The election of 2016 so far has pretty much been a roller coaster. Not one of the fun ones, mind you, but one that is made out of rickety old wood and leaves you with multiple bruises and sickening nausea. The majority of us on this ride are the friend who doesn't like roller coasters but got dragged onto one anyways. However, one good thing has come from this election: Hillary's nomination for the presidency of the United States.
This is the first time in history that a woman has been nominated for president by a major party. Think about that. On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed and women first got the right to vote. Now, less than 100 years later, we have a woman nominated for president. This is a tremendous victory for women all over the United States.
Now I know that many of Bernie's supporters were extremely disappointed that he did not get the nomination -- I was too -- however, if we stop and think about the historical importance of this, it is absolutely amazing. It is 2016. It's about damn time we had a female president. Our government is very tightly controlled by old, white men, and to have a woman standing on the stage of the Democratic National Convention giving her acceptance speech for the presidency of the United States is incredible.
I know that many people from both parties are frustrated that of all women, Clinton managed to get the nomination. I know that many people do not like her. But during an election year when we have so much at stake -- when you have one presidential nominee talking about deporting whole groups of people, who wants to build a giant wall because he thinks that an entire race is made up completely of rapists, and who makes sexist remarks (unapologetically) about women -- the fact that we could have a woman leading our nation is pretty freaking significant.
Clinton may not speak on the behalf of every woman in the U.S. (and that's OK), but what she has accomplished in her lifetime -- what she accomplished on July 28 -- is a leap forward for women everywhere. It means that we can go head to head with misogyny, that we can break through all the barriers that have held us back in the past, and that we can have an arena of people standing behind us and cheering us on as we do so. More importantly, it shows future generations of women -- our daughters and granddaughters -- that they are capable of anything. And if that doesn't convince you of the significance of this election, I'd like you to look at this picture:
