Pinaki Bakshi
Epoch of today is the witness of women’s empowerment. By breaking the shackles of monotony, women are leading the world front. This automatically reduces the heavy weight of phallogocentrism and the international feministic political face has proved it so. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, an American politician and the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the U.S. formerly announced her candidacy for the 2016 elections. She is the first woman to gain that status for a major American political party. In mid November 2008, Clinton became U.S. secretary of State in Obama’s administration. She has also served as the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. First Lady of the United States during the presidency of Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, and first Lady of Arkansas for twelve years. She visited 112 countries during her tenure, making her the most widely travelled Secretary of State. She is of the view that in- person visits are more influential, than ever in the virtual age.
Clinton was elected in 2000, as the first female senator from New York, the only first lady ever to have sought elective office. Her greatest accomplishment according to her was her invitation of Adoption and Safe Remedies act in 1997. She has immense contribution whether it is in war in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks, Iraq Resolution or Arab Spring, during which she advocated the U.S. military intervention in Libya, Gulf War Syndrome or U.S. Special Forces Bin Ladin Operation. On January 1993, when Bill Clinton took office as President, Hillary became the First Lady of U.S. She is also the first initial lady to hold a P.G. degree and to have her own professional carrer up to the time of entering the White House. After Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary is regarded as the most openly empowered presidential wife in American history.
“Behind every successful lady, there is a loving father,
Who trusts her not the society.”
This has been proved so by Hillary’s father mindset. He felt that his daughter’s abilities and opportunities should not be limited by gender. The recent declaration by Hillary over the Parliament seats clearly reflect her feminist mindset, which is a legacy of her father, provided her with the feministic grounds. When she was asked about the seats distribution in Parliament if she take over presidentship, her straight forward reply was,”Half of the Parliament will consist of 50% women politicians, the real majority of U.S.” She is of the view that half of the population of U.S. represent women mob, that is why her Parliament will represent the face of entire U.S.
In a September, 1995 speech before the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, Hillary argued pretty forcefully against practices that abused women around the world. Delegates from over 180 countries heard her say, “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.” She was one of the most prominent international figures during the late 1990’s to speak out against the treatment of Afghan women by the Taliban. She also strongly supported the 2001 U.S. military action in Afghanistan, saying it was a chance to combat terrorism, while improving the lives of Afghan women, who suffered under the Taliban government. To motivate the American women to participate in the political processes of their country, an initiative namely “Vital Voices” has been sponsored by U.S. Government. To combat the troublesome lives of American women, Hillary initiated a platform namely “The Hillary Doctrine”, in which she viewed women’s rights as critical for U.S. security interests, due to a link between the level of violence against women and gender inequality within a state. The outcome of this was, there arose a wave all around the world finding more opportunities for women and in some cases feeling safer, as the result of her actions and vision.
Besides her political career, Hillary is also well equipped with the endurance of literary hand. Some of her best contributions are as under:-
* 1995 to 2000 – Published a weekly syndicated newspaper column titled “Talking It Over”, focused on her experiences and those of women, children, and families she met during her travels around the world.
* 1996 – Presented a vision for the Children of America in the book “It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us.”
* Other books published by Hillary when she was the First Lady include – Dear Socks, Dear Buddy : Kid’s Letters to the First Pets (1998), and “An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History”. In 2013, Hillary released her autobiography, ” Living History”, translated into twelve foreign languages. In 2014, there published a second memoir, “Hard Choices”, which focused on her time as Secretary of the State.
In our country, the women politicians also need to follow the footprints of Hillary in order to raise the women’s strata with lofty profile. Though the hitherto milieu of our country has witnessed great women leaders, and their further determination will left no stone unturned for women’s rights and empowerment. For, one should not forget that, with her eminent and charismatic personality, a woman can emerge as a dynamically determined and boisterous soul, who can prove that nothing is more dangerous than a focused and unyielding woman. If she wants, she can be amalgamation of indomitable and goal-oriented spirit. Remember, in this world there is no force equal to the strength of a determined woman.
Pretty rightly said by Marilyn Monroe,
“Give a girl the right shoes and
She can conquer the world.”
(The author is a Lecturer of English Udhampur)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel