Hi friends!
Why do I feel like each time I begin one of these Friday posts, I want to start with, “WHAT A WEEK, HUH?” But at least this time, I mean it in a happy, uplifting way.
Wednesday — Inauguration Day here in the United States — felt like a giant exhale for me. Anyone else? I felt like I could finally breathe a sigh of relief that at least one of the things on this seemingly never-ending worry list I’ve been collecting since March was crossed off. Finally, the day had come and gone successfully, peacefully, and there are grown-ups back in charge.
I know not everyone feels that way. In fact, there are people very close to me who feel like Wednesday was the very worst day, and while I don’t understand it and I won’t pretend that I’m not absolutely thrilled and grateful to have a new administration, I do want to be sensitive to the fact that not everyone feels the same. And certainly, we know that a new president in the White House doesn’t erase all of the pain and grief and bewilderment and anger, of the last two weeks, or the past 10 months. But!
(I feel like I’m saying this a lot — BUT! Aka a call for the bright side.☀️)
But! There is something I hope we can all rejoice about. Something universally positive that we can all feel good about from this week. Wednesday, a woman was sworn in for the very first time to the second highest position in the United States. For the first time, since we began our democratic experiment in 1776.
Can you feel the significance of that, friends? It’s tremendous, and I mean that with zero irony or sarcasm in my voice. What a moment! What a breakthrough. Long overdue but nevertheless, that glass is broken. Finally, finally, finally.
It gives me chills.
Most don’t know this, but when I was a little girl, I wanted to become president. It was something I told anyone who asked my career aspirations for a long time, confident and cheerful in the way only children can be, encouraged by my dad who thought it was a great dream —that I’d grow up to become president of the United States. But I don’t know if either of us ever believed it was a realistic dream. You know? Maybe he did (I should ask!), but I’m not sure I really did. I had a big book of all the U.S. presidents as a child (in fact, it’s still on my bookcase back at my parents’ house). It went right up through President Clinton, and I would flip through it regularly while sitting at the kitchen table. I’d try to analyze what made each person perfect for the job, and what they all had in common.
I grew up with parents who constantly supported me and pushed me to be my best. Who taught me to always strive to be the best, and believe that I really could do anything I wanted if I put my heart into it. There is immense privilege in that, I know, but I mention it because it’s being raised that way that made me shoot for big goals at a young age. It’s how, as I mentioned in a previous post, I ended up going to work at the Capitol. I never thought about the discrimination and the obstacles and the harassment that most women face to be in positions of power, or, frankly, just to be taken seriously in the workplace. I’m not saying I didn’t experience them, but I just wasn’t…… conscious of them, I suppose. It’s hard to explain, but it wasn’t until later in my career that I realized quite how steep the mountain to climb truly is for women who aspire to top positions of power, like, say, President. It’s sort of embarrassing, really, that it took me so long to realize you can indeed be the most intelligent and qualified person in the room, and still be passed over for a role because of your gender. Or because of stereotypes and other people’s assumptions.
It’s easy to look at the past — of all male Presidents and Vice Presidents and Secretaries of Defense, etc. from when I was growing up in late ‘80s and ‘90s — and think, “Well, that’s just the way it’s always been!” Or, “Women just didn’t run for higher office back then!” Or perhaps even worse, “There was never a woman qualified enough!”
EYE. ROLL.
That’s all bs. We know it.
I won’t get on my soap box, but that language bothers me. That explaining away of things, to justify never seeing a woman in some of the highest offices of public service in this country. They’re excuses I know I’ve even said to myself in the past.
Representation matters, even if you don’t realize it. And now — now! — little ones growing up under the Biden Administration will never think it’s impossible to become at least U.S. vice president, no matter their gender or race. That’s kind of spectacular, you know?
Needless to say, I cried watching Kamala get sworn in. 🤷♀️
I genuinely didn’t expect to, but I couldn’t avoid the tears. It was such a remarkable moment, and I think, regardless of if you voted for Biden/Harris or not, in watching you could wrap yourself in the delight and pride of that moment. My husband didn’t quite understand why I was crying, and I’m not even sure I did at first… it just sort of hit me in the moment: the history we were watching —that we were a part of — and the incredible precedence it was setting. There was something so bright and special about it all, that affirmation it can be done, because look! This brand new Madam Vice President is proof — she’s doing it! And that feeling has stayed with me. It makes me feel like there are more good things coming around the corner. More bright days and moments to be proud of. I am 100% here for that optimism, and I can’t help but think about how much my mom would have appreciated this too. She wasn’t a Democrat, but I have no doubt in my mind that she’d have cried alongside me this week.
So……… it's a new day. Feels like a restart to 2021, in a sense, and I’m taking that optimism forward into the weekend. I hope you will too. 💛
Happy Friday,
Joelle
I can definitely identify with this feeling. This is such a significant moment. I also had a few aha moments over the years about the discrimination that still exists...I feel like working in several female dominated nonprofits, I was exposed to so many great women in leadership roles. The same was true when forging working relationships with my professors and advisors at a small liberal arts college. Everything felt so full of possibility as a wide-eyed college student. Those environments gave me confidence and opportunities for leadership, but we have a long way to go before women have access to all opportunities across all industries and positions of power.