hillary say “to all the little girls that stayed up to watch me tonight, I might be the first, but one of you will be the next” because I realized that I had been holding inside of me a sadness for the loss of politics from my life. A sadness for a loss of a dream that had been so important to me as long as I could remember. A sadness for all of those times that I had opted out and so my voice and my perspective had not been heard.
I also cried because I know that I still have my whole life in front of me to realize my dreams and that in seeing Hillary preselected I realized that my dreams are not impossible. My dreams may have changed ever so slightly since I was 12, but fundamentally they are exactly the same as they always were- I want to make the world better, particularly for women and children from my community.
To do this I need to start to encourage a greater number of women and girls to put themselves up for political leadership. I will make it my business to always have at hand a list of women who could go into any political role and to shamelessly promote them at any opportunity.
Hillary matters because she reminds us to not give up on our dreams and that just because it may be hard to be a woman in politics (and from what I understand it is bloody hard) it is possible and it is important.
If you know a bright talented woman- young or not so young- make it your point of encouraging her to consider a life in politics and keep at it. Let her know that you will support her during times that are hard, but most importantly let her know that you think she can do the job. She just might be the next leader this world needs.
