Amid all the bravos at the Golden Globes tonight, there is one name conspicuously missing.
The Golden Globes celebrated women tonight.
Women celebrities wore black in solidarity. All lauded the roles of powerful women they played. There were words of righteous anger, there were heartfelt tears, there were "right-on's!" We're not gonna take it anymore!
Various women were lauded, from Rosa Parks to Margaret Atwood to Recy Taylor to a slew of fictitious women.
This, when we just saw the first woman become the nominee of one of the two major political parties... A woman who fought back sexism her whole life, who endured ongoing harassment as we all did, who broke all the 'norms' of first-lady as an accomplished woman in her own right (who didn't particularly care about her hairstyle or clothes or cookie recipes, thank you very much).
She took on health care when nobody else would touch it. She fought for children's rights, for minority rights, and yes for women's rights, worldwide. She became the most qualified candidate in modern history (some say equaled by George HW Bush, but she fought battles he couldn't have imagined).
Seeing her defeated by a monstrosity of misogyny, hostility, dishonesty, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, megalomania and abject disqualification for the presidency was a SHOCK.
So many people underestimated the power of sexism, its insidious persuasion and the depths of its effects, too many people were sure she would win (a narrative pushed by some opponents).
The shock *prompted* the 1/21/17 women's march in Washington. Women who'd spoken out against Trump were magnified to a level that couldn't be ignored.
Here we are, shy of a year later, preaching about courage, milestones, and women's progress! Lots of women at the Golden Globes, in glittering black gowns, surgically altered to look 1/3 their age, oh so proud of their sisterhood -- and none would DARE say the name of that one woman.
The one who didn't get makeovers, facelifts, tummy-tucks or liposuction. The one who fought tooth and nail to accomplish what she did from the time she was a little girl. The one who excelled on her own brilliance, and her own courage to work for causes she believed in. Sorry, she looked frumpy, and was never cool. She's not a thing you feel really cutting-edge, in-the-know admiring aloud at parties.
Just like the word "FEMINIST," her name was made into a pejorative by a strong backlash early on. Once a step of progress was accomplished, the reaction was swift -- "Feminist" became an uncool word to avoid. "I'm all for women's rights, but I wouldn't say I'm a feminist."
Now it's "I'm all for women's rights, but I wouldn't say.... HER name."
We can't move forward if we keeping sweeping every step we make under the rug, because it's immediately culturally shut away in the past, no longer relevant, no longer welcome, hip, or worthy of mentioning.
Can't we just say her name proudly, as the first woman to come as far as she did?
I'll start: Hillary Clinton!! 
= new reply since forum marked as read
that I'm still with HER. 
Hillary Clinton! Thanks for making the road a little easier for the next woman who chooses to run. Your service to this country is admirable. You're a true hero.
That would have been so Appropriate if they had celebrated Hillary.
And, she's working behind the scenes for us.
I'm forever a Hillary Clinton Democrat.
She is still a force to be reckoned with...
And I am very proud to join you: Hillary Clinton!
And I won't stop feeling this way.
- as a feminist who came of age in the 1970s.
I am so glad to see some energy behind the idea of embracing women who carried the torch and took us another mile forward, rather than dismissing them and pretending we ourselves made it happen, and then placing ourselves apart -- either above it, or beyond it.
This is about HRC herself, but it's also about the whole battle. Instead of cheering every crack in the glass ceiling, we somehow step back, establish distance, and enjoy the results while pretending we alone made it happen.
We fold back in and retreat, because it's easier, individually. We back away, without a word of celebration for our most recent forbearer(s), afraid that the backlash might rub off, pretending we got where we are all on our own, and enjoying the fantasy that we've created something never confronted before.
Yay, women! Yay, equality! Yay, fighting abuse, sexism, unfairness! But the struggle is NOT new. Why do we distance ourselves at every step, with "But that's not ME," always above it or beyond it.
The "above it" version of "But that's not ME" says, "I just wouldn't go THAT far."
- Those suffragettes who got themselves arrested? "I understand; I agree women should have the right to vote. But I would never go against the law. That's not ME."
- Those women who want to keep their jobs when the GIs return? "I understand, but I'm not so selfish I'd deprive a hero, coming home to head a family, his income so I can have pin money.""That's not ME."(And if you have a problem with that, take a pill)
- Those militant feminists fighting for an Equal Rights Amendment? "I think we should have equal rights, but I wouldn't go as far as demonstrating, acting mannish or hating men." "That's not ME."
Since then, "That's not me" has shifted its meaning from "I wouldn't go THAT far" to "Oh, I'm past all that," as though nothing had happened in-between, and as though the playing field has been level all along.
We're post-sexist in the same way we're post-racist. "No bias!! It's just that one particular woman."
SHE IS THAT WOMAN!!!
Why on earth would she not be celebrated?!?
Anyway, I haven't posted in a long while, and want to say thanks for restoring my faith in DU. 
