Bill Clinton was widely touted as 'the first black president,' because he owed his election to the large numbers of African-Americans who voted for him. Now the USA has a real 'black president,' and much has been made of this historic victory. It has been an amazing week to watch. But that being said, the gender undercurrent in this election interests me much more.
The primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Obama was a race to convince women that each candidate understood their issues. Then Sarah Palin entered the picture, and the McCain campaign attempted to convince disgruntled Hillary voters that Barack Obama couldn't be trusted. The issue of who women would vote for was raised repeatedly, largely because the Democrats can't win elections without them.
In his victory speech, Obama thanks his male campaign staff (and running mate) but acknowledges the debts he owes to women in his life. In his victory address, he thanked his wife, grandmother, aunts , mentions his daughters and tells the story of a 106-year old black women as an illustration of how far the USA has come as a country.
In the past, wifes are thanked perfunctorily and daughters look cute and smile for the camera. But I can sense that Obama truly respects women for their contributions and that he sees them as people. This is what feminism set out to achieve - political and economic equality of women.
Michelle Obama was Barack's mentor at the Chicago law firm where he interned after Harvard. He repeatedly asked her out and she repeatedly said "no," on the grounds that it was inappropriate. Now they are moving into the White House, with their two daughters, as partners.
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