Celebrating Women
@DeborahDiane (40055)
Laguna Woods, California
June 8, 2016 11:24am CST
Last night, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to become the presumptive nominee of a major political party.
In honor of the occasion, I invited five of my neighborhood women to my home to watch the primary results come in.
We had all voted in the California primary, which was held yesterday.
One of the women said she had used the non-partisan ballot, which does not include a presidential choice ... but she was "leaning towards Trump."
One of the women had voted for Bernie.
The other women had voted for Hillary.
Regardless of who we voted for, we all toasted her and celebrated the fact that a woman had made it to the top of the ballot for a major political party.
All of the women in this group had long careers in the business world. Two of the women still work, even though they are in their 70s. We all appreciate how hard it is for a woman to reach the top in the corporate world, let alone the political world. We all recognize that no woman can reach that peak without a lot of toughness and criticism, often unfair. Women in both politics and business are criticized for their hair, their make-up, their clothes, their voices, for staying with unfaithful husbands, for failing to keep a marriage together, and for so much more.
Whether or not all of those women vote for Hillary in the fall, and whatever we think of her personally, we recognized that this was a historical moment and we wanted to acknowledge it. In fact, I think most of us felt more moved by the moment than we expected to be. A glass ceiling has truly been broken. 
14 people like this
16 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
9 Jun 16
I have heard nasty comments from women about what Hillary has accomplished. They do not seem to get it at all. Most of them who said these things are very young. They do not realize what the world was like before they were adults. It is still tougher on women than it is on men, but is far easier now than it was in the past. This is a fabulous accomplishment. Those of us "of a certain age" get it, appreciate it, and applaud her success, regardless of our political views.
6 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
I agree that some women simply have no appreciation for what an accomplishment this is. This is a huge step towards changing the political future for women in this country!
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace - I agree that young women have no idea what it was like when we were young. I remember going to the School of Business at the University I attended and asking for advice on a major. I was told by the advisor I could take their secretarial classes. I ended up majoring in Human Environmental and Interior Design, instead, and eventually became a Realtor. I did not want to work as a secretary, since I was already doing that to work my way through college.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
9 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane I don't think women's history is being taught in schools. This could be why younger women have no clue about this achievement.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
9 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane
A glass ceiling has certainly been broken and now we go onward to even more good things.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
I agree! This is an event that all women should celebrate. A glass ceiling has truly been broken!
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
@Marcyaz - Yes, this was a major glass ceiling and this is certainly a new age!
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
Yes, it was a great excuse to have a little fun with the neighborhood women ... and it was a special event that we all celebrated!
2 people like this
Love your room.@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
I agree that the United States has been way behind the rest of the world in electing a woman ... and it has been hard for me to understand why. I'm glad we have put that barrier behind us. Thanks for the compliment on my house! 
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
You are absolutely right that we have a long way to go in terms of attitudes toward and stereotypes about both women and men. We still have a lot of stereotypes about races, ethnic groups and sexuality, as well. I have some dear friends that are blatantly prejudiced, and while they have many other good qualities, they can be difficult to be around at times. I wonder if we will ever have a world where people are judged as individuals?
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
I agree with you! To me, there is simply no other choice a woman could make between Trump and Hillary. I don't understand how any women outside his family could possibly support him.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
9 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane LOL! That is exactly what Pretty just said, too! SMH!
I am a bit worried when my daughter and I agree on a presidential candidate, let alone share the same views about several of them at once! (Is the world really going to end if Trump wins? That is what I keep hearing!) LOL!
2 people like this
@KristenH (33351)
• Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
9 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane Good questions. I don't know much about Sanders either.
1 person likes this
@SHOHANA (16094)
• Bangladesh
18 Jul 16
@DeborahDiane yes, she should win the election though i don't know her rivals are how much deserving or not.
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
18 Jul 16
@SHOHANA - I hope she becomes the President. She has already been a very active First Lady.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
9 Jun 16
I hope that they all end up voting for her in this historic election.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
I certainly believe that, given the alternative, women would be well-advised to vote for her! I hope they do!
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jun 16
Yes, @DianneN, it would be a wonderful achievement for women of all backgrounds to be treated equally and valued for their intelligence and ability. Wouldn't it be lovely for a wide diversity of people, including a Jewish woman, to reach the top?
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
I agree, @just4him. I agree. She has broken a glass ceiling for all women and I hope she gets the chance to show everyone that a woman can do at least as good a job as a man ... and better than some.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
I read an excellent editorial about that. It asked what kind of person we expected the first woman president to be ... the head of the local PTA? Of course it would have to be a woman who had paid her political dues, which means she was bound to have a long history of public life that would include both successes and failures, times she was right and times she had made mistakes. I thought the author made a good point.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jun 16
@paigea - I was so happy to celebrate this moment with my women friends. Honestly, it felt really good!
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
9 Jun 16
That was a great idea to have them over on a momentous occasion. It was a great feat from Hillary and I should have toasted her too! ha!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
My group of friends were very happy about Hillary's success and I was so happy that I could have them over to celebrate together!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jun 16
@MarymargII - Yes, it is always so much more exciting to share historical moments with others, rather than watch them alone.
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
10 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane What a great idea! It was an historic moment for sure!
1 person likes this
@Shreyashi (171)
•
9 Jun 16
Thats a proud moment and your celebration makes us feel good that we are improving and will keep on doing so.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
Yes, most of the women I know have been very proud of Hillary's accomplishment ... something most of us thought we would never live long enough to see.
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
13 Jun 16
yes and I think she is a tough lady. the problem is people hold more things against a woman that they will not even believe about a man
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
9 Jun 16
How very funny, DD! I came to see what you were interested in now, just right after my daughter and I were talking about Hillary's triumph... Of course, we also discussed who/what? our vote went to in the primary... as is probably natural. (This is the first time we didn't cancel each other's vote out! So a historic first for us, too! LOL!)
I am the first to point out that we are expected to try to pick the next leader of our country from a list of people I consider very poor choices in every way that matters, but those are the choices we are given to pick from, so must make the best choice we can...
At least Hillary will not be a total unknown when it comes to running the country again, even if she did have to do it from the back seat last time around. Hopefully, she won't run into anything she can't handle with the aplomb she showed during her husband's scandal.
(Yes, I am being a bit premature here, but I really hope the ineffectual windbag is not elected this fall!) SMH!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
@DaddyEvil - I agree with you and Pretty. The candidates we have to choose from are never perfect people. They are always flawed. But I read this interesting editorial about Hillary. It asked what kind of person we expected the first woman president to be ... the head of the local PTA? Of course it would have to be a woman who had paid her political dues, which means she was bound to have a long history of public life that would include both successes and failures, times she was right and times she had made mistakes. I thought the author made a good point. While people are never perfect, I think she is definitely the best choice we have this year!
1 person likes this
