Julepstyle Endorses Hillary

I’m not kidding myself, the only people who read Julepstyle.com are my family & friends. That said, I’d like to explain why Julepstyle (me) is endorsing Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primary & election. I agree with Hillary’s policies, ideas, and plans for America (you can read more about them here). I am firmly in agreement with her health care reform plans.

The most important reason I am voting for and endorsing Hillary Clinton is because I admire her and how far she has come as a woman in this country; her work as a champion for women continues today. She has served in many roles–daughter, advocate, successful law partner, mother, first lady, senator; throughout these roles, even under great political attention & strain, she has maintained a grace and dignity that I seek to emulate in my own young professional life. I am a feminist; Hilary Clinton and other strong women of her generation helped pave the way for me and many other women.

Hillary Clinton continues to fight for equal wages for women (who currently make about 77 cents to every dollar earned by man with the exact same qualifications and experience; for women of color the difference is even greater). Until women achieve economic parity, we will always be second-class citizens in a world governed by money. Hillary has consistently supported a woman’s right to make her own decisions about the most personal life choices. She has also supported legislation to make family planning available to women of all economic classes. She has earned the title of, “Champion of Women,” throughout decades of service and support to women’s causes.

The most vocal voices I hear from the people around me are those that dismiss her as shrill woman. As if having opinions & stating them to others is fine for men to do, but when women state their opinion they’re likened to all kinds of awful words. There is also an inordinate amount of attention to her appearance throughout the campaign–discussing her cleavage, makeup, wardrobe choices. I would love the Washington Post to run an article about the size of the male candidate’s “packages.” But the media doesn’t scrutinize the physical features of the male candidates with the same amount of attention that they have given Hillary. This inordinate focus underscores larger problems the women and girls of America have with physical beauty and achieving surgically-created ideals. Hillary Clinton is a role model every girl can look up to, and that is important in a culture whose media is cominated by skinny, pretty girls with zero brain cells.

America needs a female president. How many more times will I have to hear the joke that a woman president would start World War III as soon as she was moody? How long will America only allow women to be role models for their beauty, talent, or ill-gotten celebrity? We are in dire need of a smart, well-educated, well-spoken, charismatic leader; Hillary Clinton fits all of these qualifications.

Vote for Hillary!

ETA There is a frontline documentary titled Hillary’s Class (you can watch it here).