One of the most salient things that I took from the 2008 election was that sexism is not just the purview of the Right. One of the main culprits was the media, including to my dismay quite a few women who should have known better.
MSNBC stood out. Chris Matthews, calling Hillary "Nurse Ratchet", "She Devil" and far too many other epithets to list here. David Shuster stating that Hillary was "pimping" Chelsea, despite every other candidates' grown children campaigning for their fathers. Keith Olbermann suggesting that someone in the party should take Hillary into a back room and only "he" come out. These are just some examples from the Left leaning media. Let's not even list FOX's endless prattle.
As a Trekkie, it reminded me of the hoopla around the decision to choose a woman to be the captain of Star Trek: Voyager. Kate Mulgrew has spoken more than once about the death threats and initial negative response from the mostly young male viewers of the franchise. A few years later, Hillary invited her to speak to women scientists at the WH. Kate was surprised because although she played the role (Captain Janeway had trained as a scientist before switching to the command track), she felt inadequate to speak to real scientists. She was surprised by how many of these women told her that they had become a scientist after watching her on Voyager. This past April Italian astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, at the International Space Station paid tribute to Captain Janeway by donning a copy of Janeway's uniform and drinking a cup of coffee (Janeway's favorite drink).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/19/samantha-cristoforetti-star-trek-uniform_n_7097352.html
My point is that having female role models matter and they do make a difference in how girls and women feel about themselves. Just like Janeway was a role model for women in the 90s, so was Hillary Clinton.
Although I'm voting for Hillary because I feel that she is the most qualified candidate for the job, it's about damn time that this country elects a woman president.
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