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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHillary Clinton: Women Need to Be Able to Choose
Love this so much!
Thank you Hillary
For full remarks and full video please visit
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/03/185604.htm
Just a few weeks ago in a town hall meeting in Tunis, a young woman wearing a head scarf stood up and talked about her experience working in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in a program that we call Bridge to Democracy. She said that often people she met were surprised that a young women wearing a hijab would work with Americans, and that we would work with her. Gradually, she said, these preconceptions broke down and increasingly people are just eager to find new partners to help build their new democracy. I told her that in America, in Tunisia, anywhere in the world, women should have the right to make their own choices about what they wear, how they worship, the jobs they do, the causes they support. These are choices women have to make for themselves, and they are a fundamental test of democracy.
Now, we know that young woman in Tunisia and her peers across the region already are facing extremists who will try to strip their rights, curb their participation, limit their ability to make choices for themselves. Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesnt matter what country theyre in or what religion they claim. They want to control women. They want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and bodies. (Applause.) Yes, it is hard to believe that even here at home, we have to stand up for womens rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us, because America needs to set an example for the entire world. (Applause.) And it seems clear to me that to do that, we have to live our own values and we have to defend our own values. We need to respect each other, empower all our citizens, and find common ground.
Now, we know that young woman in Tunisia and her peers across the region already are facing extremists who will try to strip their rights, curb their participation, limit their ability to make choices for themselves. Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesnt matter what country theyre in or what religion they claim. They want to control women. They want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and bodies. (Applause.) Yes, it is hard to believe that even here at home, we have to stand up for womens rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us, because America needs to set an example for the entire world. (Applause.) And it seems clear to me that to do that, we have to live our own values and we have to defend our own values. We need to respect each other, empower all our citizens, and find common ground.
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Hillary Clinton: Women Need to Be Able to Choose (Original Post)
SunsetDreams
Mar 2012
OP
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)1. Good for Hillary!
Well said, Madame Secretary!!
SunsetDreams
(8,571 posts)2. yes, this was awesome!
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)3. I'd love to hear what Hillary thinks about women choosing in Haiti or Honduras or Colombia
or Egypt or Yemen or Somalia where some other State Department ethic seems to apply.
Trillo
(9,154 posts)4. Thank you for including text for those of us who don't watch online videos. n/t
IcyPeas
(21,901 posts)5. Thanks Hillary. I'd like to see more high profile women speaking out, loudly, about this