Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention

Michelle Obama At The DNC: What Are Your Hopes For Your Daughters?

Posted by: Amelia McDonell-Parry Filed in: video
9:00AM, Tuesday August 26th 2008

Last night Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention and gave what I found to be an extremely inspiring speech—I especially appreciated that she didn’t seem to be overly rehearsed and even occasionally stumbled over her words. I’m not down with my politicians or my politicians spouses seeming like robotic newscasters. Anyway, the bulk of Michelle’s speech was about being a wife and mother and her hopes for the country—at the end she brought out daughters Malia and Sascha, who behaved as adorably as you would expect. Politics aside, Michelle’s speech got me thinking about what it means to be a successful professional, partner, and parent, especially when she referenced “Hillary Clinton’s 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.” it was clear she did appreciate what her husband’s rival did for women, especially given what her hopes must be for her own daughters. With that in mind—and that today marks the 88th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote—what are your hopes for your children, specifically your daughters? A few of mine after the jump and I really hope you’ll chime in with your own in the comments.

1. That there will be a female and a minority president/presidents within her lifetime.
2. That she won’t turn 15 and decide she hates my guts.
3. That she’ll have a passion in life that fulfills her more than money ever could.
4. That she’ll find love with a man or a woman.
5. That she’ll own a dog.
6. That she won’t admire people like Paris Hilton—and that people like Paris Hilton won’t be admired by anyone.
7. That she won’t get my horrendous acne gene.
8. That she’ll have the opportunity to travel and see the world.
9. That violence against women will be something she reads about in history books but won’t ever be experienced by her or any other woman or girl of her generation.
10. That if she’s going to put me in a nursing home, that it’ll be an awesome one, like in In Her Shoes where the old people play bocce ball.

comments

Chief Editor
wrote on August 26 2008 @ 12:51 pm: [report]

Loved it! We put up MP3 highlights.

atlgirl
wrote on August 26 2008 @ 01:12 pm: [report]

Amelia, I love your list!

Annika Harris
wrote on August 26 2008 @ 01:35 pm: [report]

Amelia, I also loved your list. My own hopes for my daughter are: that she’ll love fashion as much as I do, but doesn’t let material goods determine her self-worth; she’ll never have to hear, “Hey sexy” or any other degrading call, as she walks down the street; and that she’ll learn to treat herself better than anyone else can.

HumanRightsActivist
wrote on August 26 2008 @ 01:35 pm: [report]

Senator Joe Biden claims that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career. As a result of this legislation, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that innocent men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.

Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said “the facts have become irrelevant… restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states “allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage”. According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out “like candy” and “in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had.” Cathy Young reports on the Elaine Epstein quote and the broader issue at Salon.com here:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/25/restraining_orders/

This report from RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) provides much insight into the situation brought about, in large part, by Joe Biden.

http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARreport-VAWA-A-Culture-of-False-Allegations.pdf

State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they’re unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it’s unpopular, but because it’s clearly unconstitutional.

There is a rapidly growing activist community dedicated to addressing this issue. One of the focal points of this community is the Glenn Sacks blog, http://www.glennsacks.com .

Michelle
wrote on August 27 2008 @ 12:25 pm: [report]

I’ll just add: that her rights, her potential, her ability to be or become anything she wants won’t even be an issue.