14-Year-Old Feminist Explains Why She Supports Hillary Clinton

Common wisdom these days has been telling us that the youth vote is going to Barack Obama. 

That may be mostly true,  but I came across this post over at Girl w/ Pen! entitled, Feminist Awakening at 14, which I found very interesting, especially in terms of some preconceived notions that at least one high school boy has about why he wouldn't want a woman leading our country.

The good news?  Fourteen-year-olds are thinking about politics in a new way -- they're actually thinking about them!

I don't know about you, but at 14, I was the only geek who cared about politics, Watergate or "Woodstein."  Most of the other girls in my class at that stage of the game were more worried about what color nail polish they were going to wear to the Friday night dance in the gym.

Whether you agree with this high school girl or not, you've got to give her credit for thinking for herself and deciding what's important to her, even though she can't even vote in this election.

You can also find Joanne mulling all this political stuff over at her place, PunditMom, as well as at BlogHer, where she is a Contributing Editor for Politics & News.

Comments

[Karoli]

My 14-year old daughter is totally engaged in this campaign. Awhile back, I asked her to guest-blog her argument with classmates on the election. She does not support Clinton, but at the same time, seeing 14-year olds engaged (no matter who the candidate) is an incredibly encouraging sign. Here's a little of what she said:

"The presidential election of 2008 is, in fact a) a historical one; b) an exciting one; and, c) an important one. It’s a crucial time in our history, what with the war and the economy, etc… and the kids, children, teens, or whatever you want to call us can’t help but notice. We have the influence of the news and reporters telling us this and that; we have our parents’ influence whether it be Democratic or Republican, all the while learning about the Constitution and our government in history class. In short, we develop opinions, and with opinions come disagreements."

I thought to myself...amen. And may we be able to mend the fences when it's all over.

[Mauigirl]

Interesting post by a very smart young woman! I too was a "geek" at 14 and very into politics. I used to listen to the news station instead of the music station! I can understand her support of Hillary - she is a role model, for sure.

[Daisy]

I remember being at music camp at age fourteen, competing in a solo competition, and discussing backstage how this whole competition was really meaningless because the president was resigning from office even as we performed. Yes, I'm that old.

[jaelithe]

Kids can't vote. But they CAN talk. And they can blog. And they can make signs. And they can volunteer.

Here's hoping the kids getting involved now because of the historic nature of this election STAY involved, for life.

(And I include my three-year-old when I speak of that hope. He's already been to a presidential rally. He can name all three top presidential candidates and their party affiliations, and recognizes them when he sees them on TV. Which is more than some adults could do last presidential election cycle . . .)