The Hillary Effect on Young Girls

On Parenting's column last week about kids and voting, Bringing Up Voters, got me thinking about my nine-year-old daughter.

For her, Super Tuesday was a bigger event than the Super Bowl. She stayed up until 10 p.m. tracking vote tallies and woke me at six the next morning to see the final results. She's curious about the mechanics of our voting system and which states matter most. She feels sorry for Ron Paul and Mike Gravel for getting so few votes.

She is ecstatic that her birthday falls in early November, so that she will be able to vote only a few weeks after turning 18, nine long years from now. From age nine to 18, I expect she will learn a lot about the lack of balance in our country in terms of experiences and opportunities for men and women, and other forms of bias and prejudice. There's much to learn as she makes her way through adolescence, first jobs, single sex sports, college applications and the hidden cultural biases of teachers, parents, employers and boys.

The remarkable thing is the effect Hillary Clinton is having on her, and on many young American girls like her. She loves everything about Hillary. Her hair. Her clothes. Her teeth. Her brain. Her experience. Forget Hannah Montana. For my girl, Hillary Clinton is the rock star.

You might assume it's because her mom is a fan. But I've contributed to both the Obama and Clinton campaigns. In our sunroom there's a picture of me and Hillary next to the green Obama blanket from Oprah's picnic fundraiser. Everyone in my family knows my view that both are fine candidates.

The reason my daughter loves Hillary is uncomplicated: Hillary's a girl. Clinton embodies girl power, pure and simple, even if the bedrock of her campaign is that she's a presidential candidate who happens to be a woman, not vice versa.

This is Hillary Clinton's legacy, whether she gets to the White House in 2009 or not. A generation of American girls will grow up with the image of a strong, competent woman running for president. So go Hillary. Whether you win or lose, you've already won over millions of Americans too young to vote or have their voices heard. But they will one day. In a decade, these girls will be voting. And soon after that, running for office themselves.

What do you think the impact of this election will be on our kids?

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  February 11, 2008; 7:00 AM ET  | Category:  You Go Girl!
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