This was a hard week in politics. This week was an especially hard week for anybody that prides themselves in being a feminist. This is not due to any political scandal or court case or presidential statement, but because we lost a great feminist role model.
This week, we saw caucus races in five states, and in one outlying territory, we heard two drawn-out debates, and we were shocked by one outrageous endorsement.
We’ve been so bombarded by the crazy campaign nonsense that most of us either didn’t know or forgot about the passing of one of the greatest women on earth. The Reagan name is one that America will not soon forget, but instead of focusing on the more prominent Reagan, I want to take a moment to give tribute to First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Nancy Reagan elegantly embodied every aspect of true feminism.
Feminism is a serious issue today. The problem is that many prominent figures claim to be advocates of feminism, but do not justly portray the qualities of feminism.
Today, when thinking about women in the political system, many people’s thoughts go to Hillary Clinton. Culture has portrayed Hillary Clinton as a self-made feminist icon that all girls should aspire to be. However, Clinton has proved, through many of her actions, that she does not respect many of the principles valued by feminism.
Based on basic feminist values and effective means of portraying feminism, Nancy Reagan should be the first lady that feminists look up to and not Hillary Clinton.
Feminism is based off of the idea, “Equal but different.” This implies that women should not be discriminated in social, economic, political and domestic spheres. Women should receive equal liberties and equal treatment.
Promoting feminism means respecting yourself by respecting others. If you want others to respect your place in the world and your right to be who you are, then you need to show equal respect to others.
The only way to promote feminism is by showing others you matter just as much as they do, but doing it in such a way that you never risk losing respect from others.
Hillary Clinton is mistaken as a feminist.
People mistake her for being feminist because she mistakes herself for being feminist. Hillary Clinton does not promote the equality of women. She promotes herself. Maybe she sees this as feminism because she is a woman, but she is not feminist.
Clinton warrants no respect for herself or for feminism because she has no respect for government office, American values or her political affiliates.
During the Monica Lewinsky portion of the Clinton administration, Hillary proved she was anything but a feminist. After multiple women came forward to claim that President Clinton had been inappropriate with them, Hillary chose to stand with her husband. I think it was the right decision, but it was the way that she conducted herself during the whole ordeal.
When asked by the press, Hillary made derogatory remarks about each of President Clinton’s supposed victims. She used profanity to essentially "slut shame" them, simply because they were the victims of her husband's assault.
She showed no respect for those that had been taken advantage of by workplace gender inequality, which proves she does not have respect for the standing of all women. It only made people lose respect for Hillary and the current administration.
Several suspicious instances have occurred during Hillary’s time as Secretary of State. The instance of Benghazi has proved that Clinton has no respect for protocol and she does not heavily value America’s Armed Forces. Furthermore, while under investigation, she explicitly shared evidence with outside parties. She has no respect for the position of Secretary of State or for the principles she is under oath to obey. Yet, she still believes that she is above the law. She claims to be innocent. She believes that all charges should be dropped.
Her presidential campaign is personified through elitist and abrasive demonstrations. If you listen to her speak, you can tell that she works extremely hard at making sure that people respect her. The reason she does this is because she is trying to compensate for the lack of respect she had earned.
Contrary to Hillary's brand of feminism, Nancy Reagan personified feminism by showing respect for her position and for others.
Many would argue Nancy was crushed by gender roles in that she was seemingly submissive to her husband and portrayed a humble hostess role.
Nancy did so much more than host White house parties. She elegantly played out her role as first lady by creating a high respect for the Presidential administration. People had a greater respect for President Reagan by the way that Nancy helped portray his office to the public.
By respecting her husband, she gained a greater role in the decisions made by his administration. Throughout his presidency, President Reagan turned to Nancy for advice about domestic and foreign policy matters. Her influence on her husband was so great that, after President Reagan fired his Chief of Staff, Donald Reagan, Mr. Reagan commented to the press how the first lady had more influence on the Presidents decisions than he did.
Nancy was the rock that the Reagan administration stood on.
No, she was not the most powerful or outspoken person in the white house, and she did not need to be. She took the position she was in and preformed it with so much grace that she gained more political standing and more respect for herself and for her husband.
Nancy also worked independently from Ronald. She did so because she saw an opportunity to make a difference, and she did. During the Reagan administration, Nancy initiated the “Just Say No” campaign. This campaign was widely successful in the war against drugs, and almost every school in America still participates in the program today.
Nancy's form of feminism deserves much more recognition from the public for the feminist movement than Hillary's does. Nancy consistently proved that she deserved the respect that she was given, and she conducted herself appropriately. Hillary has portrayed to the public that feminists should be willing to lie, bargain and back-bite their way to gaining a distorted conception of equality, and the public sees her as being brash and unapologetic.
Hillary Clinton's form of feminism means doing what you have to to get what you want. It means unabashedly misusing the position you're in and thinking the rules don't apply to you. It means using brute force to gain respect.
Nancy Reagan better advocates feminism because she executed the position she was in with such grace and respect that people respected her. She gained political standing by showing respect to her husband and others in the White House and by taking every opportunity that she could to make a difference.
Feminists today need to redirect their gaze and look to the past to a true advocate for feminism.
