This past week, my college invited Bay Buchanan, who was the youngest treasurer of the United States under Ronald Reagan, to speak on female empowerment. The official title of the lecture was "Female Empowerment Isn't Just for Liberals," and although that title seemed to be more divisive than uniting, I decided I couldn't miss this opportunity. Political views aside, Buchanan is a woman who has been successful in a male-dominated sphere, so I had to go see her speak.
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Not only did she contradict herself a number of times, but she didn't really talk about female empowerment so much as she talked about voicing your conservative views. Which I guess is empowerment, and obviously conservatives deserve to have their voices heard just as much as liberals, but the speech didn't go in the direction I thought it would.
My biggest issue with it was when Buchanan misquoted Madeleine Albright.
During Hillary Clinton's campaign, Madeleine Albright made the comment that, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help each other." Buchanan quoted her as saying "There is a special place in hell for women who don't vote for Hillary Clinton."
These are two very different statements. Yes, obviously Albright was trying to get people to vote for Clinton, but she wasn't wrong in saying that women need to help each other. Women need to support each other. This doesn't mean that you have to embrace Clinton's politics or even vote for her, but you should respect that she's a woman trying to go where literally no woman has ever gone before and that itself is awesome. I wasn't the biggest fan of Clinton, and I'm not the biggest fan of Sarah Palin, but when Palin was a Vice Presidential nominee, I thought it was really exciting to a see a woman in that role.
Although I have just talked about feminism and women supporting each other, that wasn't my main goal in writing this. What I really want to focus in on is the importance of words.
What Buchanan said and attributed to Albright was an attempt to divide women by putting incorrect words in someone's mouth. It seems harmless, but it's really not. Misquoting someone like that in a room full of women is done to try to shape someone's beliefs, and it is not acceptable.
Words are powerful. That whole "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is honestly bullshit because we have seen first hand the power words have to change people's thoughts and actions. Words are not to be taken lightly, and using them, especially in terms of quoting what someone else said, to divide people and to arouse a reaction is irresponsible.
Disclaimer: This isn't a rant against conservatives. Liberals do this too. Libertarians do this. Nonpartisan people do this. People who claim they hate politics do this. It's something everyone needs to work on in order for the human race to come together and be the best we can be.
