When: day after Election Day // Weather: sad // Real life: work and feeling things
I usually don’t have a lot of feelings. They tend to get in the way of my thinking carefully about the most reasonable way to react to something. When I do have feelings, I find it exhausting and I don’t like to talk about them much. As you can imagine, last Wednesday was a tiring and quiet day for this fembot (that’s feminist robot, BTW). Being unaccustomed to emotions, I knew I was upset but it took me awhile to figure out why. Finally, I realized it was the soul-crushing idea that a woman can work her whole life for something, have all the best qualifications, do almost everything right (and apologize profusely for the things she did wrong), and she can still lose to a man whose own supporters admit is borderline insane. He will be forgiven, and she won’t.
What really got the tears flowing for me was when I thought about how great Hillary could have been as a president, and now no one will ever get to know. I’m optimistic that I will live to see a woman make it to the White House, but will my mom and the other women who remember when girls weren’t allowed to wear pants (or pantsuits) to school? I just couldn’t believe we were so close and then the dream came crashing down. FEELINGS.
And then…then there was the concession speech. Oh man. It was like she read my mind and spoke directly to me: “Buck up, Sarah.” OK, that was paraphrasing. It was more like this: “To all the women, and especially the young women, who put their faith in this campaign and in me, I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion. I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but some day someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.”
She really got me with that speech. She got me right in that spot where my heart should be. It didn’t solve everything, but it was exactly what I needed to hear on Wednesday. And this is what I wore: pink because girl power, black because I’m in mourning for what could have been, and flowers because the world will keep turning.
(P.S. I don’t know why people say expressing your feelings is healthy – all I did was drip snot in my Ruth Bader Ginsburg mug.)
similar Dress // similar Sweater // similar Shoes // Bag* // similar Ring // Earrings // Sunglasses
*Bag purchased with gift card provided courtesy of Shopbop.
I get you, Sarah. I wore white on Election Day, in honor of our suffragette ancestors, and then black the next day, in mourning. I’m 54 and I cannot believe that I am now wondering if *I* will see a woman in the Oval Office in my lifetime. (Not to mention the back of the clown who’s now going to be there. Ugh.) Now, back to work on behalf of all the things we value.
I also felt so disappointed for Hilary, she would have made a great president. The fact is she got more votes overall so that has to count for something.
You got me here: “I’m optimistic that I will live to see a woman make it to the White House, but will my mom and the other women who remember when girls weren’t allowed to wear pants (or pantsuits) to school?”
That’s what made me cry in my car last week. My dad, first-generation immigrant, who was so proud to have a daughter of Illinois become president, might not see the day a woman is in the White House.
Onward and upward, fellow fembot. Onward and upward.
I’ve always known I liked your wry sense of humor spiked with sarcasm. But when you admit publically that you too believe feelings impair your ability to be logical and expressing them is exhausting, you just made a fan for life.
For what it’s worth, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the concession speech because I am still numb and can’t quite bring myself to feel anymore than I have in the last week. I’m tired.
Oh please please watch the concession speech if you haven’t yet! There might be more feelings involved but it’s worth it. HRC is such a class act and what she said will give you at least a little hope.
I love you millennials and it’s because of you that I am hopeful for the future. As disappointed as I am, I have tried to put it in perspective by thinking about how long this battle has been and how many other women have been disappointed. The women’s suffrage movement started in the U.S. in the 1840’s and was intertwined with the Abolitionist movement. The suffragettes/abolitionists believed women would get the right to vote along with black people in the 14th amendment. Nope. At the last minute, the word “male” was inserted in the section about voting. That was 1868. It took another 50 years to get the 19th amendment ratified. Think about how many of those early suffragettes did not live to see that day. So, we can have a good cry and then suck it up and get back into the fray. We still have a lot to do. Love you!
Yes to everything you have written here, it is exactly what I feel. And I love that you have an RBG mug–she now needs to live forever!
Your words are so true! Love this as a fellow Fembot.
The PS on this post made my whole day.
Thanks Alison!