because my wife and I chose not to have children.
I am the son of a very gifted woman who never fully accomplished all she could of because of her gender, in part because of the society of the time, in part because her otherwise generous and liberal husband could not tolerate the idea that she could have done more than he could.
I am the brother of a sister who, graduating from high school in 1961 and college in 1965, grew up at a time when women did not aspire to all the possibilities that many may take for granted today.
I am fortunate enough to be the husband of a woman who is brilliant, who makes more money than I do, which is what has enabled me to be a teacher, because we did not have to plan our economics based on my salary.
I am a teacher of boys and girls who are now used to seeing women in all kinds of positions, who do not find it strange to see women athletes, and lawyers, and doctors, and business executives, and politicians.
Last night I celebrated as I watched our party, the Democratic party, effectively confirm the choice of the first woman to head the presidential ticket of a major party.
That was important.
What is equally important is that we chose the most qualified person in either party seeking the nation’s highest office at this time.
When Hillary Clinton became a Senator, it did not seem like such a big deal. After all, she joined other women in the upper chamber, we had become used to seeing women of both parties in the Senate.
When she became Secretary of State, it was the third consecutive presidency in which a female had presided over the diplomatic endeavors based in Foggy Bottom, the third out of four over a period of more than a decade.
We had seen women on national tickets before. One can argue that both selections had been a role of the dice to shake up a national race. One can also not forget the horror of the possibility of the most recent female as a vice presidential candidate being completely unqualified..
As a nation we have lagged in having women in the top echelons of government. After all, Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of India in 1966, a full half century ago. So far all we have done is selected a woman to be formally nominated for our highest office — she will still have to win.
I celebrate that another barrier has fallen. It is long overdue.
I celebrate just as much, or even more, that we chose the most qualified person, and that her gender for once was not a barrier. Although I think we can honestly recognize that Hillary Rodham Clinton has had to put up with more crap than any other candidate in my lifetime. We still have not overcome the sexism in how we look at people. Here think only of the number of comments about “shouting” directed only at one of the more than twenty candidates from both parties who sought the nation’s highest office this time.
I have no daughters.
If I did, I would tell them what I would also tell the sons that I don’t have, what I would tell my students, male and female.
We have overcome another barrier.
We have not overcome sexism, just like the election of Barack Obama does not mean we have overcome racism.
In fact, we can expect to see a lot more sexism become overt, just as racism has become much more overt.
There will always be idiots, and insecure people who can only respond by attempting to denigrate those different than them, who see the success of someone different as somehow diminishing them.
in 1995, in China, Hillary Clinton said "Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all."
Today I think we can say that the achievement of women is the achievement of all of us.
For women of a certain age, what happened yesterday is a validation of the work they have done over their lifetimes to make the world more inclusive.
I have no daughters.
Last night I wished I did, so that I could have experienced through their eyes what this achievement means.
I may be a 70 year old white male, but I also feel validated, on behalf not only of the females in my life, but also the males.
We have chosen the most qualified person. Who happens to be woman.
That is how we overcome barriers.