I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, and now I am finally ready to post it.
*Originally written in November of 2016*
Let me start this post by stating that this is not a political blog. I do not intend to have many posts that will mention any part of politics, however, when an event as substantial as an election rolls around, I feel I must share a few things. The 2016 election season was full of hate, rumors, protests, and shaming. This is not okay. We are all living in the same country, and no matter who was going to ultimately be the President Elect, we will all have the same new leader come January 20th. I think people have forgotten that they are Americans first and supporters of a certain candidate second. I have been pretty quiet the entire year about who I have supported. I will share that I voted. I did not vote for Mr. Trump. I did not vote for Mrs. Clinton. I voted for the person I believe would be able to unite our country. Unfortunately, this person was not on the ballot come Election Day.
As I stated above, I did not vote for Mrs. Clinton. I hope one day to see our first female President sworn in. I will be over joyed when a woman who deserves the title of Commander and Chief places her hand on the Bible and becomes the leader of the free world. I am a woman, but I did not (and never will) vote my gender. Just because a woman is on the ballot, does not mean she is the person I would like running our country. I am a self-proclaimed feminist, and I absolutely believe in standing up for women and being respected as a woman. I work in the male-dominated field of sports. I have had men tell me that I am out of line, too forward, too eager, bitchy, or domineering when I say something that would have been praised as smart and fast thinking if I were a man. I don’t blame gender bias every time someone says something along these lines about me, but often it is the case. To the women that are reading this: it is not okay to be looked down upon because of your gender. To the men that are reading this: gender bias is real, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, and I hope you will picture a man saying the exact same words your female employee *or a friend, or any woman you interact with for that matter* just said or wrote before you react (and please use the same language you would use if she were a male employee).
I know I’ve already gone on two semi-rants and neither of them is really what this post is about… let me get back on topic!
For years, I have heard men (and women) call female leaders shrill, annoying, weak, unfit, out of place, frumpy, frail, etc. I have known many people who have said these things, some of which are my closest friends and family. I won’t lie and say that I have never made these comments about other women either, but I won’t make them anymore. I have held my tongue sitting at a dinner table with friends or family when someone has called Hillary Clinton shrill or weak. I refuse to allow these comments to be okay anymore. I am not disappointed that Mrs. Clinton is not the President Elect, but I am disappointed in Mrs. Clinton.
Traditionally, when a candidate concedes an election in a phone call to the victor, they then shortly follow it up with a public speech to their supporters, no matter how late it is when they concede. Mrs. Clinton waited more than eight hours after privately conceding to Mr. Trump before she took to the stage. People have been saying that her speech made a bigger impact because of when it was delivered, and I agree, though not for the same reason. Mrs. Clinton fed right into the gender bias stereotypes by waiting to give her speech.
The following morning, I was included in an email chain (started by a close family member) where respondents were making jokes about Mrs. Clinton’s reason for delaying her speech. People said she was crying on her hotel bed, throwing objects around her room, throwing back glasses of alcohol, dealing with her head spinning off as she yelled at her staff, hiding in the bathroom, blaming Bill, and so on. While these reactions are comical, they were sad for me to read and hear. They feed into the biggest female leader stereotypes. When a woman finally breaks through that glass ceiling and is elected as the President of the United States, she is going to have to do everything she can to avoid falling into these stereotypes.
When Mrs. Clinton elected not to make a speech after her phone call to concede the election, she gave the impression that she couldn’t stand the defeat. She gave the impression that she was not able to stand resolute on the stage and congratulate Mr. Trump on his victory without breaking down into tears. Maybe a speech where she looked like a cold robot with no emotions would have been worse than not giving a speech, but I’m not sure. This was the first time in recent history (and the first since 1964) that the acceptance speech was delivered before the concession speech. In 2004, after contesting the close count in Ohio, John Kerry started his speech prior to President Bush. Even the dragged out 2000 election followed suit. When Al Gore and President Bush finally delivered their speeches, after more than a month long recount, on December 13th Al Gore’s concession speech proceeded President Bush’s acceptance. In fact the only time since the speeches have been televised where the concession speech was not given prior to the victory speech was the 1964 election of LBJ. Mr. Goldwater did not concede until the following morning. When Gerald Ford conceded in 1976, he was suffering from laryngitis so his wife Betty actually delivered the address. But, guess what? Even that was done before Jimmy Carter made his acceptance speech.
Bet you didn’t think there was going to be a history lesson in this post did you? I guess I am my father’s daughter (sigh).
There have been 18 televised presidential election cycles and only twice has the acceptance speech preceded the concession. But, 100% of the women that have conceded the presidential election have done so publicly AFTER their opponent has accepted victory. Given that there has only been one instance of this occurrence, it might not seem like it means much to you, but to me, it says that we women have another hurdle to jump over if we want to move up in our jobs. Women have been graciously losing elections for other positions for years, but this was the first time for this kind of national spotlight opportunity. I think Mrs. Clinton missed a prime opportunity to show everyone who believes that women are not strong enough, bold enough, brave enough, composed enough, or gracious enough to be leaders that even in the face of crushing defeat, a woman can lead. I might be totally off base in saying that this lack of action will add to the “reasons a woman should not be president” but as someone who is hoping to lead my own organization one day, it has made a difference to me.
I am just one woman with one opinion on this topic, and I don’t claim to be strongly political by any means, but I had to share this (14 months after I wrote it!) because, while it is an old political post it is relevant again with all of the women speaking up about gender bias and discrimination. Thank you for reading and I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
Golf and God 