Hillary Clinton is a 68-year-old woman. And plenty of people hate her for it.

[Skidmore]

You will never understand how liberating growing older is until you look back and say, "Yeah, I always had this but let others blind me to it." This article speaks to me. Hillary has always had this and she fought ever so much harder than I ever did to get people to recognize her intellect and talents. Women bear the brunt of the work of the family even today, and we carry the lore and history of our peoples. We learn and teach and nurse.

True, things are changing, but there is still quite a way to go. We are saddled with the weight of a millennia of traditions and norms of a myriad of cultures. Other nations have had great women leaders who had an impact on their nations and the world. I feel so fortunate to have lived in a time when we have been able to mark a progression of women from being silent to having a public voice in the halls of power. I feel so fortunate to be able to cast my vote for a woman president before I die. It part of my considerations of her as a candidate, but not all. And I do believe, it is past time for a woman to exert influence from the highest office in the land.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hillary-clinton-is-a-68-year-old-woman-and-plenty-of-people-hate-her-for-it/2016/10/06/fac46ee8-8bd9-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html?hpid=hp_special-topic-chain_dvorak-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

A woman her age is supposed to be invisible. But Hillary Clinton, who is 68, refuses to disappear — and there is no shortage of people who despise her for it.

One voter at a Donald Trump rally described her to The Washington Post’s Jenna Johnson last week as “an angry, crotchety old hag.” Trump, who isn’t exactly a spring chicken at age 70, claims Clinton lacks “stamina” and a “presidential look” and mocked her by acting out her stumble when she had pneumonia last month.

There’s misogyny, and then there’s the ageist misogyny that older women face. That under­current runs very deep in our culture, and it’s one of the reasons the haters hate Hillary Clinton so deeply.

No one has talked about this much, but it’s a very real phenomenon in this election...

[meow2u3]

1. K&R for visibility

Also, K&R for the visibility of older women and the defiance of millenia of ageist misogyny!

[apcalc]

2. Yup older women are supposed to be throwaway, invisible.

Screw that.

[Madam45for2923]

3. I love her for it! plus admire and respect HER!

She is awesome in my book!

[Arkansas Granny]

4. As a woman approaching 70, I can tell you that this article rings true.

In many societies, older women have traditionally been valued for their wisdom and are treasured. In our culture, a woman is only considered important if she can retain her looks.

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. Not even that.

You can look really good and still become invisible b because you are over 35.

[asjr]

14. Oh, how right you are! I can remember when my 3 children thought

I was very smart. I am now in Assisted Living and my children pat themselves on the back. One daughter lives 20 miles away and I have not seen her nor my grandchildren in 4 years. But they consider their "good deed" in finding a place for me. Another daughter does live in a different state but is so glued to her computer with Facebook she does not send an e-mail nor phone call. I am not fond of Facebook therefore do not use it. I was 84 years old last month and my school friends keep leaving. I do have a son who lives 35 miles away. If I need him he will show up, but I do wish he would call me instead of vice versa. I still have my wits about me and maybe in a few years they will leave me and I will show up on their doorsteps!

[greatlaurel]

17. This is so sad. My husband and I made sure we visited his mother and grandmother with our kids often

Our kids have good memories of visiting their grandmothers in assisted living and nursing homes. We made it a regularly part of our lives. I never knew my grandparents and I missed out by not knowing them, so I wanted to be sure my children had that opportunity to know their living grandparents. How sad for your grandchildren and your daughter. She is teaching her own children to ignore her when she is an old woman. The cultural trap of devaluing people is insidious.

That article really demonstrates how American culture devalues women of all ages. It would be great if you could send the kids that article.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Take care and be sure to vote! Voting for Hillary is a huge victory for women of all ages.

[hamsterjill]

16. Well said, Arkansas Granny!

I'm 57 and I can attest to your statement. There is definitely an issue with "older women" in the workforce, in particular. I face it on a daily basis.

It's time that gets changed. Hillary is, as she has said herself, the FIRST, but not the LAST.

[Lifelong Protester]

5. K & R

Not going to be invisible anymore.

[Fast Walker 52]

6. I do think electing her will be more of a seismic shift than electing Obama

It's time for a woman to lead for a change!

[greatlaurel]

7. SNL uses this bias against older women in their send up of Hillary.

The actress who portrays Hillary does a good job, but I cringe at the jokes as the jokes are all along the same trope of Hillary should go away because she is an ambitious old woman.

Old women, from all walks of life, are supposed to disappear and not be present in public life. Hillary Clinton is a transformative candidate. Most people have no idea how hard and how many old women are working to get Hillary elected.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Donald J tRump only did about 30 min of a planned 90 min townhall rehearsal. . . nt

[Mc Mike]

13. But on the other hand, there are Doc Oz's trump testosterone testimonials. So it evens out. nt

[hamsterjill]

18. Would you care to elaborate?

I'm not sure I follow your post.

Thank you.

[njcpa1978]

11. Older woman.

As I get older, now 68, I find older woman more and more attractive. Oh, not necessarily for there physical beauty, though that is in the eye of the beholder, but for the experience of the world they have acquired. The perspective to issues that I would, as a man, not realize. How they round out my being.
Think how much better she will be as president than she would have been at 20.
But as hate goes, good thing she is not a black male trying to run for president. She would never have a chance to win.

[calimary]

20. Welcome to DU, njcpa1978!

I'm only a few years younger than you, and I think I'm aging fairly well, compared to how I looked when I was younger (especially at the age of the blonde bimbettes you see on Pox Noise all the time who are routinely draped all over the on-set couches with their short tight skirts and long bare legs crossed like sets of salad tongs).

I am PROUD of every day and every year and every smile line and every strand of white hair and every stretch mark from having birthed two babies! I earned it all! Gained a little wisdom and perspective along the way, plus a whole boatload of cynicism.

Ironically, I think Hillary has grown better-looking as she's aged. She looks TONS better now than she did as a college student! And in that headshot MSNBC uses of her all the time, in which she's dressed in pink, she looks positively pretty.

I'm hoping her election to the Presidency (Dear Lord, make it so!) will change the calculus on how a woman is viewed and valued (or devalued), even if only slightly. As Justin Trudeau answered a reporter's questioning his desire to have a Cabinet of advisors that's composed of 50% women: "because it's 2015".

[njcpa1978]

28. 3 older sisters

When you grow up with 3 older sisters as I did, you develop a different understanding of woman. Also you understand that there are not male and female jobs. I washed dishes, sorted laundry, taught myself to bake and often cook meals at home. My daughter knew early on she could do anything and with a Phd in BioChem, runs a dept. for a pharma company. As to aging, I still have the same waist size I did in college. OK hate me. And as we both likely believe, you are as old as you feel. Or as a friend told me, 'When you get to be 60, if you wake up and something doesn't hurt, your dead. Go Hillary.

[UCmeNdc]

12. Women are suppose to be dumb. Eye candy.

Other women resent her standing up against a man.

[hamsterjill]

15. Great post! Thank you for drawing attention to this FACT!

Ageist misogyny. Very descriptive term. I find more and more truth (to that term) with each day.

There is definitely a lingering prejudice against older women. Like Hillary, I'm here to knock that prejudice down! I think most of us who understand the term "ageist misogyny" are ALL ready to knock that prejudice down!

Go, Madam President! It's about freaking time!

[colorado_ufo]

19. There is one problem with this discussion.

Hillary is not old.

We are living longer, healthier lives (if we take care of ourselves), and our perception of who is old has not yet caught up with reality.

Hillary is physically vigorous and mentally sharper than ever, in spite of a schedule that would be daunting to a person of any age.

We need to rethink this.

[sheshe2]

22. Huge Kick and Rec!

Thanks Skidmore!

[SunSeeker]

23. K & R

[calimary]

24. Dear God, the comments are absolutely hideous!

It astounds me to see how thoroughly that "vast rightwing conspiracy" hellbent on smearing the daylights outta her has worked. People believe every little scrap and sliver of shit smeared on her, and lies, misrepresentations, and distortions spread about her. So upsetting! Particularly when so much of that crap comes from a woman who's been my own best friend since we were in grade school.

My friend once left a nasty name for Hillary in a text message to me. Later, when I referenced it among other insults I've heard against HRC, she pleaded ignorance - claimed she'd never heard that nasty nickname before. I had to remind her - "uh, friend, I first heard it from YOU. YOU sent it to me in a text message just a coupla weeks ago!" Sadly, my friend claims she never watches Pox Noise. However, her banter and her criticism and her complaints and fault-finding about Hillary all testify to the exact opposite. Recently, she stayed over at our house, and I just wandered into the guest room to gossip - in the morning while she was getting ready for work. Sure enough, there's "Fox & Friends" on the TV. And at night, I wandered in again to chit-chat about the day, and sure enough - there's that-guy-whose-name-rhymes-with-Vanity. SURE, girlfriend. You NEVER watch Pox Noise.

Sigh...

I fully believe souls can be saved. But this particular one is damn difficult, not to mention heartbreaking!

[LisaM]

25. Heck, they hated her in 2008 for being 60.

As a woman in her 50s, I can completely attest to the invisibility thing. It's pretty maddening, actually. I look better than I did ten years ago, thanks to basic diet and exercise, yet when I go out in public, I feel as if I'm not even there sometimes.

If Hillary can change perceptions about middle-aged and up women, I'll love her more than I already do!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

26. Oh hell yeah. I've thought about this ageism + misogyny issue for a long time...

I had a lot to say last night, but I needed to get to bed.

I've got a lot of thoughts today (many have been expressed already), but I need to get to work.

Thank you for bringing this up---I've wanted to talk about it before but was upset, didn't feel I could separate my thoughts from the feelings. Also, it seems to be a taboo subject, and I was afraid of not articulating myself well enough to outrun the stigma of verbalizing it.

We're supposed to be so invisible that even mentioning a social bias exists is highly disapproved.

[lostnfound]

27. Some men hear her voice as a scolding, lecturing mother

There's a psychological factor in addition to ageist misogyny. You are right, though.