As his Presidential tenure draws to a close, Barack Obama has penned a powerful essay on feminism, explaining exactly why he proudly embraces the ‘feminist’ label so many others shun.
There’s one reason, he says. Well, two actually. His daughters, Malia and Sasha.
“It’s important that their dad is a feminist,” he explains in the piece for Glamour magazine, “because now that’s what they expect of all men.”
One of the most surprising aspects of being President of the United States, he says, is that living and working in The White House gave him more time with his family.
“I’ve been able to spend a lot more time watching my daughters grow up into smart, funny, kind, wonderful young women.
Obama with his wife Michelle and their two (much younger) children. Source: Facebook
"That isn’t always easy, either—watching them prepare to leave the nest. But one thing that makes me optimistic for them is that this is an extraordinary time to be a woman. The progress we've made in the past 100 years, 50 years, and, yes, even the past eight years has made life significantly better for my daughters than it was for my grandmothers. And I say that not just as President but also as a feminist."
Obama also admitted that when his daughters were growing up, the burden of looking after them would often fall unfairly on the shoulders of his wife Michelle and she, along with his own mother and grandmothers, had shaped his own feminism.
Raised by a single mother, he says he watched as his grandmother worked her way up in a bank only to hit a glass ceiling, which was not something he wished for his own daughters.
Barack and Michelle. Source: Facebook
It's not just women who are negatively impacted by out-dated gendered stereotypes either and growing up, raised by women, Obama says he came to realise their was no right or wrong way to "be a man".
"Life became a lot easier when I simply started being myself.
"We need to keep changing the attitude that permits the routine harassment of women, whether they’re walking down the street or daring to go online. We need to keep changing the attitude that teaches men to feel threatened by the presence and success of women.
"We need to keep changing the attitude that congratulates men for changing a diaper, stigmatises full-time dads, and penalises working mothers. We need to keep changing the attitude that values being confident, competitive, and ambitious in the workplace—unless you’re a woman. Then you’re being too bossy, and suddenly the very qualities you thought were necessary for success end up holding you back.
"We need to keep changing a culture that shines a particularly unforgiving light on women and girls of colour.
During last week's Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama gave one of the most powerful arguments for a Hillary Clinton presidency:
"Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all of our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States."
Watch her deliver the speech here (post continues after video):
This sentiment is echoed throughout her husband's piece, with Obama giving "spouses and partners and boyfriends" a call to action to start creating truly equal relationships.
"Two hundred and forty years after our nation’s founding, and almost a century after women finally won the right to vote, for the first time ever, a woman is a major political party’s presidential nominee. No matter your political views, this is a historic moment for America. And it’s just one more example of how far women have come on the long journey toward equality.
"That’s what twenty-first century feminism is about: the idea that when everybody is equal, we are all more free," he ends.
You can read the piece in full on Glamour.
Top Comments
What a load of BS and how patronising of Obama to assume that it is only now that women can (supposedly) feel good about themselves.
Hint - women in the past were strong and brave they raised strong, stable, healthy children; they held the fort in the factories and on the land during the World Wars; they faced hardship and lonliness in the outback with a stoicism unheard of today and which today's women would be incapable of, worrying as they are about 'glass ceilings etc.
Most women today would scoff at this man's pathetic attempt to curry favour with those whom he thinks run the agenda for all women; and the women of the past would be surprised to learn they were not equal nor free.
Fortunately Obama is not speaking for women in general, just those who have the microphones and the loudest voices.
Bravo.
They would not be surprised at all to learn that they weren't equal or free - it's that knowledge that gave rise to feminism in the first place.
No-one is claiming that women were never strong or brave. Of course they were. But they were also restricted and excluded from careers, education, owning property and even the right to govern their own lives. All these rights have been won little by little over many many years in hard fought battles. You dishonour them by ignoring struggles
Equality and freedom come from within, not in all the trappings of the material world.
To say women of the past were restricted in life and not happy nor satisfied because of this so-called exclusion from careers, education, owning property etc, (just how many centuries back are you going exactly) is making huge assumptions on what exactly they wanted or desired.
Like I said women of strength, either yesterday or today, do not need nor seek approval from a group of feminists who only admire those chosen few who happen to reside within the rigid walls of their inner sanctum.
Example: when Pauline Hanson's One Nation party wins 4 Senate seats, an amazing achievement, she receives no accolades from the feminists, only abuse'; when Margaret Thatcher, the first British woman Prime Minister, passed away, a feminist on a Q&A panel laughed and said 'what, no champagne'; and I can't recall Peta Credlin, a truly amazing woman with brains and beauty, receiving any acknowledgment of her achievements.
I do not dishonour the women of the past, but to make assumptions on what made them happy and fulfilled and for Obama and others like him to assume that it's only the women of today who feel good about themselves is a step too far and should be dismissed accordingly
Who said anything about seeking approval? And why should being a woman mean being congratulated on every achievement. I didn't cheer when Abbot was re-elected, why would I cheer for Hanson, who's policies I disagree with? I DO cheer for the fact that women can be elected at all, but that doesn't mean I have to support each individual one of them.
I also never claimed that women in the past couldn't be happy (and I obviously missed the part where Obama said it).
Oh, forget it. I could refute each and every one of your arguments (and back it up) but I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that you are a paid troll, inserted into contentious issues to provoke a reaction. From now on, I'm staying out of it
His record will show a record number of woman forced on to food stamps under his administration. Let's not be infantile, this is part of the Hilary campaign and only the truly gullible or willingly blind would believe him.
In addition to the FBI Director, Comey, recommending no prosecution for Hillary in the email scandal despite gross negligence in the handling of classified material,
Charles Ortel, financial analyst, has uncovered a lot of shady dealings with the Clinton Foundation
"Moreover, the Clinton Foundation has never validly been authorized by the I.R.S. to pursue tax-exempt purposes other than serving as an archival records repository and research facility in Little Rock, Arkansas."
And this is what constitutes the most qualified person to ever run for office?