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Hillary Clinton is the first woman nominee for the US president, a perseverant and ambitious woman who has shattered multiple glass ceilings along the way.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has many firsts to her name besides being the first woman nominee in a US presidential election. Hillary has been the first woman to become a partner at Rose Law firm in 1979 and the first First Lady to have a professional career.
Hillary Clinton has been a role model-in-making for long and she has been promoting women’s equality and women’s rights at various forums. At the UN conference in Beijing in 1995, she spelt out the famously repeated quote “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights”.
Hillary also had to go through the same life cycles like any other working woman. Adjusting and changing jobs or relocating places after getting married, slowing down to look after a young child and putting your own career and ambitions on hold to support an ambitious husband’s rising career.
Hillary Clinton has done it all. Most working women go through these stages but very few are able to realize their full potential as evident in scant numbers of women occupying top offices in any stream. Very few women are able to break the hardest and highest glass ceilings and storm into the boardrooms or topmost offices. Hillary has done it and women across the world can learn some very valuable lessons from her life journey.
Woman have to make compromises in their balancing act between family and career responsibilities. Many a times, a woman takes a break or if lucky, keeps the job but intentionally slows down her career progression by refusing opportunities which would create a conflict in her personal life.
This conflict could also push a woman to take the hardest decision of choosing between career and family because both sometimes can’t exist together. After a long break, many women think that it is too late to go back to work or that they are too old to go back to study to re-skill and advance their careers.
Hillary has proved that it is never too late to pursue your dreams. Hillary is running for US presidency at an age when most people are retired and living a relaxed life. She knows she is not at the peak of her physical strength and age is on the wrong side, but this doesn’t deter her. You have one life and it is never too late if you are ready to work hard to fulfill your dreams and aspirations.
To believe in yourself and to dare to dream are at the heart of many success stories. Women need to have the courage and determination to keep pursuing their aspirations and to not give up. It needs immense self belief, hard work and emotional strength to keep going on through everything life throws at you and not give up on your career aspirations.
Hillary has reinforced that what matters most is to believe in yourself when it feels that no one does. The world is full of doubters and skeptics but the most important thing is to never doubt your own capability and to have that infinite reservoir of self-confidence to pull you out of any crisis in life.
This is one of the key reasons why many women are not in top jobs in corporates or elsewhere. Before anyone does, women put themselves out from the race. Somewhere the prejudice that women are somewhat less capable than men has affected women’s self belief and women deny themselves those top jobs by choosing to not go for it.
There aren’t many women in boardrooms or in presidential race primarily because very few women even dare to dream to reach that level. It is much more complex and harder to explain why it is so but the truth is that there are very few women who are even in race for these top jobs. To increase the number of women in top jobs, we first have to make sure that women don’t defeat themselves by not even taking part in the race.
Never give up. It is one virtue which outdoes everything else. Sometimes just not quitting and hanging in there can lead to outstanding results in long-term. Many thought Hillary’s career was over long time back. She has not let many setbacks such as past failures, public humiliation at her husband’s scandal and personal attacks on her looks, stamina, age, integrity affect her pursuit of her goal.
For a working woman, challenges come in all forms such as illness of children, spouse’s career needs, inadequate family support system, societal judgements and self doubts. Women have to be relentless and keep moving forward. The march can be slower at times but if you keep walking you would reach your goal one day. Never ever give up on your dreams.
If Hillary is elected to be the first woman president of United States in country’s history of 240 years, she would shatter the toughest and highest glass ceiling. She would not only earn her place in history but also inspire generations of young girls in America and the world beyond.
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Published here earlier.
Image Source: flickr
I am an enterpreneur, a writer and a mother. I am passionate about women empowernment and equality for women. I write about inequalities and challenges women face in our socitey and career. I believe words read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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