The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

Re: Re: But how DID Hillary become a Senator?

Meghan,

The only trouble with the "how-can-a-woman-make-it-in-politics-given-that-men-won't-sacrifice-their-careers" line of Hillary defense is that, actually, lots of women have managed to make it in politics, using various strategies. Among top world statesmen, we have Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel and Condi Rice. One married someone older and richer, one married a scientist who stays out of politics, and the other didn't get married, for reasons still undiscovered. At the moment, there are sixteen women in the Senate and a handful of women governors. While some are (as is traditional in the US, a country that loves political dynasties) wives or widows of famous male politicians, some aren't. In other Western countries the same is true: there are at this very moment several prominent, senior women in the British, French and Polish governments, for example, just to name the ones I'm certain of off the top of my head. And I'll bet a lot of them have husbands who are also prominent, in one way or another, even if not in politics. There is no escaping the fact that Hillary chose the most traditional path to power. I certainly wouldn't want her as a model for any of the young women I know. "Get into Yale Law School - and then find an upwardly mobile spouse." What kind of advice is that?

best,

AA