From the moment John Edwards dropped out of the race in January, everyone knew this would be no ordinary primary season. Remaining contenders Obama and Clinton were very similar politically and both were making history by challenging the twin traditional societal norms of racism and sexism.

The upshot being of course that as the death knell sounds for the Clinton campaign politicos are not only discussing how she lost politically but also how the “female-thing” influenced voters.

I myself am hesitant to immediately point to sexism as the cause of her loss—just as I would have been equally reluctant to point to racism had Obama lost. Yet the uphill battle that Hillary’s campaign faced in the news media is a reminder of the difficulties of being a dominant and ambitious woman in today’s society.

While during the campaign we heard the tired old argument that a woman is too weak to be president especially during a time of war and that world leaders wouldn’t respect her (umm… yes let’s just discount Margaret Thatcher shall we?), Hillary came under intense fire for her personality as a woman.

To select a story at random, in April 2007, the New York Post said that Obama was the un-Hillary—“reasonable” as opposed to “shrill” and positive as opposed to “aggressive [ly]” partisan. Traditional society teaches us that characteristics such as being shrill and aggressive are far less desirable in a woman than in a man.

As a woman, however, such characteristics often seem somewhat necessary to make your voice heard in a cynical and glass-ceiling riddled world.

Hillary graduate from Yale Law in 1973. Let’s think about the implications of this.

Even today, law schools are seen as a bastion of sexism. Despite an overall higher female to male ratio throughout academic institutions, the majority of law schools still boast on average a 55% male -45% female composition. Princeton Review currently devotes an entire web page to helping female law school applicants choose a non-sexist institution.

Doonesbury, a strip with an often uncanny social commentary attached to its plot, highlights the sexism of the law school application process through the character of Joanie Caucus who first appeared in 1972.

Have I made my point?

Hillary has always known what she wanted to do and as she has demonstrated time and time again, she possesses the drive and ambition to achieve these goals. That is very threatening to the traditional male establishment.

As First Lady, she came under incredible fire for not being the tea-serving Barbara Bush or a homemaker like Nancy Reagan. She dared to use her position to lobby (aggressively and shrilly) for issues she cared about.

Hillary knew first hand how tough this election would be and yet she went for it anyway. It is that that makes me say thank You Senator Clinton. Thank you for your example of fearless defiance in the face of sexism.

Ghandi famously said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. This quote is usually associated with social justice issues but I feel it is equally appropriate here.

It’s Hillary’s challenge to us women: Be the change you wish to see in the world—go against society expectations, fight the glass ceiling, hold on to self-respect and dignity.

Hillary may have lost the presidential nomination but her dogged determination set an important precedent for future female leaders and I’d call that a roaring success.

[photo courtesy of washingtonindependent.com]