{"id":932,"date":"2016-03-14T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/annelitwin.com\/?p=932"},"modified":"2016-03-14T08:00:33","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T12:00:33","slug":"voting-for-hillary-why-is-there-a-generational-divide-among-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annelitwin.com\/blog\/blog-posts\/voting-for-hillary-why-is-there-a-generational-divide-among-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting for Hillary: Why Is There a Generational Divide among Women?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tI have been watching the 2016 presidential campaign unfold with great interest. As a feminist, I care about whether candidates have progressive positions and a demonstrated track record of improving the lives of women and girls of all races, ages and, nationalities. Hillary Clinton seems to me to have the best record of demonstrated commitment to these issues, so I have been curious about what appears to be a generational divide among Democratic women: in the New Hampshire primary, women under thirty voted for Bernie Sanders four to one. What are the reasons for this divide? Here are my hunches and the perspectives of a few other authors.\n\n\n

This Is a Mother\/Daughter Generational Grudge Match<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\nSusan Faludi<\/a> writes that the generational grudge match between older and younger women has been present in every era since women won the right to vote in 1920. This makes sense to me when I remember my own judgmental rejection of my mother\u2019s life choices as a younger woman. Faludi lays out examples of this dynamic in the 1920s and in second-wave feminism, as noted by the feminist poet Adrienne Rich, who wrote about matrophobia among second-wavers. Third-wave feminists declared, \u201cwe\u2019re not our uptight mothers\u201d in defining their feminism, and some third-wavers declared that they could not vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008 \u201cbecause she reminds me of my mother.\u201d This dynamic is troubling if it creates blinders about issues important for improving the lives of women.\n\n\n

Young Women Feel They Live in a Post-Feminist World<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\nI know that there are many young feminist activists, yet Sheryl Gay Stolberg<\/a> reports that many millennial women, ages eighteen to twenty-nine, feel that gender is no longer important. Many (not all) take for granted the gains made for women by older generations, and their concerns are different\u2014for example, student debt, jobs, LGBT rights, and flexible gender identities. Where they might find a transgender candidate exciting, they don\u2019t see the big deal about a woman becoming president.\n\n\n

Years in the Workplace Change Your Perspective<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\nJill Filipovic<\/a> writes that the explanation for the generational divide among women who support Hillary Clinton may come more from our different life experiences. She notes, \u201cmore time in a sexist world, and particularly in the workplace, radicalizes women.\u201d It can take about ten years in the workplace before the realities of gender discrimination become clear. These realities are not yet part of the world of millennials. Their current world is one in which:\n\n\n