Donald Trump’s surprising victory means one thing for certain: The U.S. will not have its first female president come January. In her concession speech Wednesday, Hillary Clinton acknowledged that “we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will.”
Among the disappointed: Felicia Kornbluh, an associate professor at the University of Vermont. She specializes in history, gender, sexuality and women’s studies.
Had Clinton won, “it would have been a big freakin’ deal,” said Kornbluh, who spoke to Seven Days on Wednesday to give a feminist’s post-election perspective.
A woman in the Oval Office would have been an enormous breakthrough, one that people young and old perhaps may not have fully recognized, said Kornbluh, who voted for Clinton.
“I think that many of my students and many of us, many people in the U.S. didn’t get what it would take and what it would mean for a woman to be the head of the most powerful country on earth,” Kornbluh explained.
Clinton’s defeat is partially a function of sexism and an ingrained belief in male supremacy, Kornbluh said. “It’s baked into very widely shared cultural stereotypes, institutions, media.”
These attitudes are difficult to change, and even women can be sexist and skittish about the transfer of power, she added. Clinton’s run pushed against many stereotypes, Kornbluh said. “It was a big, big lift that we were asking the American people to do.”
Kornbluh had hoped to see a discussion during the campaign of serious issues that affect women, including abortion rights, the unpaid contribution of women as family caretakers, and the low wages for women in fields such as home health care.
Instead, the conversation seemed to be more about women’s right “not to be groped, not to be insulted for their fundamental biological processes,” and “the right to run for office and be recognized for something other than their appearance,” Kornbluh said.
Sex and gender “were all over the place” in the election but the noise didn’t translate to substance, Kornbluh said. “In a way they were so ubiquitous and so loud, and explored in such a crass way that it was almost as though we didn’t have a gender conversation in this election.”
History will remember Clinton for her toughness and resolve in the campaign, and for an important “almost,” Kornbluh said.
“Hillary Clinton — she came really close.”
Meanwhile, pro-choice advocates are deeply worried that Trump will roll back or restrict abortion rights.
“I think we’re pretty clear that we were dealt a serious blow in this election. We know that we’ll face renewed attacks on women’s ability to successfully access legal abortion,” said Meagan Gallagher, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
During the campaign, Trump said he opposed abortion except for cases involving rape, incest or threat to a woman’s health. Trump also said he would withhold federal funding from Planned Parenthood because it performs abortions. Another big worry for pro-choice forces? Trump’s picks for the Supreme Court, which currently has one vacancy and could have more during his term.
“We absolutely have concerns,” Gallagher said. “He has put forth a list of, I think, 20 people that he would nominate. They are all very conservative on this issue and I think would roll back the clock on abortion rights.”
The good news for Planned Parenthood since Trump’s election? “We have had an influx of support, people looking to volunteer and support our work and we welcome all of that,” Gallagher said. “I think that despite the uncertainty one thing is very clear. We will never back down and we will never stop fighting to protect the access to care that so many people, more than 18,000 people in Vermont, depend on.”
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I share everyone’s concern about the Trump presidency, and I have always supported PP and sympathize with their concern about what might happen to women under Trump. But what they tried to do to Phil Scott is unforgivable. They might have more sympathizers now if they hadn’t done that. They should not have done that.
I did not like Hillary nor did I want her to be president and it had nothing to do with her gender, it had to do with the fact she felt above the rules, above ethics, and felt she could do as she pleased. The way she handled Benghazi in the aftermath was another issue to me.
I agree with know, what Planned Parenthood’s PAC and Sue Minter did to try to portray Phil Scott as such a boogey man was way below the levels of decency. It will be interesting to see if the fears are groundless.
Hillary’s defeat had nothing to do with what sex she is, it had to do with the facts that she has proven herself to be a lier and a cheat. I strongly believe that America will benefit form the leadership of a woman President in the near future but Clinton was not the girl for the job. In today’s information age Americans will never let corruption be the rule of the land so only the elite class benefit.
It would be a misguided step backwards if legal abortions became outlawed or restricted in Vermont or the rest of the USA BUT I hope Meagan Gallagher is booted out of her job . Shame on her for taking David Blittersdorf’s dirty money in his cynical attempt to sway the election by funding Minter . The head of Planned Parenthood should have the moral fiber to stay out of the lowest of political sleaze where funds are provided to smear a political opponent on an issue that has nothing to do with a woman’s reproductive rights . Enjoy the wind power Sue .