Hillary Clinton Has Spoken Out About Sexism And Misogyny Being 'Endemic' In America
In a recent interview for CNN show GPS with Fareed Zakaria, Hillary Clinton slammed America's society for being misogynist and sexist, in what she called an 'endemic'. The ex-Presidential candidate feels so strongly about the level of sexism in American culture that she admits that she chose not to mention her career history in fighting for women's rights because she doubted how responsive the audience would be. In hindsight, the Democrat admitted that she 'could have tried harder' to make her work a part of her story.
“I'm a middle-class girl from the middle of the country, and so I always struggled with like, OK, so what's my story. And it suddenly dawned on me that I was the beneficiary of these radical changes in, you know, women's rights and opportunities that began in the '60s and continue and that I could have and maybe should have tried harder to tell that story,” she said in the interview.
She also said that she felt that her story, in comparison to husband Bill's and Barack Obama's stories, wouldn't interest the audience anywhere near as much, which put her off from sharing it. She also spoke out about how being a woman in American society culture requires being unapologetic and staying strong to fight for what you believe in.
“I think sexism and misogyny are endemic in our society,” she said. “You see it online, as women express an opinion and then are totally deluged. You see it in Silicon Valley, you see it in the media, you see it in a lot of places where women's advancement has gone very far, much further than it certainly seemed at the time when I was coming of age.”
Whilst left downhearted by the overall response towards women's rights by the American public, Clinton mentioned how she was also very much encouraged by the men who 'push back' against sexism, especially “fathers of daughters, and husbands of wives,” who “care about fundamental fairness.”
“There seems now to be a willingness by more and more women and girls to claim their rights in a very explicit way, not an apologetic way. Not like, ‘Oh, you know, excuse me, let me express my opinion,’ but ‘No, I have an opinion. I want to tell you what that opinion is,’” Clinton continued.
Clinton added that the word 'feminist' is still one that 'nobody wants to use', much to her disappointment, and elaborated on what feminism means to her. “Feminism is not about women having more rights. It's about women having equal rights, in the workplace, in the politics of a society, in the culture, having the right to be yourself and to be able to express that, and to have that both appreciated and providing a platform to go as far as your talent and hard work will take you,” she said.
