Tracing American Women’s Continued and Persistent Struggle for Leadership in a Challenging Political Landscape
I was eleven years old the first time I remember a woman running for U.S. Presidency, and twelve years old when she lost. I still remember the night they announced Hillary Clinton would not be elected the 45th President of the United States, when the glass-ceilinged convention center she intentionally stood beneath went back to being ‘just a building’ and not a metaphor representing finally shattering the glass ceiling that has long denied women the same access to public office as men. Instead, across the nation that night, millions of Clinton supporters’ hearts shattered, and already at twelve years old, I understood that the road to victory for women would continue to be long and hard.
Hillary Clinton would not go on to become the first woman President, and eight years later, neither would Kamala Harris. Yet, these women were not the first to run for this time-honored position, nor will they be the last. The history of women competing for political office in a field dominated primarily by men is in no way a recent phenomenon. In many ways, women’s long and continued fight for gender equality and representation is as long and well-trodden as the history of the United States itself. In this article, I would like to reflect on this history and acknowledge the endurance of a struggle that continues to shape American democracy.
"The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say, the light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting."
-Kamala Harris, Candidate for the 47th President of the United States
Seneca Falls Convention, 1848
Although hushed conversations on the topic of women's rights had begun much earlier than 1848, the two-day convention, held in the heat of New York summer, is widely regarded as the birthplace of women's collective call for suffrage. Here, 300 women and men gathered to officially define the intellectual framework for women's equality in every area of life, not only the right to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a fervent activist and the leader of the convention, cleverly drafted the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments to nearly mimic the wording of the founding document of the United States, beginning: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal...". The result was a national media frenzy, writing in both awe and fear of the national movement that had now been set ablaze. The convention's outcomes would remain mixed, with differing opinions on whether the right to vote was imperative; even Elizabeth Cady Stanton's husband did not initially support its inclusion in the list of demands. However, it was now undeniable that the push for equal rights could no longer be ignored.
The End of the 19th Century and Passage of the 19th Amendment, 1920
Following the Seneca Falls Convention, it would take over seventy years for women's suffrage to be officially ratified into the U.S. Constitution. However, in order to avoid creating a teleological timeline of events, it is equally important to acknowledge the surrounding achievements that paved its way. The impact of Seneca Falls was monumental and led to yearly conventions of a similar nature and intention. Suffragists across the nation began to advocate for abolishing slavery and, later, extended voting rights to include newly freed black Americans, believing a universal right to vote would be beneficial for everyone. Alongside this, women across the country whose voices went unheard read inspired pieces written by the women who could. This led to women encouraging each other to run for political office, in the case of Victoria Woodhull's 1870 bid for Presidency and Belva Lockwood's attempts in 1884 and 1888. Together, these women attempted to fill the gap in political representation, taking advantage of the fact that although women did not yet have the right to vote in federal elections, no laws specifically prohibited them from running.
Woodhull also established the minor political party, The Equal Rights Party, whose platform both she and Lockwood ran upon, alongside Woodhull's Vice Presidential running mate Frederick Douglas. Today, Victoria Woodhull’s legacy is often overlooked, partly due to her presidential campaign ending in scandal and legal trouble, which led to her spending Election Day in jail. However, her name is part of a long list of women who struggled to affect change inside a system systematically designed to keep them separate.
In 1920, when the 19th Amendment was passed granting women the right to vote, millions of Black women across the country knew that for them, the fight was far from over. In the years to follow for the 2.2 million women living in the South at the time, racist Jim Crow laws and other preventative state measures like poll taxes and literacy tests continued to deny many the same access to vote. Meanwhile, major advocacy groups like the National American Suffrage Association and the National Women's Party often excluded Black women from their efforts, leaving them to fight for their rights independently. As a result, these women were forced to move on to the next chapter alone.
Black Women's Struggle for the Same Freedom
Even after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, making significant strides in prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin, it would take another three years until the mention of gender-based discrimination was explicitly included. During this time, groups like the newly founded National Organization for Women (NOW) played a crucial role in urging President Lyndon Johnson to expand his executive order to include the voices of Black women, too. Together, women operating at local and national levels played instrumental roles in the fight to achieve gender equality. Alongside the many accomplishments made by Black men in this struggle, it is easy to forget the long list of women whose labor and sacrifice contributed equally to the larger movement. It is in large part thanks to activists such as Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), who went on to become the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, and Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987), whose establishment of citizenship schools drastically helped to increase Black voter registration, that progress was made both inside and out of political office.
Today, these names are rarely recalled when educated people are asked to list Civil Rights figures, and what may seem like an unintentional oversight could be highly intentional. Instead, specific types of women like Rosa Parks are remembered primarily for their role as "accidental" activists, framing their actions in the form of passive resistance. This unintentionally reinforces women's role as 'weaker than men,' a narrative that has been used as a tactic throughout history to diminish women's authority and relocate them to second-class citizens. Suddenly, it becomes harder to remember names like Coretta Scott King independent of the actions of her husband, Martin Luther King Jr., despite her activism beginning long before their marriage. In a movement dedicated to equal rights, Black women were frequently denied the same opportunities to speak out as men, instead forcing them to walk a narrow line that continued to depict them as "brash" or "overly assertive" if and when they did speak out. Instead, history rests comfortably remembering their actions for their resilience and endurance, both passive actions that imply change occurring outside oneself and not from within. Yet, if Black women truly occupied a position of passivity, the growing movement would not have been nearly as forceful. Their contributions continued into the 1970s and beyond, fueling what is known as a "second wave of feminism".
The Second Wave Feminist Movement, 1960s-1980s
Following the First Wave Feminist Movement which pushed for women's suffrage and property rights, the second wave broadened its scope to challenge systemic inequalities for all women. It is typically understood as occuring in the two decades following the Civil Rights Movement although the analogy of waves is imperfect to describe the complexity of what occurred between movements. Regardless, the questioning of gender roles and personal autonomy at this time were key issues. Since the 1920s, women's societal role had changed enormously; never before had all women been given the option to run for positions of political office and win. Attitudes were changing across the country in part because of popular literature at the time like Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex", published in the U.S. in 1953, and Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" in 1963. These literary works encouraged women to step outside of their "sphere" or role as housewives, and begin to question what Friedan described as "the problem with no name". This problem, she argued, could be felt across the nation in the restless, as of yet indescribable feeling white middle-class women were having. It is no coincidence therefore, that in the same year her novel was published, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law.
However, it is still important to remember the inequity of this time period, too. Friedan’s book largely excluded Black women, many of whom had long been a part of the workforce, though often in roles significantly different from those of white working-class men. For these women, they struggled to relate to the same feeling of being "trapped" that women solely in the domestic sphere did. There was still very much a hierarchy of gender, which continued to place Black women at the bottom, often in caretaking positions for the children of these white women. This practice, stemming from the days of slavery when Black women were forced to care for and feed the children of their slave masters, continues to set them at an economic disadvantage to this day. Both societally and financially, Black women in caretaking positions suffer from years of systemic racism. Today, it is estimated that Black women earn 60 cents on the dollar compared to white women who earn 81 cents. Although both groups earn significantly less than American men, it is important not to forget the significant and glaring racial component within describing gender equality.
In politics, Shirley Chisholm was still undeterred even after serving seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1972, she went on to make history as the first African American woman to run for the Democratic party’s nomination and the first Black candidate ever to seek office. Known as "Fighting Shirley", she ran with the campaign slogan "unbought and unbossed", reflecting feminist ideals of independence and fearlessness, challenging male-dominated political structures. Although her bid was ultimately unsuccessful—and not without discrimination due to both her race and gender, facing hostility even from within the Black community—Chisholm's legacy is groundbreaking, regardless. She is a testament of fearlessness and persistence in the struggle women have and continue to face in reaching for positions of high political office.
“I want to be remembered as a woman … who dared to be a catalyst of change.”
-Shirley Chisholm, former U.S. Congresswoman (1969-1983) and the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for President of the United States
Women in the Workplace, The 1990s to Present Day
In the fall of 1991, before an all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee, African American law professor Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas
of sexual harassment. The impact was monumental. Across the Nation, wide-eyed Americans sat glued to their screens as a female law professor was slowly picked apart by a series of previously unthinkable lines of questioning. Although the trial would ultimately confirm Judge Thomas regardless, it was the first time women collectively felt unified through the horrifying descriptions of workplace harassment Hill described. Many of them could relate to similar experiences of attempting to speak up only to be silenced. It sadly wasn't a new phenomenon, and following Hill's testimony, their anger and determination was palpable.
The following year, 1992, would go on to be coined "the Year of the Woman", following the election of four women to the Senate, tripling female representation. Millions of voters responded to Hill's unfair testimony by electing female voices whom they believed would better represent their interests and handle further issues with greater empathy than was shown to Hill. This year was representative of a larger cultural shift that placed workplace harassment at the forefront. It led to increased mandatory training and awareness in the workplace and went on to inspire later movements such as #MeToo, finally helping to grant women the voice they had been denied for so long.
The 1990s also brought about the rise of Hillary Clinton, who served as the First Lady (1993-2001), U.S. Secretary of State (2009-2013), and would later go on to become the first woman ever to win the popular vote for U.S. Presidency. In 1995, addressing attendees from 189 nations, she delivered her famous speech stating: "Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights, once and for all." Her words emphasized the importance of viewing universal human rights as intrinsically connected to the rights of women. Today, it is widely regarded as the first time the sentiment was expressed globally, exemplifying women's collective unity in their struggle for political representation, economic equality, and bodily autonomy.
Throughout her long career in politics, Clinton faced many difficulties due to her gender. Reactions to her Presidential candidacy stemmed from a combination of systemic barriers, personal controversies, and intense public scrutiny, all of which were amplified because she was a woman. Frequently, her demeanor and appearance were negatively scrutinized as being "offputting" or "unlikeable", opinions rarely applied to male politicians reflecting double standards. Her first name, "Hillary," was also frequently used in reference to her candidacy as another way of subtly undermining her authority. This tactic, later used against Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, subconsciously frames them as unserious options against male opponents whose first names would never be thought of as serious titles. Simply imagine referring to Donald Trump as just "Donald", and the contrast becomes strikingly apparent. The usage is far too informal, and it's an inappropriate way of referring to a candidate for a serious position like President.
Although she was not the first person to reference the glass ceiling metaphor, throughout her campaigns, Clinton has frequently used it during her speeches. The glass ceiling symbolizes an invisible barrier women and marginalized groups often face when attempting to advance to high positions of authority. To Clinton, becoming President represented the "highest, hardest glass ceiling" yet. However, her reference to breaking it became most poignant to me during her concession speech in 2016, after she'd initially planned to announce her victory inside a glass-ceilinged convention center in New York. Instead, acknowledging her defeat, the location was ultimately changed, and the glass ceiling of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center once again remained unshattered.
"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through like never before."
-Hillary Clinton, Candidate for the 44th and 45th Presidents of the United States
A Reminder
I would be remiss not to acknowledge once again the complexity of this history of struggle. Many milestones, beyond what I have included, have played a role in shaping the cultural, economic, and political environment that has, at times, granted and denied women access to the same opportunities afforded to men. Women, on both sides of the political spectrum, have fought tirelessly for these opportunities, strengthened by one another and the inner courage it takes to keep going. Although that twelve-year-old girl watching Hillary Clinton leave the glass convention center defeated in 2016, may have temporarily felt broken hearted, she hasn't given up the hope that someday, change will be ours.
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