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Alison Skirtboston

Skirt! Boston editor

Skirt! is evidence that the universe is paying attention: I spent the last six years at mach speed, whether finishing college (Emerson) while writing full time for Boston Globe West (2001-2004) or editing the Boston Parents’ Paper during the day while holding down the steady gig writing for Globe ...

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Choice or Obligation?

Alison, editor

There’s an interesting op/ed in the Boston Globe today about the media’s bias against Hillary Clinton. The author is right in many ways: the presidential race has been distracted at times by reports of her cackling (like a witch?), her bustline and whether she’s dumb to stand by philandering Bill (isn’t that ancient history by now?).

But – and this isn’t because it was written by a man – the underlying theme is that young women of today aren’t supporting Hillary Clinton because they don’t remember their mothers’ and grandmothers’ struggles for equal rights.

Was it a struggle to put a woman in the White House or a struggle for the right to CHOOSE whom to vote for, what team to play on, what job to go after (and not least of all, whether to continue a pregnancy)? It was not a struggle to saddle our children with our choices. See the difference?

This morning I had a great conversation with a local woman, ­Ellie Anbinder, who has a long personal history of entrepreneurship, supporting other women, and struggling through the Dark Ages when, for instance, a banker told her that her business plan was not eligible for a loan because her husband wasn’t there to sign it for her.

Ellie said she doesn’t think young women should be obligated to vote for Hillary Clinton, but that all subsequent generations should have an understanding of what women went through in the 1960s and 1970s to get where we are today. She had few career choices (she went to college to be a teacher although it wasn’t what she really wanted to do), but now women are leaders in many industries.

We share the concern that the efforts of the women’s movement will be forgotten. That way, it will be easier to get future generations back into the “box” of limited education, limited opportunities and – to put it bluntly – back under control. 

I’ve struggled with the choice among the presidential candidates myself. I’ve wondered whether I have an obligation to support Hillary Clinton. And I think it’s OK if that support is simply in the form of demanding factual, unbiased coverage of her campaign.

And perhaps we should lobby to make August 26 a national holiday to remind women that it’s the anniversary of our right to vote (granted in 1920, long after many other countries). Just as a reminder.