- Title: Feminist Steinem 'hopeful' as election returns trickle in
- Date: 9th November 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) FEMINIST, GLORIA STEINEM, TALKING IN INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) FEMINIST, GLORIA STEINEM, SAYING: "What's great about Hillary Clinton is that she absolutely stands for the whole idea of equality, and she understands that women need to add reproductive freedom to the basic freedoms of speech and so on. She, you know she has the content, and therefore the fact that she's a female will help to release the talents of half the population. We've spent two centuries eliminating all women." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FEMINIST, GLORIA STEINEM, SAYING: "The Republicans arrived at a tactic for John Kerry that now they've pursued which is before that you generally attacked a candidate for their weakness. They attacked for the strength. So the very fact that - I mean in his case it was that he was a war hero, so they tried to undermine the fact of his heroism. And Hillary's case, every fact checking service says that she is way the most honest and the most accurate. So they went after her as 'crooked Hillary' and dishonest and so on. Which is so painful." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FEMINIST, GLORIA STEINEM, SAYING: "One of the good things about having been around for a while is you remember when it was way worse. So, no, I absolutely am hopeful, and I think we are beginning a lot of us - especially younger folks both men and women - to understand that the model of society doesn't have to be a hierarchy. It can be a circle. And that's indeed what it was for most of human history to realize that we are linked, we are not ranked." STEINEM TALKING
- Embargoed: 24th November 2016 01:03
- Keywords: Feminism Clinton Trump Ms. Magazine gender
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00157Q135Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As votes in the U.S. presidential election trickled in on Tuesday (November 8) evening, storied American feminist Gloria Steinem told Reuters she was "hopeful" for the future of the country and women.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton waged a tight battle in several crucial battleground states on Tuesday in their bitter race for the White House, although opinion polls showed Clinton had an edge in the closing hours of the campaign.
Steinem, 82, who has spent six decades campaigning for women's rights, praised the former secretary of state, and said it was time to elect a qualified female president.
"What's great about Hillary Clinton is that she absolutely stands for the whole idea of equality," Steinem said.
"She has the content, and therefore the fact that she's a female will help to release the talents of half the population. We've spent two centuries eliminating all women," she said.
Both candidates scored early victories in states where they were expected to win. Trump captured conservative states in the South and Midwest, while Clinton swept several states on the East Coast and Illinois in the Midwest.
Those victories were long predicted and not especially significant in the national race, which is likely to turn on a half-dozen toss-up states that will be crucial in the state-by-state fight for 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.
Steinem decried the tone of the campaign and attacks she said were lobbed by Trump's backers.
"They attacked for the strength," Steinem said, comparing it to Republican "swift boat" attacks against John Kerry, who ran for president in 2004.
"And Hillary's case, every fact checking service says that she is way the most honest and the most accurate. So they went after her as 'crooked Hillary' and dishonest and so on. Which is so painful," she said.
Steinem walked the front lines of American feminism the 1960s and 1970s - often in a miniskirt, big glasses and buttons with colorful expletives. She co-founded Ms. Magazine in 1972, giving a national voice to the feminist movement and is the author of several bestsellers.
She described her nervousness hearing election results as being on a tightrope between elation and despair, but leaning toward positive.
"One of the good things about having been around for a while is you remember when it was way worse. So, no, I absolutely am hopeful, and I think we are beginning a lot of us - especially younger folks both men and women - to understand that the model of society doesn't have to be a hierarchy. It can be a circle. And that's indeed what it was for most of human history to realize that we are linked, we are not ranked," she said.
Clinton led Trump, 44 percent to 39 percent, in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll before Election Day. A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave her a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and becoming the first woman elected U.S. president.
Clinton had more options to reach 270, with Trump needing a virtual sweep of about six toss-up states to win.
Steinem said she would not attend Clinton's victory party but instead intended to spend the night with women activists from all around the world. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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