In August 2022, Amanda Zurawski, who was pregnant with a baby girl after months of fertility treatments, learned her water had broken prematurely at 18 weeks. Her pregnancy was no longer viable. Abortion was the standard treatment of care, but because the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade less than two months prior in June 2022, Texas, where Zurawski lives, had banned abortion except in cases where the procedure is necessary to save the patient’s life. (The law contains language that critics argue is incredibly vague.) So Zurawski, then 35, wasn’t able to receive an abortion until she went into septic shock and was therefore in danger of losing her life; that was three days after she learned her baby would not survive.

After the harrowing experience of losing her baby, a girl she named Willow, and nearly losing her own life, Zurawski also learned that she may never be able to get pregnant again. If she had been able to receive an abortion earlier, her fertility might not have been compromised.

In March 2023, Zurawski joined forces with the Center for Reproductive Rights and four other plaintiffs to sue the state of Texas and urge the state to clarify the conditions in which an abortion can be provided legally. Zurawski v. Texas was the first case brought on behalf of women denied abortions since the fall of Roe.

Since they filed the case, the plaintiffs now total 22, 20 of whom were denied abortion care. Among them are Samantha Casiano, who was forced to carry a fetus who had no chance of survival, and Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB/GYN who learned her fetus had no chance of survival and left the state to terminate the pregnancy when her doctors said they could not perform an abortion due to the state’s laws.

Zurawski has told her story dozens of times since they first filed the lawsuit—on the stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, to newspapers and magazines, and in advertisements for pro-choice candidates. Now, she, Casiano, and Dennard are at the center of the urgent documentary Zurawski v. Texas, which chronicles the case led by the indefatigable lawyer Molly Duane.

Directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and executive produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, as well as Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, with support from Bumble Inc., Zurawski v. Texas tells the story of what really happens when draconian post-Dobbs anti-abortion laws are enacted.

Ahead, Zurawski, now 37, and Chelsea Clinton share what they hope the film—which is available to stream for free through the election— teaches people about abortion care, the type of resilience and camaraderie that can be found in the darkest of times, and what’s at stake when abortion is on the ballot.

Marie Claire: Amanda, how did this documentary come about? What was your first reaction to Maisie and Abbie saying, "We want to film this time in your life?"

Amanda Zurawski: The filmmakers actually worked with The Center for Reproductive Rights in 2016 on a movie called Jackson. I had already been working with the Center for several months preparing for filing the lawsuit, and then days before we filed, my team said, "Hey, there are these filmmakers that are interested in making a documentary.” They explained to me how much trust they had in them and the partnership that they had built before. I had built such a partnership and a relationship with the Center at that point that when they said, "We trust that this will be a compassionate, and compelling, and educational project," it did not take much convincing for me.

I then had a Zoom call with Maisie and Abbie just to get to know them and understand what they wanted to do. Right away, we were like, "Yes, this is a partnership that we trust, and they're clearly coming at it from the right perspective." It was a big of a leap of faith, but I think it was the right decision.

MC: Chelsea, what about this specific case made you and your mother want to get involved as producers?

Chelsea Clinton: When the draft of the Dobbs decision leaked—which was not surprising and yet still wrenching—in early May, my mom and I immediately started a conversation. Well, we didn't really start. We continued a conversation that we've been having for years: What can we do, in this moment, to use our platform to support every part of the ecosystem that we need now?

We wanted to support patients, providers, the patients and the providers who will become the plaintiffs, and the lawyers. And also we wanted to engage narratively to help more people understand that the picture of abortion in this country, that is often not only articulated but shouted by those who oppose abortion rights, actually has no remote semblance of what abortion looks like in this country.

We spoke to our partners at Hidden Light, our production team, to say, "We want to talk to anyone and everyone who is working on stories that will inform Americans about the catastrophic consequences that we know these bans will bring to real women's lives, to families' lives, to communities' lives."

Amanda's the first lead plaintiff in more than 50 years [to sue for abortion access]. We thought that her story and the story of her fellow plaintiffs was just so powerful, urgent, and necessary, and we have been honored to be part of this project.

MC: There were so many moments of camaraderie among the plaintiffs in this film. Amanda, there's a moment where you meet Samantha in her car, and you're just so warm. You can tell that that meant so much to her. There's another moment where Molly is telling you about Kate Cox [a woman who filed a temporary restraining order to receive an emergency abortion in the state of Texas and was denied]. The first thing you said was, "Give her my number." I'm curious what the experience was like of meeting all of these other women who had been through something similar to what you had been through. What kind of community have you built?

AZ: We are unfortunately part of this unique club that none of us want to be a part of. But once you're part of it, you realize that the folks in it are very special. That's anyone who's been through loss and denial of care, and then you add the additional layer of filing this lawsuit together.

At first, I will be honest, I think we all kind of kept our distance, because we were quite nervous. Being plaintiffs, we knew text messages can be subpoenaed, emails can be subpoenaed. We were just a little nervous on how and when and whether we could communicate. We also were, and still are, on very different paths in our family-building journeys. Some were and still have experienced additional loss, some have had babies, some have, in Samantha's case, gotten their reproductive organs removed. We are just in all of these different places, and so we didn't know in the beginning how to really build a bridge.

Fast-forward a year and a half, and I've got text threads, email threads, we're all getting together next Friday. We have Halloween parties, we have Christmas parties, so we have really built this very special and unique bond. Having that support system really is huge in the healing piece of all of this, because knowing that you're not alone, and knowing that there are others who see you, they understand you, they're there for you, it really goes a long way.

MC: You do so many interviews, you've been to the State of the Union, you were on the DNC stage, your name and your story are out there. So many of your plaintiffs have similar situations where they're telling their stories publicly. How are you dealing with having to continually put yourself out there?

AZ: I don't think there were any of us that had any sort of aspirations to live this loud, political life. Now, many of us are leaning in because we feel like we don't have a choice but to fight back. If this is the way that we can fight back, we're going to take the opportunity.

For me, it's been quite healing and quite empowering to be able to use this horrible thing that happened to me—this sadness and this grief—and turn it into action.

If nothing else, we have already seen the tides turn. We have seen positivity, just in the fact that people across the country are talking about this and they're talking about it differently. People are using the word abortion. We're talking about IVF. That to me is very encouraging.

Also, on a very personal level, the more you talk about the thing that happened to you, the less control it has over you. Now, would I have chosen to process this grief on a national stage? Probably not, but that's the hand that life dealt me. I feel very empowered to tell my story, which is really the story of so many folks in this country, and hopefully give the confidence to others to speak up and share their stories as well.

MC: Chelsea, what do you think a documentary like this has the power to do?

CC: One of the things that has been incredibly powerful for me to hear from Amanda, Samantha, and Austin—the three women who, as I always say, are American heroes who we never should have been asked to be heroes—is that every time they speak out, whether at a panel after the film, or in interviews, or certainly when Amanda spoke at the DNC, they always hear from at least one other patient who has said, "Thank you for giving me the courage to now talk to my family, to talk to my community."

On a public level, we certainly hope to change hearts and minds through just informing people around what abortion is, and that it is healthcare. And that it's not ethically or morally an entanglement for anyone to think that what happened to Amanda is just unconscionable and unacceptable and should be illegal. If anything, we need to invert the argument. We've seen in places where people have been able to vote directly on abortion since the fall of Roe and the Dobbs decision—in historically blue, red, and purple states—people have voted fairly overwhelmingly in favor of enabling women to access the healthcare that we need; enabling us to have the freedom of choice over our bodies, and our reproductive lives, and how we choose to expand our families.

Sometimes people in conversations like this think, "Well, we just have to change people's hearts, because everyone knows what abortion is in our country. Everyone knows that the vast majority of abortions happen in the first 10 weeks, and the overwhelming majority of those that happen between 10 and 20 weeks are medically necessary.”

But what we found through this film is that everyone doesn't know that. A lot of people who've had miscarriages and received care for their miscarriage management didn't realize that what they then had was an abortion.

We are educating people that abortion is healthcare and the medical reasons why some women would choose to terminate a pregnancy.

MC: There are some strong male allies in the story, like Amanda, your husband Josh. Abortion affects their lives too. What is your message to men and non-birthing people about why abortion access affects them?

AZ: The male voice is crucial in this work. For a while, we didn't see a lot of men standing up, because they felt that this was not their business. This was a woman's decision, a woman's issue, and it really seems like they needed some sort of permission structure to start speaking out regardless of how they felt.

Men are seeing other men speak up. When you talk to them, they're seeing how this impacts men. It impacts their wives, their sisters, their moms, their aunts, and they care very deeply about that. Then they take a step back and they realize, Okay, when it impacts my family, that impacts me. Now, suddenly, this isn't a women's issue, this is a family issue. This is a basic human rights issue.

I say this all the time: I have yet to have someone say to me, "Oh, yeah, what's going on in Texas, what happened to you is perfectly reasonable. This should be happening." It's just connecting the dots for them. And then with men, specifically, giving them that permission structure to speak out and to be not just an ally but an advocate. I think especially as we get closer and closer to the election, and we see more men standing up, it's this domino effect.

Some of the toughest work, but also the most important work, is happening where we don't see it. It's happening in people's living rooms during Sunday night football. It's happening at the gym, it's happening on the basketball court. Men are having these conversations. They might be doing it in their own community where we don't hear about it on a national stage, but I think that's the most important conversation you can be having. Because when you hear it from someone you know directly, that's really going to start moving the needle.

MC: We even see it within your own family. Your mom says, "This is now a single issue election for me." What is your message to people who aren't already paying attention to the fight for abortion access?

AZ: These are basic human rights that are being taken away from us. In my lifetime, I have never seen a right that I have be taken away. Certainly, I've seen the fight to gain rights, but I haven't seen something that was already guaranteed to me stripped away. If you think they're going to stop with reproductive care, you need to wake up.

As long as we are allowing people to be in a position of political power who are willing to take our fundamental freedoms away from us, we are not free as a country. We are not a democracy. If you care about your freedoms, and if you care about this country, you need to take action and you need to vote accordingly.

CC: Think about Amanda's call to all of us when you're voting, not just for the presidential election, but in every election, and in this election at every stage of the ballot. Abortion's on the ballot in 10 states. Three of the judges that you see in the documentary, who show no compassion or empathy for Amanda, nor, I would argue, a fundamental understanding of the US Constitution, or our other founding documents… they're up for reelection in just a handful of days. [Ed note: Constituents in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, and New York will have the ability to vote on proposals and propositions regarding abortion access this year. The Texas judges who sided with the state in Zurawski v. Texas and are up for reelection are Justice Jimmy Blacklock, Justice Jane Bland, Justice John Devine.]

MC: On Tuesday, if Trump wins the presidency, many fear he will enact a federal abortion ban [though he has said he would veto a ban and supports states’ right to set laws on abortion access]. How can people who care about these issues keep fighting and working against an oppositional federal government?

AZ: I think that's a really important question, because I think a lot of people don't realize that regardless of what happens Tuesday at the top of the ticket, with all of these ballot measures, there will still be a fight. I'm very hopeful that [this] week, we'll have a day of celebration, but then we also must remain vigilant.

The way that they're trying to take away our rights is terrifying, and they're taking all of these back roads to do it. That's how we got here in the first place. We know that the anti-choice movement is calculated, they are smart, and they're organized, and they're relentless, and we need to be all of those things, but more so.

CC: That's Amanda's reality right now in Texas. How could I choose to be anything but urgently engaged and optimistic that we can have a different future for all of us, and especially [for] the more than one-third of American women who are reproductive age, living under very strict abortion bans?

Amanda's getting up every day and doing what she can do. How could any of the rest of us feel anything but an obligation to do the same? There still will be so much work to do for women and families on Wednesday.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is the latest celeb to weigh in on this year's surprising Oscar nominations, specifically the Internet-shaking snubs of Greta Gerwig for Best Director and Margot Robbie for Best Actress for Barbie.

"Greta & Margot. While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you," the former senator, secretary of state, and presidential candidate wrote on Instagram and X/Twitter. "

"You’re both so much more than Kenough. #HillaryBarbie," she added.

Clinton's show of public support is the latest addition to the mass discourse around the film, which picked up eight nominations Tuesday morning. Many of the billion-dollar film's fans were outraged that Gerwig and Robbie did not receive nominations for their individual categories, in two of the most notable snubs in recent Oscars history.

Both women did still receive nominations in other categories. As producers, Gerwig and Robbie are up for Best Picture alongside fellow producers David Herman, Robbie Brenner, and Tom Ackerley (a.k.a. Robbie's husband). Meanwhile, Gerwig and her husband Baumbach got a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. Still, as The Hollywood Reporter noted, "the optics of excluding the women most responsible for a critically acclaimed film that became the biggest blockbuster of 2023 from the directing and lead actress categories are not good."

Neither Gerwig nor Robbie have commented on the nominations as of the time of writing. Barbie stars America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling, who received noms for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, both addressed the snubs yesterday.

"I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated," Ferrera told Variety. "Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list."

She added of Robbie, "What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable. One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master."

The DVF Awards have been top of mind this week, as the fourteenth annual awards ceremony was held in Venice on Thursday and honored the likes of Amal Clooney and Lilly Singh. The DVF Awards are given annually to provide recipients with resources necessary to extend their efforts on behalf of women all over the globe and was named for and conceived by Diane von Furstenberg in 2010 to honor women who have displayed courage, strength, and leadership in their commitment to their causes; each year, each honoree receives a $100,000 grant to continue their work. Past winners include the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Robin Roberts, Hillary Clinton, and Alicia Keys.

Next year at this time, could we add one Meghan Markle to the list? Public relations expert Rochelle White spoke to The Mirror and said that Meghan has “done enough” to have the potential to see her name on the honoree list next year. “I personally think that she could be in the running,” White said. “I feel like she has done enough and is doing enough to potentially win it.”

Long before marrying into the royal family, Meghan was an advocate for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. She wrote an op-ed piece for TIME about menstrual health stigma after a trip to India. More recently, this year, she won the Women of Vision Award from the Ms. Foundation for Women. Because of factors like this, White said she wouldn’t be surprised if Meghan gets a DVF Award next year, or maybe the year after. 

“I don’t think she’s stupid in regards to how she puts herself out there, but I don’t also think it’s too strategic,” she said. “I think you’ll probably start to see a bit more personality. I think you’ll see her doing what she loves to do, and what she loves best. After watching their documentary [Netflix’s Harry & Meghan], I think she’s very aware of the eyes that the media has on her. I think she’s very aware of wherever she does.”

Amidst rumors she’s relaunching her Instagram, White said “There were talks a few months ago about her sort of, I think, bringing back her blog platform [“The Tig”] or doing something along those lines,” she said. “So Meghan might be ready to resume her nonprofit endeavors.”

Much like George Clooney supported Amal this week at the DVF Awards, White thinks Prince Harry will be all for it: “I feel like he is supportive of Meghan, and I feel like if they do something together, I think he’ll play his part and show his face, but I think she’s the sort of person that can probably do it with her partner and do it separately,” she said.

Happy Inauguration Day! In honor of this great—and historic—day, three of the most influential women in the country chose to wear the same, very significant color: purple. Soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are all wearing the historically important hue. Even Senator Elizabeth Warren chose a purple scarf!

So why is purple so significant? For one, it represents bipartisanship: the literal mix of red, for the Republican party, and blue, for the Democratic party. This could be interpreted as a symbol of Harris's point of view as she starts this next chapter, and perhaps her desire to unite both sides of the aisle.

Second, it's a color of the suffragette movement. "Purple is the color of loyalty, constancy to purpose, unswerving steadfastness to a cause. White, the emblem of purity, symbolizes the quality of our purpose; and gold, the color of light and life, is as the torch that guides our purpose, pure and unswerving," according to a line in a newsletter from National Woman’s Party in the United States. Harris chose to wear white back in November to deliver her victory speech after the election was officially called for Biden-Harris, so it feels apt that she wore another suffragette color on this occasion.

Harris, the first Black, South Asian woman to be sworn in as vice president, chose purple designs from Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson—two Black, American designers—plus her signature pearls, which are an ode to her Alpha Kappa Alpha sisterhood, and have inspired girls and women across the country to put on their own pearls in solidarity and celebration. CNN's Abby Phillip also noted that the color is a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, who Harris has honored before.

Hillary Clinton also chose purple for her memorable concession speech back in 2016 (designed by Ralph Lauren, who also made the suit she's wearing today), sending a powerful message as she spoke to millions of disappointed women who had donned pantsuits to vote for her, hoping they would be electing the first woman into the White House.

If you've been educating yourself about our soon-to-be vice president, Kamala Harris, chances are you've already learned about her sister and former presidential campaign chair, Maya Harris. The lawyer, civil rights activist, and author may not always agree with her sister on issues around criminal justice, but the two are fiercely supportive of each other. "If people knew who Kamala was, and really what she believes and really where her heart is, I think it would be hard not to reach the conclusion that this is the person who would be the most passionate advocate for the things we’ve been fighting for for a long time," Maya has said. So who is Kamala's confidante and friend, who's been by her side and even officiated Kamala's wedding to Douglas Emhoff?

Maya Harris boasts an impressive resumé.

If you're already familiar with Maya, it's potentially because she was a senior advisor for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. “Hillary really trusted her instincts,” said Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta to Talking Points Memo. “Maya would cut through the bullshit, brief her quickly, and give her something to think about.”

But I have to note she's done so much more than that: She's been a leader for the American Civil Liberties Union, a vice president at the Ford Foundation, and editor of The New Jim Crow by her friend Michelle Alexander. She's also served as VP at the Ford Foundation and became one of the youngest law school deans in the U.S. at Lincoln Law School of San Jose. She was a political analyst for MSNBC and quit to work with Kamala on the campaign trail (although Kamala has declined to discuss specifics on who advises her). At times she's been called Kamala's "Bobby Kennedy"—in that she's both highly instrumental and highly loyal to her sister.

She served as the campaign chairwoman until Kamala dropped out of the race on December 3, 2019. "I think most people who know Maya will tell you she's one of the smartest people they know," Kamala said to Politico in June 2019 on her sister's campaign efforts. "The fact that she has volunteered to work on this campaign at such a high level and she's exactly who she's always been—she works around the clock and she's probably the hardest, if not one of the hardest working people on the campaign—I feel very blessed."

She's also a writer. Recently, she wrote honestly about her experience with lupus, saying she felt compelled to speak during the pandemic:

She also just wrote a children's book, Ambitious Girl, set to be released in tandem with Harris and Biden's inauguration. She told People of the book: "I hope that girls take away from this, first and foremost, that female ambition is a good thing, it's a positive thing and it's something to be celebrated, to claim, to find power in,"

And she's written publications around the criminal justice system too. In an essay she wrote for Tavis Smiley's book The Covenant with Black America, Maya said: "Something is clearly wrong when the government's most effective affirmative action program is the preference people of color receive when entering not college but the criminal justice system."

She's married and has a daughter—and she's a grandmother, too.

Maya has been married for over two decades to Tony West, former Associate Attorney General of the U.S. Senate and current Chief Legal Officer of Uber. The pair met on the first day of classes at Stanford Law School when Meena introduced her mom to her new hide-and-seek partner, West. The pair stayed in touch but didn't get together until years after graduation.

"We waited for the most inconvenient time to actually get together—he was in D.C. and I was in the Bay Area," said Maya to Stanford Lawyer. "It's a family joke that Meena knew we should be together long before we did."

He's also an adorably supportive partner towards her and his sister-in-law:

Her daughter Meena is grown up and has two kids of her own:

She got pregnant with Meena during her senior year of high school in 1984. On MSNBC in 2014, Maya reflected on the struggles of raising a child on her own while going to school. She said: "I was a single teenage parent and I could not have done what I've been able to do had I not had access to childcare and had I not had mechanisms for me to pay for both my college tuition and my law school tuition."

Both Maya and Kamala reference their mother as a huge influence.

At the 2020 DNC, Kamala said: "My mother instilled in my sister Maya and me the values that we chart. She taught us to put family first...The family you're born into and the family you choose.”

This past Mother's Day, Kamala spoke about her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who passed away in 2009:

It's pretty clear their love of her is one of the most important parts of their lives.

From what we know about Donald Harris, their father, aside from one strangely critical comment he's made about Kamala, he doesn't speak to the press about the relationship, and neither Kamala nor Maya appear to talk about the relationship much.

On Saturday November 7, Kamala Harris delivered a moving victory speech as the first female, first Black, and first South Asian Vice President-Elect ever. Wearing a white pantsuit (likely a nod to Hillary Clinton and suffragettes before her), Harris recognized the historic, glass-breaking moment and thanked the women, including her immigrant mother, who paved the path for her to serve in the White House alongside President-Elect Joe Biden.

Read the full transcript of Kamala Harris's speech below.

Good evening! Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you, thank you. Good evening. So, thank you, good evening. So, Congressman John Lewis, Congressman John Lewis before his passing wrote "Democracy is not a state, it is an act." And what he meant was that America's democracy is not guaranteed.

It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. To guard it and never take it for granted. And protecting our democracy takes struggle. It takes sacrifice. But there is joy in it.

And there is progress. Because we, the people, have the power to build a better future.

And when our very democracy was on the ballot in this election with the very soul of America at stake and the world watching, you ushered in a new day for America. To our campaign staff and volunteers, this extraordinary team, thank you for bringing more people than ever before into the democratic process.

And so making this victory possible. To the poll workers and election officials across our country who have worked tirelessly to make sure every vote is counted, our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

You have protected the integrity of our democracy. And to the American people who make up our beautiful country, thank you for turning out in record numbers to make your voices heard. And I know times have been challenging, especially the last several months.

The grief, sorrow, and pain, the worries and the struggles, but we have also witnessed your courage, your resilience and the generosity of your spirit. For four years, you marched and organized for equality and justice, for our lives and for our planet and then you voted!

And you delivered a clear message. You chose hope and unity, decency, science, and yes, truth! You chose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States of America!

And Joe is a healer, a uniter, a tested and steady hand. A person whose own experience of loss gives him a sense of purpose that will help us as a nation reclaim our own sense of purpose. And a man with a big heart who loves with abandon. It's his love for Jill, who will be an incredible first lady.

It's his love for Hunter and Ashley and his grandchildren and the entire Biden family. And while I first knew Joe as vice president, I really got to know him as the father who loved Beau, my dear friend who we remember here today.

And to my husband Doug and our children Cole and Ella and my sister Maya and our whole family, I love y'all more than I can ever express. We are so grateful to Joe and Jill for welcoming our family into theirs on this incredible journey. And to the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts. When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't quite imagine this moment.

But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible, and so I am thinking about her and about the generations of women, Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation's history, have paved the way for this moment tonight, women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all. Including the Black women who are often, too often overlooked but so often proved they are the backbone of our democracy.

All the women who have worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act and now in 2020 with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard.

Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders. And what a testament it is to Joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president.

But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities and to the children of our country regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they've never seen it before.

But know that we will applaud you every step of the way. And to the American people, no matter who you voted for, I will strive to be a vice president like Joe was to President Obama: loyal, honest, and prepared; waking up every day thinking of you and your family, because now is when the real work begins, the hard work, the necessary work, the good work, the essential work to save lives and beat this epidemic.

To rebuild our economy so it works for working people, to root out systemic racism in our justice system and society. To combat the climate crisis, to unite our country and heal the soul of our nation. And the road ahead will not be easy. But America is ready. And so are Joe and I.

We have elected a president who represents the best in us, a leader the world will respect and our children will look up to. A commander in chief who will respect our troops and keep our country safe and a president for all Americans.

• On Saturday afternoon, news broke that Joe Biden was officially declared the projected winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
• The news came after Biden was declared the winner in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state whose 20 electoral college votes brought Biden's total above the 270 needed to win the presidency and make him the country's next president-elect.
• Hillary Clinton took to Instagram just moments after the news broke to share her reaction to Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, winning the election.

In case you (somehow, and very improbably) missed it: Joe Biden has officially been declared the projected winner of the 2020 presidential election. The news broke on Saturday afternoon, when Biden was called as the winner of crucial battleground state Pennsylvania. The pivotal swing state's 20 electoral college votes put Biden's total at 273, just over the 270 needed to win the presidency. Further wins on Saturday increased Biden's total electoral college tally to 290. The news was also historic as Kamala Harris made history as the first Black and Asian-American woman to be elected vice president.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whose 2016 loss to Donald Trump was a surprise to many around the world, took to Instagram just minutes after the news broke to share her reaction. Along with the iconic "United" artwork featuring Biden and Harris, Clinton wrote:

"The voters have spoken, and they have chosen @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris to be our next president and vice president. ⁣
⁣
It's a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America. ⁣
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Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen. Onward, together."

Check out Clinton's tribute to the history-making news for yourself below:

In 1787 the Founding Fathers met at the Constitutional Convention, and the electoral college was born. The now-kinda-outdated-but-we're-in-too-deep voting practice selects the election winner not through the popular vote but by the electoral vote. Which means the candidate who was the most popular in that state gets all the electoral votes for that state (with the exception of Maine and Nebraska).

Each state has a different number of electors: California has 55, but North Carolina has 15. When you add all up the states and their electors, the total equals 538 electors in all—but how many of their votes do you need for the election?

The answer: It takes 270 or more electoral votes to win a presidential election.

Back in 2016, Donald Trump won with 304 electoral votes, despite the fact Hillary Clinton famously won the popular vote. It was the fifth time in American history that the presidential election winner lost the popular vote.

It's important to note, however, that while a projected winner is usually announced on election night in November after you vote, the actual Electoral College vote takes place in mid-December when the electors meet in their states. So while you may hear one thing in November, the official announcement of who won the election won't come until later.

Now, if so many people think the practice is outdated, why haven't they got rid of it yet? Since the practice is listed in the U.S. Constitution, it would take a constitutional amendment to change the process, meaning it has to be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses.

While in today's political environment, that seems highly unlikely, there's one time in the past when it got close. In 1969, the U.S. House of Representatives voted by 338 to 70 to send a constitutional amendment to the Senate that would have dismantled the Electoral College—but just a year later, it was shot down by the Senate.

Even same-party members have different views on abolishing the Electoral College. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden doesn't support eliminating the Electoral College, but his Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris thinks differently.

Harris told Jimmy Kimmel, "I'm open to the discussion. I mean, there's no question that the popular vote has been diminished in terms of making the final decision about who's the president of the United States and we need to deal with that."

Regardless of the Electoral College, every vote counts. If you're not registered to vote, sign up here.

The stories typically start the same way: "I thought he would bring a different style of leadership." "I never liked Hillary Clinton." "I didn't want a 'regular' politician." Yet at different points over the past four years, five white women realized they'd made a terrible mistake: They voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

White women were one of Trump's largest voting blocs in 2016—exit polls show that 52 percent of white women who voted cast a ballot for him, compared to four percent of Black women and 25 percent of Latinx women. In fact, original data spliced by Marie Claire reveals that if only white women had voted for Trump in 2016, he would have won by an additional 51 electoral votes. Today, President Trump is running on a racist platform that suggests the suburbs, where most of these white women reside, won't be safe in Joe Biden's America. Except this time around, polls are predicting the president's divisive rhetoric won't work—a point that bears out in the interviews we conducted.

For Joni F., a lifelong Republican who didn't tell her Democrat husband she voted for Trump in 2016, it took the president's ill-mannered reaction to U.S. Senator John McCain's death for her to see the type of person Trump truly is. For Jessica F., the ramifications of a Trump administration didn't settle in until COVID-19 hit and she watched the president grossly mishandle a pandemic that's killed 200,000 Americans and counting.

Although these women didn't wake up the morning after Election Day 2016 terrified, anxious, hopeless, and distraught, they realize that many other Americans did. And now they're doing their part to ensure no one feels that way on November 4, 2020.

The Issues Most Important to Her: Women’s Rights, Racial Justice, LGBTQ Rights

"I voted for Donald Trump in 2016 for the sake of the economy. I tend to lean left on social issues (gay marriage, abortion, etc.), but lean more right on business and economic issues. While I still lean right on economic issues, I can no longer stand by and see basic rights being taken away from the LGBTQ community, women, and Black people. I moved to Washington, D.C., a year ago and have been exposed to new ideas and thinking. Voting for Trump in 2016 is not something I'm proud of, and I've always kept it to myself.

My dad is part of the military, so I grew up in a lot of places, but for the majority of my life I lived in Georgia. Leaning more right for economic and business issues I got from my parents, but for social issues I would say that me and my parents disagree quite a bit. I've always kept politics separate, but my older sister doesn't keep politics separate, and I saw the division that it caused [between her and my parents].

My parents know that for this election, I am planning on voting for Joe Biden. They're definitely not very happy about it, and they'll make remarks like, 'I wish you wouldn't.' I've just told them that the things that I've seen go on socially in our world in the last four years, morally, I can't continue to support that.

In 2016, the opponent made a big difference because I really just felt like Hillary was very corrupt and, for a while, I did debate on voting for a third party. But, at the end of the day, I think that fails the system because that third party isn't likely to win, so then it's just taking the vote away.

I realized that I made a mistake in voting for Trump somewhere towards the middle of his presidency. I don't really know if I could pinpoint an exact moment or thing, but I think it was just a buildup of little things that were happening, like his tweets, what he would say in the media, and people he was appointing as Supreme Court justices. I'd been going back and forth on who I'm voting for, but within the last year my beliefs and concerns have really been reinforced and convinced me to vote for Biden.

If Trump wins reelection, my biggest concern would be the open Supreme Court seat. I think it would set us back many, many years regarding different rulings related to women's rights and LGBTQ rights. Also, I think another big concern is the Black Lives Matter movement because I see that it's not really being taken seriously by right-wing people. If Trump were reelected, it wouldn't personally affect me because I'm straight and I'm white. It might affect me as a woman, but as far as Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ rights—where they have so much more on the line—I would tell [other white women] to try and put themselves in the perspective of those who are not as advantaged as we are."

—Taylor K., 26, Virginia

The Issues Most Important to Her: COVID-19, Gun Violence, Racial Justice

"I will be 62 years old in a couple of weeks. I'm a lifelong Republican. I voted for Reagan in 1980. Now, I live in Montana—a deep red state. I voted for Donald Trump in 2016 because I never liked Hillary Clinton. I always felt like she was dishonest and opportunistic, and that her main reason for wanting to be president was so that she could be the first woman president. She always talked about that, and that was just a huge turnoff to me. I just didn't like her. Even though I didn't particularly care for Trump (and the remarks he makes about women, his demeanor), I took a chance on him. I thought, Okay, I'm going to vote for him anyway, because he's not a politician, and I want to see what he does with the presidency. I felt like maybe he could make things happen with non-traditional methods.

That didn't turn out so well.

I wasn't really vocal about who I was voting for back then. In fact, I didn't even tell my husband, although I think he kind of knew. My husband is a Democrat, but he's a moderate Democrat and I'm a moderate Republican. I voted for Barack Obama the first time, but I voted for Mitt Romney in 2012.

[My husband] has been really supportive and proud of me for using my voice. I have never been particularly interested in politics, but stopping Donald Trump has prompted me to make testimonial videos for Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) and 43 Alumni for Biden. I like that Biden can cross party lines to get things done. I have donated to the Biden campaign and the Lincoln Project. I even watch CNN. Now, I feel like [my husband and I] can talk about politics. Before I'd just be like, 'I don't want to talk about that. It doesn't interest me.' But, we talk about politics in a new way. In fact, he tells me, 'If you were still supporting Trump, I would probably have to divorce you.' I said, 'I wouldn't blame you.'

Before Trump took office, I told myself, 'That's just Trump' whenever he'd say or do ridiculous things. After he took office, his actions went from outrageous to downright dangerous. The tide really turned for me when he had to be convinced to lower the flag to half-staff after John McCain's death. The way he treated the family was disgusting. From that moment on, I put his actions under a microscope. When COVID-19 hit, I was outraged. After the death of George Floyd—disgusted. His economy is a false economy. It looks good, but it's not real. People tend to look at the stock market as the economy, but they're not the same thing. I don't believe that Trump is a Republican, and I don't think he represents the Republican party. He has his own party.

I get flack from my neighbors because I'm vocal about who I'm voting for. Some neighbors have been very accepting as far as saying, 'I don't agree with you, but that doesn't make me not want to be your friend or your neighbor.' Then I've had other neighbors...it's the ones that are so Christian that shun you. I'm a Christian, and that isn't Christian in my book.

I have family friends who are evangelical Christians, and they're hardcore Trump supporters. It doesn't seem to matter what you say [about Trump], you can't convince them otherwise. They're the same people you see at his crowded rallies, not wearing masks, jammed together because they believe whatever he says. It's like a cult. He has to be stopped. If this is bad now, can you imagine how he'll be the next four years, knowing he can't be reelected? The country may never recover from the damage he'll inflict. God help us!"

—Joni F., 62, Montana

The Issues Most Important to Her: COVID-19, the Rule of Law, Democracy

"I was disillusioned by 'regular' politicians, and I hoped someone, not a 'regular politician,' would be better. I had been negatively impacted by an action of President Obama's, and I would not support Hillary Clinton because of that. President Obama shut down Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada in 2009. That's where my husband worked, and we had to move to Washington state because he was transferred there. I ended up getting a job at a company that was up to something illegal, and I basically was a whistleblower. Long story short, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2012. I was in a very dark place in my life and, in my opinion, I would not have been there if not for President Obama.

I had to move—we're in Phoenix now—and my husband and I lived apart for a few years before he could get a transfer down here. For the longest time, I couldn't watch any news. It triggered everything. I didn't even vote in 2012, and that was a big deal for me. My father was a World War II veteran and we were raised that it was your duty to vote. In 2016, I thought, Okay, here's someone who is outside the political realm, maybe it will be okay. I didn't see how horrible he was. I wasn't voting for him so much as I was voting against the establishment. At one point, my son actually screamed, 'He's a f*cking Nazi' at me, but we never let that rip our family apart. I said at the time, 'How bad can it be? We have a system of checks and balances.' Who knew that the Republicans were going to be just a bunch of sycophants?

The turning point for me was when Trump sent American troops on peaceful protestors in Lafayette Square in June. That's when my eyes were just ripped wide open. He has no honor, no character, no integrity, and no honesty. I was raised by a man of integrity, to have integrity, and to expect it from others. I had my head in the sand and should have known better than to vote for Trump. I will probably never ever be a Republican again.

I feel that I am partially responsible for the deaths of over 200,000 people from COVID-19—and quite possibly the death of America, if the evil creature currently occupying the White House somehow manages to cheat his way into reelection. He is a fascist, and wants to be 'president for life.'

My sister and her family are all die-hard 'Trumpers' who will not leave the cult. They have called me 'crazy' and told me that my 'family is not real' because 'we live on the coast.' (Again, I live in Arizona.) I remember it was June 3rd, and my sister had posted something on Facebook like, 'Trump is my president. He may not be...' blah blah blah. My daughter replied saying, 'How can you possibly still vote for him? Maybe you don't have all the facts. If you think he cares for anyone but himself, then you're DELUSIONAL.'

She was trying to change the world, which you cannot do here. It's a flipping cult. My daughter called my sister that night. My sister called her some names, including an 'entitled millennial witch' or something like that, then hung up on her.

My daughter called my husband crying. My sister texted me, 'Your daughter just called me to say who I can and can not vote for. I will probably never speak to her again.' After the dust settled, I sent my sister a fairly lengthy email. I said, 'I'm really disappointed that you're putting politics over family.' Then she basically cut us off. Her birthday was July 2, I sent her a music box with the Serenity Prayer on it. I said, 'May you have the wisdom to see how evil Trump is, and the courage to do something about it...to vote for America and not him.' I called her because we always call on birthdays. She would not take my call.

I've rarely argued politics but, to me, this is not Democratic versus Republican. This is good versus evil. This the future of our country versus Oh my god. Are we going to turn into a fascist regime? Germany only took about 10 years to go from democracy to fascism. I put that in the email to my sister, too.

I just think it's incredibly sad that so many people, like me, have had their families ripped apart. My sister and her family are lost. I pray for them every day. I just found out that my son and his wife are expecting their second child. The first thing I normally would have done is call my sister. Now, I can't. Whenever I bring that up, I'm sad again."

—Ann K., 59, Arizona

The Issues Most Important to Her: Police Reform, Health Care, Getting Trump Out

"I didn't want to vote for Hillary, and my Republican friends assured me that since Donald Trump was a businessman, he would be good for our country. I was Republican, but I am not sure I will go back again. I just registered as an Independent in my state, which will allow me to vote for either party in the primaries.

My husband, who I was dating at the time, tried to discourage me from voting for Trump, but I had been a Republican since 1972 and I trusted some of my friends who were encouraging me to vote Trump. I accept the blame.

When COVID-19 came along, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I knew I could not [vote for him again]. He's like a dictator. He talks about how much power he has. It really upsets me that I have voted for this. It's been hard to step out of that cognitive dissonance, and walk away from my core beliefs. Being a Republican is one of those core beliefs. I know that [mine] wasn't the vote that made him president, but the fact that I fell for this horrible man's lies, at my age, makes me feel ashamed.

One of the main reasons [white women voted for Trump in 2016] is the abortion issue, and I know that's why they are going to vote for Trump again. Several spiritual leaders who I respected (and yes, that is past tense) have said Trump was sent by God. The other main reason is the economy, but now I know that all of those reasons are just smoke and mirrors. I'm pro-life, but I'm still not going to vote for Trump. I am voting for Joe Biden because he is the better choice by far. After watching the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention, I no longer had any qualms about voting for Biden. The conventions were like day and night. Good and evil.

I have had at least five or six people unfriend me, and one girl is trying to hang on. She's just not happy with me. She thinks I've changed so much, that I'm not the sweet girl that she knew, that I've become hateful. I'm not seeing any hate from me. What's unfortunate is that anyone who I term as a 'Trumpster' considers anything that is news against Trump 'fake news.' I'm not saying that Reagan was all that great with how he handled a lot of things, but he did have integrity, and I think that Obama had integrity. I think Biden has integrity, too. Yes, he's done some things that he's ashamed of, but he's admitted it and you will never have Trump admit he's done anything that he's ashamed of.

More than anything, I'm worried that our country is going to lose our democracy. Trump has just been chipping away at it for the last four years. Another concern is that I'm on social security. I'm 73 years old, and he's talking about taking payroll tax away. I don't trust him. I'm worried about my country. It's not about a party anymore. It's about a country that needs a good leader. It's been a painful experience stepping out of cognitive dissonance, and I want people to see that. However, most of my 'voting for Trump' friends just think I'm a foolish old woman or, at best, a traitor. I can't change what I did, but I can move on and do the right thing."

—Helen L., 73, Colorado

The Issues Most Important to Her: Reproductive Rights, Police Reform, Health Care

"I live in a little town in Georgia called Rockmart. The whole county voted for Donald Trump. I voted for Trump because, like a lot of other people have said, I really didn't see him as the career politician. I thought he had some good ideas. You know, he made some good promises as far as bringing industrialization and manufacturing back to the country. I thought those things were what we needed as a country. That ended up not happening.

The moment I realized I made a mistake was during the coronavirus. I'm not necessarily your typical Trump voter, I didn't drink the Kool-Aid. I'm not a 'Make America Great Again' rah, rah kind of person. Before, I looked at it as, Okay, everybody slings mud at everybody else in government. That's what they do. You can kind of tune out a lot of it. Then, when the coronavirus hit and he took no responsibility for the situation, that was pretty much what ripped it with me. If you don't take responsibility, who gets the responsibility? You're the president. He knew it was worse than he told the American people, and he wanted to keep it under wraps because he didn't want to make himself look bad. It had nothing to do with not wanting to incite panic. Have you seen the cities around here?

If the COVID-19 pandemic didn't happen, the George Floyd situation would have more than likely happened. Could I support somebody who is blunt about being a racist? No. I think it was destined that I was not going to vote for him again. The fact that he let Russia put bounties on American soldiers' heads and still to this day has not addressed it on a national level? Then to call them 'suckers' and 'losers' because they died in battle? Well, my grandfather gave 32 years to the service and fought in three wars. I don't appreciate that at all. If it wasn't one thing, it was going to be another.

For [the largest voting bloc in 2016] to be white, suburban women, maybe they felt like they were the party that wasn't getting heard. Women, in general, have felt like their voices weren't really heard in any major election or event. This gave them that platform, and this was the way to get people to pay attention.

We have four years to deal with what Joe Biden does or does not do. I honestly think Kamala Harris is going to be the driving force behind that presidency, and that's okay. Trump's diehard, 'Make America Great Again' white women may not be the ones that are going to support Kamala Harris, because she's not white. Does that lay ground for their continuation of racism, or are they going to say, 'Hey, we have a strong woman, regardless of color, in the White House who's going to make sure our voices are heard?' I'm not sure.

I voted across party lines my whole life (I voted for Obama; I voted for Clinton; I voted for Bush) because I don't hard-and-fast believe in everything that either [party] says. No, I'm not necessarily all into Joe Biden. But I do not think he's a socialist. I do not think he's trying to take away our Second Amendment rights. I do not think he's trying to take away freedom of speech. I do not think he's trying to pass random abortions at full term. I don't believe any of that. I just don't want to see Trump continue to divide this country and destroy us.

Typically, you vote for who you think is going to do the best job. And if he doesn't do the greatest job, we can repair the damage. But this president? I don't think we can repair the damage. What he's doing is about more than just policy. What he's doing is destructive to the country itself and the people. That's my biggest issue. I want other people to realize that it's okay to change your mind. It's okay to have questions. You're not alone."

—Jessica F., 49, Georgia

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

On Tuesday, Joe Biden announced that Kamala Harris would be his running mate on the Democratic ticket. With the vice presidential nomination, Harris has become the first Black woman and first South Asian woman ever on a major political party's presidential ticket.

"I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants -- as my running mate," Biden tweeted. "Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I'm proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign."

Within minutes Twitter and Instagram lit up with excitement, as politicians, singers, actors, athletes and more celebrities reacted to the news and publicly congratulated the California senator.

"Very happy for our friend and Senator and future Vice-President, @KamalaHarris, and very much looking forward to voting for the Biden-Harris ticket to begin the difficult work of recovering from this nightmare presidency and building an even better future," John Legend tweeted.

While actress/writer/showrunner Mindy Kaling shared several emotional social media posts about what it meant to her for a woman of color to be on a presidential ticket. (It's been suggested previously that Kaling even named characters on her Netflix show Never Have I Ever after Harris.)

"Was there ever more of an exciting day? For our entire country of course, but especially for my Black and Indian sisters, many of us who have gone our entire lives thinking that someone who looks like us may never hold high office? We work so hard and contribute to the fabric of our lives in America, & now to see @SenKamalaHarris rise to the top like this? It’s thrilling!! I am filled with hope and excitement. Thank you @JoeBiden. Let’s do this!⁣@meenaharris@mayaharris_@RohiniKos#sisterhood #letsdothis #bidenharris2020" she penned.

Former President Barack Obama also congratulated Harris on Twitter, writing, "This is a good day for our country."

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also took to Twitter to praise Harris.

"I'm thrilled to welcome @KamalaHarris to a historic Democratic ticket. She's already proven herself to be an incredible public servant and leader. And I know she’ll be a strong partner to @JoeBiden. Please join me in having her back and getting her elected," Clinton wrote.

See more celebrity reactions to Biden's VP pick below.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, joined Michelle Obama, Gabrielle Union, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hillary Clinton, and 95 other influential women in speaking to Marie Claire about why she'll utilize her vote in the November 2020 elections. Sharing a powerful quote from New Zealand suffragist Kate Sheppard, Meghan reflected on her own experiences of having her voice both heard and ignored, and paid tribute to the many civil rights activists who risked their lives to win others the right to vote.

"I know what it's like to have a voice, and also what it's like to feel voiceless," Meghan said. "I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard. And that opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard."

"One of my favorite quotes, and one that my husband and I have referred to often, is from Kate Sheppard, a leader in the suffragist movement in New Zealand, who said, 'Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops,'" Meghan continued. "That is why I vote."

Of the many criticisms that have been hurled at Hillary Rodham Clinton over the years, not all have been fair (her voice isn’t “shrill,” it’s female) and plenty have been flat-out false (Pizzagate, anyone?). But even her biggest fans can’t argue that the politician often has trouble coming off as real. No matter how many #throwback photos she posts on Instagram or joke-filled tweets she fires off, Clinton has always seemed inscrutable—even the recent Hulu docuseries, Hillary, couldn’t break the invisible wall between her internal self and the person she presents to the world. So the idea of Rodham, Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel told from the (fictional) point-of-view of its titular heroine—with the premise that she never married Bill—is captivating. Who wouldn’t want to finally learn what motivates the most famously enigmatic woman on earth? Yet while the book is unquestionably compelling, it won’t leave you with any more understanding of what makes Hillary Hillary.

Spanning more than 45 years, from its protagonist’s days at Yale Law School to the events of 2016, the novel imagines a universe where Rodham (as she’s known in this alternate universe) isn’t permanently tied to Bill Clinton, in both the eyes of the law and millions of Americans. They do date and fall deeply in love—an area in which Sittenfeld excels at writing, as she did so memorably in previous books like Prep and the Laura Bush-reimagining, American Wife. The author depicts romance through both R-rated detail (Bill, naked on the sax!) and moving vignettes (a scene where Bill defends her from her father’s casual cruelty is a highlight). Eventually, though, Clinton’s consistent cheating leaves Rodham at a crossroads. Does she stay with the man she adores, ignoring his affairs—not to mention, a sexual assault claim by his former volunteer—and stand by his side while he pursues his political dreams? Or does she leave him and start life anew, free of his harmful association but possibly, painfully, permanently alone?

Of course, the real Rodham stayed, going on to marry Bill Clinton (who has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct), have Chelsea, and achieve an incomparable career that’s both soared and faltered, due, in part, to the baggage of being Bill’s wife. Whether she’s happy with her choices or regrets not walking out the door back in the ‘70s, we’ll likely never know, but for 432 pages, Rodham lets us relish in the “what if?” of it all. And for the most part, it’s lovely; we watch as Rodham uses her political wits and unquestionable brilliance to go from law professor to Senator to presidential candidate (I won’t spoil what happens next). The journey isn’t easy—like her real-life counterpart, Rodham constantly deals with sexist comments and an “unlikable” reputation, in addition to her fair share of mistakes—but it’s certainly inspiring, and, more importantly, entirely her own. Yes, she still makes that infamous “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies” comment, but this time, it’s while defending her own run for president, not her time as a young working wife and mom. In Sittenfeld’s world, Rodham is in charge, if not always of her political destiny, then at least of how, when, and why she goes after her dreams.

That said, even a liberated Rodham isn’t actually an open one. Time and time again, readers witness major moments in her life—the break-up with Bill, her Senate election, the death of a friend—as nothing more than observers, despite the book’s first-person narration. When Clinton first cheats on Rodham during a summer in California, she notes her “shock and distraughtness,” but a few pages later, she’s back to dutifully detailing their life together in New Haven. “Geography had seemed to contain the sorrow and conflict, allowing us to leave them behind,” Rodham says, but her hidden inner life isn’t just about compartmentalizing. Take Clinton’s proposal, right before he’s set to head to Arkansas to start his political campaign; Rodham declines, telling him that the combination of marriage and a cross-country move would be too much of a compromise, yet the conflicting emotions supposedly weighing on her barely reach the surface.

The issue escalates as the book moves to her rise in Washington. In one scene, Rodham reflects on how, “at some level, it was if I already knew, as if I’d always known” that she’d run for president, but at no point do we actually learn what’s driven her to this goal besides that seeming inevitability. She’s fully aware of the historic nature of her candidacy, discussing her gender in interviews and brief musings, but the thrill, awe, and fear that must come with that potential are missing from these chapters.

It’s hard to say, though, how much of that distance is a flaw of the novel and how much of it is simply the uncrackable pragmatism of both the real Hillary and her fictional self. Both versions are ardent rule-followers who live their lives by a philosophy of do whatever makes the most rational sense, for themselves and for America; if Rodham’s experience makes her the most qualified person to run for office, then, well, what else is there to think about? Yet, even if the lack of access into her subject’s mind was a purposeful choice by Sittenfeld (the author declined Marie Claire’s interview request, so we can’t know for sure), the book suffers for it, frequently leaving its all-too-curious readers in the dark.

And there are numerous times when the distance between us and Rodham becomes deeply frustrating. When the character first learns of the assault allegation against Clinton, she laments how it might affect his campaign and their relationship, but she barely touches upon the emotional repercussions for both the accuser and herself. In fact, the incident doesn’t arise again until decades later, and even then, Rodham acknowledges the accuser with an indifference that hasn’t evolved over time. The same attitude applies to race; whatever feelings Rodham may have had after beating a Black female candidate for a Senate seat despite the pleas of a close friend not to run are mostly a mystery. Even her older self reflects more on the loss of the friendship than the history she stopped in its tracks. Without more insight into her mindset, Rodham paints its lead as a hypocritical feminist who fights for some women out of moral obligation, and others not at all.

The novel is unlikely to change your mind about Rodham, whether you love her or hate her—and let’s be real, if you’re reading it, you’re likely already firmly Team Hillary. Treated as a fake campaign memoir rather than an intimate look into Rodham’s mind, the book most certainly delivers. There are enough fun details (Galas! Sex scenes! Meetings with pre-2016 Trump!) and powerful takeaways to satisfy any reader. But if you’re hoping to discover the person behind the politician, you’re out of luck. “You’re awfully opinionated for a girl,” a man tells 9-year-old Rodham in a flashback; if only we got to hear some of those opinions ourselves.

For more stories like this, including celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, and fascinating features, sign up for the Marie Claire newsletter.

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As I sat waiting for Hillary Clinton to take the stage to introduce her new documentary, I aimlessly browsed Zara's website. I scrolled past dozens of blazers—plaid, boxy, menswear-inspired silhouettes—styled with turtlenecks and oversized outwear or with headbands and belted pantsuits.

The irony was not lost on me.

In Hillary, a four-part documentary that hit Hulu last Friday, director Nanette Burstein aims to chronicle the polarizing nature of Hillary Clinton. The series showcases the prolific impacts Clinton has had on the world since her entrée to the political sphere: championing health care reform; being at the forefront of the women's rights movement; her historic run as the the first female atop a major-party presidential ticket; her groundbreaking student commencement speech at Wellesley College in 1969.

But in highlighting Clinton's life, Burstein unintentionally brought another hefty part of her legacy to light: definitive style icon of our generation.

It's impossible to ignore how pervasive Clinton's style has become in the years since she lost the election. Documentary clips of Clinton in the '60s, '70s, and '80s could easily be snapshots of present-day street-style stars and Instagram influencers. Designers as recently as last month debuted looks on Paris and New York runways that Clinton was once mercilessly mocked for wearing. Several scenes show Hillary in outfits that the most fashionable stars of the moment—Millie Bobby Brown, Hailey Baldwin, Kaia Gerber—would undoubtedly be seen in while running to and from red carpet events.

My jaw nearly hit the floor during one scene in which a 20-something Clinton appears in a highlighter pink turtleneck I currently have hanging in my closet. I snagged it from a fast-fashion retailer five months ago and have pulled it out countless times since when I need to look "stylish and put together." If only Hillary had posted it to Instagram with a "swipe up" link; she damn well would have earned my affiliate commission.

Clinton may not be in the Oval Office, but an army of fashion-loving women are carrying on her feminist, envelope-pushing agenda through their daily sartorial choices—often times as a form of catharsis from the crushing nature of today's political climate. Take, for instance, the now-iconic moment when a sea of Congresswomen descended on 2019's State of the Union address clad in white pantsuits and dresses that could've been plucked directly from Clinton's closet.

Of course, the beauty and absurdity in seeing Clinton's fashion emulated so purposefully today is that for the entirety of her political career, she was tortured by the public's criticism of her appearance.

Burnstein says that she couldn't help but highlight in her documentary the contentious relationship Clinton had with fashion throughout her career because it was an "organic" beat under many of the politician's biggest moments. There's a clip from Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign of a democratic rival criticizing her pink tweed jacket during a debate; later, at a campaign meet-and-green, a woman shouts at her, "Somebody's gotta tell her how to dress!” During the 2016 election, Clinton's own team questioned the shoes she was planning on wearing during a primary debate. Clinton claps back: “Did anyone ask Bernie [Sanders] about his goddamn shoes? I don't care.”

Clinton's blatant disregard for her appearance back then is what makes her so much more of a style icon now. (No matter how much she has tried to deny it.) "It's interesting that someone who has had the least regard of fashion has been a pioneer in some ways," says Burnstein. She was never trying hard; she was just making smart decisions. Even her pantsuits—which have come to define her "look" and birthed an entire "nation"—were simply a pragmatic decision.

"She just wanted to create something simple, almost like a uniform in a way," Burstein explains. "As a result of doing that it created a cultural shift. Yes, she's not the first woman to wear a pantsuit in politics, or any sort of professional setting, but she was the first to really embrace it in a way as 'her uniform.'"

Like any fashion trailblazer, Clinton—once dubbed too smart to be stylish and too severe to be sexy—used her outward appearance as a tool. Mainly to appease public temperaments. If centrists hated her and her husband's health care reform plans, she'd get a haircut. When the public couldn't stop criticizing her for not taking her husband's last name, she got contacts. Because she couldn't get people to listen to her for the right reasons, she's at least get them to stop talking about her for the wrong ones. Now, she's getting the last laugh.

Just imagine what 1993's political pundits would say if they knew, two decades later, Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski would don pantsuits while campaigning for women's rights and prison reform? And would be taken seriously.

“She's always ahead of her time and never quite of her time,” a Clinton friend remarks in the documentary, speaking of her work. She might as well have been talking about any of Hillary's outfits.

A modern lens paints pre-White House Clinton, a wearer of coke-bottle glasses and lover of oversized printed blouses, as a natural trendsetter. "[There's] one picture where she's wearing tinted sunglasses and flowery hippy dress. I think she's talking about the time she first started dating Bill. She looked so über-cool without even trying to," Burstein notes. She permeates fashion culture without even realizing. Case-in-point? Her favorite '90s item: the headband. Clinton was brandishing the hair accessory long before Prada, Chanel, or even Blair Waldorf brought the It item back.

"She loves the headband. It's like her favorite thing," Burstein says. "The other day we were in Germany... and she left and came back...she was wearing a headband. I was like 'Oh my god. She still rocks the headband.' She's like, 'I'm wearing it anyway. I don't care that nobody wears it anymore. It's my tried and true and what I feel most comfortable in.'" Oh, Hillary. What she don't realize is that everybody wears it now. Probably because of her.

As I was getting dressed for work the morning after the documentary's screening, news broke that Elizabeth Warren, the last remaining viable female candidate on the democratic ticket, was dropping out of the presidential race. I spent a few moments pondering what Clinton would say about it.

Then I threw on my highlighter pink turtleneck, a plaid oversized blazer, and got to work.

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Maranda Saling and Sam Knapp have a lot in common. They’re both young and new in town, and they’re both the kind of people who eat, sleep, and breathe politics. On November 23rd, a bright and biting Saturday afternoon, they were even wearing the same boots: black Blundstones over wool socks. But Knapp and Saling were on rival teams, competing for the attention and commitment of the same would-be voters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the all-important Iowa caucuses hurtle closer every day.

Knapp, 22, was working as a field organizer for the struggling Kamala Harris campaign. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and as a college sophomore in 2016, she volunteered for Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton. When Donald Trump won, “I was like ‘I wanna go to Iowa, and I wanna work on a campaign,’” she said. She joined the Harris campaign first as a summer fellow; by November, she was spending most of her time thinking about how to get as many people as possible to sign their names on a CTC (a commitment to caucus card) and show up to their caucus locations on the night of February 3, 2020. (Once there, Iowans don’t cast ballots: They vote with their bodies, making good on their CTCs by physically standing alongside their candidate’s other supporters.)

Across town, at the Cory Booker for Linn County field office, Maranda Saling has exactly the same goal, except that her CTCs aren’t purple and yellow, they’re red, white, and blue. Saling, 30, is originally from a small city in northeastern Ohio, where she did PR work and fundraising before getting involved in campaigns for ballot initiatives aimed at boosting funding for parks, schools, and libraries. She was working overseas as a freelance writer when the Booker campaign called and asked her to come work in Iowa. So in May she moved from Bali, Indonesia, to Marion, Iowa, and set about doing what field organizers do: learning everything there is to know about a community.

Most field organizers don’t relocate from Bali, but they do uproot their lives, moving from across to the country to a town they’ve likely never even seen before. They live in “supporter housing”—basements and spare bedrooms lent to the campaign by devoted volunteers—and dedicate their lives to a campaign that could end any time between when they arrive and election day.

Both Knapp and Saling have spent the last six months going to community events—soup suppers, pride parades—and setting up one-on-one coffee meetings with as many people as they can. Their job is to convince those people to join their candidate’s team as a caucus-goer, and to get them to bring their friends, family, and neighbors along with them when they do. Politics is a contact sport. Specifically, voter contact.

With approximately 200 people (okay, fine, 15) running for the Democratic nomination this cycle (and all but two of them contesting the Iowa caucuses) campaigns are competing especially hard for every single CTC. The Des Moines Register reported recently that in the month of October, across the state, the campaigns held a combined 7,230 events designed to get voters excited about the candidates and move them towards a caucus commitment. The Biden campaign hosted a potluck dinner. Julian Castro’s campaign “hosted a book club focusing on LGBTQ literature.” The Booker campaign hosted a river cleanup day. The Harris campaign arranged “Kayaking for Kamala.”

There are ways to reach voters who don’t want to go kayaking or come to your potluck, the most labor-intensive of which is door-knocking. On Saturday, while organizers at their field officers supervised phone-banking and volunteer trainings, Knapp and Saling went knocking on doors.

Suited up in warm weather gear and armed with “packets”—lists of about 20 houses that, according to voter registration records, contain registered Democrats or people who’ve voted for Democrats before—they each headed out into Cedar Rapids.

Knapp started in a working class neighborhood a short drive from the field office. At the very first door she knocked on, success: The man in her packet was home, he answered the door, he was willing to talk to her, and, improbably, he signed a CTC. The whole thing took less than three minutes. “I’m telling you, this is a magic precinct,” she said, as she walked back down his front steps. “I couldn’t have staged that better myself.”

It doesn’t always go this way. Although most door-knocking happens on weekday evenings or on the weekends, people often aren’t home, or they are and they don’t answer the door. At the next house, a man answered the door shirtless.

Had Knapp ever worried for her safety while out door-knocking on her own? “I’ve never felt unsafe,” she said, after leaving some campaign literature with the shirtless man. “But if it was up to my parents I might play it a little safer.”

Across town, Saling was door-knocking in a middle class neighborhood, a precinct that felt decidedly un-magic. At her first house, the middle-aged man who answered said he’d never heard of her candidate, and that he thought the election was rigged anyway. Saling listened to his concerns, and relentlessly brought everything he said back around to Cory Booker. “I think Senator Booker would agree with a lot of that…” “Well, that’s why Senator Booker says…” “It sounds like you and Senator Booker share a lot of the same values…” In the end, he agreed to take a look at some of the literature she left with him.

At the next house, her packet directed her to talk with a would-be voter named Janice, but it was Janice’s husband who opened the door. Janice’s husband had heard of Booker, and knew that Booker isn’t polling well. He was delighted because he’s a proud and satisfied Trump supporter. Janice, he said, is “totally against Trump,” and when Trump won, “this almost became a divorce.”

Saling didn’t try to convince Janice’s husband to caucus for Booker, but she did hand him some campaign literature, and he grudgingly said he’d give it to Janice. Walking away, Saling seemed to think that was unlikely.

“Husbands-as-blockade happens a lot of the time,” she said. “Sometimes you’ll see the wife on sitting on the couch and he’s like, ‘she’s not home.’ But she’s sitting right there!” Or, she said, when she’s out on the doors, “[a husband] will see us coming up the sidewalk and get to the doorbell before we do” so his wife can’t talk to the organizers.

“It’s well-known in field organizing,” she said as we drove back to the field office. “The Republican husband.”

With this packet completed, Saling reaches for the next one—she said that she knocked on about 70 doors a day, every day that week—and her day will end with phone banking, and then an evening team call that finishes around 8:30. “We don’t have evenings.”

Knapp, meanwhile, was headed to a hair salon. The Harris campaign had been focusing on voter contact with Black women in salons and with Black men in barber shops. Like Saling, she’d spent most of the week planning for this weekend: By the time it was over, the Iowa caucuses would be just 70 days away. Every weekend was another precious chance to convert “I’ll look at the literature” to “I’ll sign a CTC.”

“I’m definitely stressed,” she said. “But I love this job because it’s so intense, it’s ‘What’s next? what’s next?’ just putting my head down and doing it.”

Despite Knapp’s efforts, what’s next wasn’t what she’d hoped. Barely a week later, Harris would announce that she was ending her campaign. Knapp didn’t return requests for comment about what she plans to do now—find work on another campaign, in Iowa or elsewhere?—but she joins legions of political hopefuls who’ve already packed up their placards for Beto O’Rourke or Kirsten Gillibrand. And next week, someone else will be knocking on those same doors she did, this time proffering CTCs for Warren or Klobuchar, Biden or Bernie. Until everyone wakes up on February 4, leaves Iowa behind, and sets their sites on New Hampshire.

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While on a promotional tour for her new book with daughter Chelsea Clinton, The Book of Gutsy Women, Hillary Clinton addressed one of the U.K.'s biggest current scandals: the racist media bullying of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. Speaking to the Sunday Times, both Hillary and Chelsea Clinton supported Meghan's lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday, while condemning the treatment the Duchess has received from the British press.

Hillary told the newspaper, "I’m a huge Meghan Markle fan," adding, "I do want to say that the way she’s been treated is inexplicable." Asked if she thought the media treatment of Meghan was the result of racism, Hillary said, "I think if the explanation is that she’s biracial, then shame on everybody," adding that racism is "certainly part of it."

Chelsea Clinton also supported the Duchess of Sussex, saying, "I also think it’s because she proudly had a career first and has a voice that she thankfully continues to use. Anyone who has the temerity to break the mould of what has previously been established and expected often, unfortunately, receives criticism and bile that I don’t understand."

"We’ve seen this pattern repeatedly. I don’t know her, but as someone who respects her, I’m so grateful that she persists, and is unbowed, and is doing work she feels called to do. And also isn’t willing to be bullied," Chelsea said. Of Meghan's lawsuit, she stressed, "You have to do what you feel is right."

Kim Kardashian also spoke out in favor of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex this week, while appearing at the Armenia Technology Convention in Yerevan. "I think that everyone makes their own choices and decisions," Kim said, when asked about Meghan and Harry. "And I think that, like I said, no one's gonna be perfect. I'm not, they’re not. I don't know who is."

"I still love and value the fact they bring such attention to such important movements that need to happen and things that they're really passionate about," Kim continued. "They're still changing the world."

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Hillary and Chelsea Clinton know a thing or two about being "gutsy women," considering one of them was Secretary of State and a presidential nominee and the other is an author and global health advocate (amongst many other accomplishments). Now, the mother-daughter duo is shining a spotlight on the women who have inspired them along the way, putting their brilliance together on paper for the first time in The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience (out tomorrow).

The tome includes portraits of groundbreaking women throughout history—from Shirley Chisholm to Greta Thunberg—telling their inspiring stories, with commentary from the Clintons. MarieClaire.com received an exclusive sneak peek at Hillary and Chelsea's recounting of tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams' legacy, including how the sisters have, quite literally, changed the game for women everywhere.

Venus and Serena Williams have a particular talent for shutting out the noise and nonsense and focusing on what really matters—whether it’s smashing records, winning titles, or advocating for people who will never have the kind of platform they do.

Over the years, they’ve had far too much practice honing this talent. For decades, the two world-class athletes who helped redefine the sport of tennis have dealt with sexism, racism, and body shaming. Reporters and commentators have tried to undermine their athletic abilities (as they have with so many other women athletes—especially black women athletes) by suggesting that they’re not women at all, or that they’re using performance-enhancing drugs. After Serena pushed back against an umpire’s suggestion that she was cheating in the 2018 U.S. Open final against Naomi Osaka (“I don’t cheat to win,” she protested, “I’d rather lose”) and became visibly frustrated on the court, an Australian newspaper published a racist cartoon depicting the events. (“Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop,” tweeted Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling.)

Contrary to what their performance on the court might suggest, Venus and Serena aren’t superhuman. They have both spoken publicly about how painful it is to be on the receiving end of ugliness and hostility—and about their determination not to let it distract them from doing what they do best. “I felt defeated and disrespected by a sport that I love,” Serena wrote in Harper’s Bazaar of her experience at the 2018 U.S. Open. “One that I had dedicated my life to and that my family truly changed, not because we were welcomed, but because we wouldn’t stop winning.”

From the time they were toddlers in the early 1980s, Venus and Serena, with their parents’ support, were logging hours practicing on the public courts of Los Angeles. “Venus was older and playing tournaments,” recounted their sister Isha. “Venus was enrolled in this particular tournament, and Serena wasn’t. Unbeknownst to my dad and mom, Serena sent in the application and signed herself up for the tournament. Who does that? ...Even then, she wanted to compete.” After a few years, the family moved to Florida so that the girls could get the elite-level coaching their talent and determination deserved. It paid off; both turned professional in the mid-1990s, before they graduated from high school. Venus led by example, pushing her little sister to work harder, never letting her win a friendly game. “My first job is big sister and I take that very seriously,” she said later.

Venus and Serena played with tenacity and heart, chasing after every ball, delivering powerful serves and ground strokes. In 1997, Venus defied expectations when she became the first unseeded U.S. Open women’s finalist, meaning she had not been ranked among the seeded players deemed most likely to win. In 2000, Venus won two Olympic gold medals in Sydney: one in singles and one in doubles, with Serena. That same year, Venus won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. The next year, she did it again. In 2002, Serena followed suit.

The years that followed weren’t easy for the Williams sisters. Their half-sister Yetunde Price was murdered in a shooting in Compton, California, in 2003. Venus and Serena were distraught. “She was a wonderful person,” Serena said. “We’re dealing with it however we can. Some days are better than others.” More than a decade later, the two opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton, to honor their sister’s memory and help people who don’t have the same support network the Williams family did.

In 2008, Venus and Serena returned to the Olympics, this time in Beijing. Once again, they took home the gold in women’s doubles. Four years later, in London, they won again. During the 2017 Australian Open, Serena, who had once again been rising steadily through the ranks, beat Venus to win her twenty-third Grand Slam title, and earned the ranking of number one in the world. (She has spent more than three hundred weeks, spread over fifteen years, ranked number one.) As she often has, Serena credited her sister for her success. “There is no way I would be at 23 without her. There is no way I would be at one without her. She is my inspiration. She is the only reason I am standing here today and the only reason that the Williams sisters exist.”

That same year, mid-tour, Serena announced she was pregnant. She gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, in September 2017—meaning she won the Australian Open while pregnant. Afterward, she courageously shared the nightmarish complications she had experienced after delivering her daughter by C-section. Because she had a history of blood clots, she was hypervigilant in watching for the signs of clotting after the surgery. When she felt a familiar sensation, she spoke up. The nurse suggested that the pain medication had left her confused, but Serena knew exactly what was happening. She insisted on getting scans, which confirmed her fears. She wound up having two more surgeries.

“I was terrified,” she said later. “It was a whole new kind of fear.” She has since helped bring attention to maternal mortality in America, where seven hundred women die every year as a result of complications from pregnancy or childbirth. Even though maternal mortality around the world has been steadily decreasing over the last several years, it’s actually rising in the U.S. As she has done all her life, Serena is turning a crisis into an opportunity to raise visibility around an important issue that affects too many women, especially women of color.

Serena is also continuing to speak out, with her typical candor, about the challenges women face on the court and off. Every woman who has felt that she was trying to play by ever-changing rules empathized when, after Serena wore a black catsuit during a match, the French Tennis Federation president decided to change the dress code at the French Open. Serena explained that, in addition to making her feel like a superhero, the catsuit’s compression helped to prevent blood clots. He stuck by his decision: “It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place.” Why is it that nothing seems to make some people more uncomfortable than a woman in pants? Serena laughed off the controversy and continued to not only accept but also celebrate herself. After her daughter was born, she posted a picture on Instagram, proudly declaring: “She has my arms and legs! My exact same strong, muscular, powerful, sensational arms and body.” At the 2018 U.S. Open, she showed up in a tennis tutu. When she came back to the French Open, she was wearing a bold outfit covered in the French words for “Mother, Champion, Queen, Goddess.”

As for Venus, in addition to continuing to compete at the highest levels of tennis, she continues to build on her creative talents. She founded her own women’s activewear brand, and she directs her own interior design firm. Though she has talked about the challenges of building a new career, as she says, “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and try to ignore the rest.” In the end, it’s that ability to tune out the distractions and zero in on chasing their dreams that has made the Williams sisters two of the greatest athletes in the world.

From The Book of Gutsy Women by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. Copyright © 2019 by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chelsea Clinton is an activist and author, following in the footsteps of her famous parents Hillary and President Bill Clinton. She grew up in the spotlight and has taken on several causes that hold personal meaning for her, most recently with her newest children's book She Persisted Around the World. And now Clinton has more good news, which she announced officially on Twitter and was reported by People: She's pregnant with her third child.  

Clinton married hedge fund executive Marc Mezvinsky in 2010 and has two children already, Charlotte, 4, and Aiden, 2. In the post, Clinton explained that "Marc and I have loved watching Charlotte be such a wonderful big sister and we’re excited to watch Aidan become a big brother!" Her due date is apparently later in the summer of this year.

Farther down the thread, a fan comments that her parents must be thrilled, and she responds,"Thank you! They are :)" So now we know how Bill and Hillary feel about becoming grandparents for the third time (no surprise there)!

Clinton has spoken positively about becoming a mother in the past. "“I didn’t know I could care more intensely about anything until I became a mom,” she told People. “Somehow I love my husband even more, I love my parents even more. I feel even greater urgency about the work that I do, particularly around women and girls being a mom of a daughter.”

Clinton's also discussed the importance of promoting women's rights for the next generation through her work as a writer. "We need more stories of women around the world—not only for girls anywhere, although that too, but for kids here in the United States."

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A groundbreaking number of women are running for office, minorities and young people are showing up and speaking up. There's a reason for this shift, and it begins and ends with the “why”— the motivation that pushes people to make a change.

Marie Claire asked 5o influential women—celebrities, politicians, business leaders, and activists—to share their personal “why” with us. Their reasons for casting a ballot in the 2018 midterm elections are as diverse and varied as they are: a single-issue, a certain value, a specific person. Read their motivations below, and tweet your own with the hashtag #WhyImVoting before you vote on Tuesday.

From explainers to essays, cheat sheets to candidate analysis, we're breaking down exactly what you need to know about this year's midterms. Visit Marie Claire's Midterms Guide for more.

After a week filled with screaming men, triggering sexual assault stories, and insufferable proclamations from the Oval Office, we could all use a Christina Aguilera concert. So on Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Huma Abedin did just that. The trio showed up at Radio City Music Hall Wednesday night for a night of antics with Aguilera, a longtime fan who hosted a private gig back in 2015 to raise campaign money for Hillary's presidential run. The best part? Abedin wore a Lingua Franca "November is Coming" sweater over a crisp white shirt. Because who doesn't need a reminder of that right now?

The Clintons arrived separately from Abedin, who was photographed entering the concert venue with a somewhat grim expression—I feel you, Huma—and a crystal-clear message on her Lingua Franca sweater. (The top was apparently custom-made, since no style with that tagline is available for us masses.) Abedin paired the sweater with a long, belted black skirt and scuffed white sneakers.

Twitter user Chris Evans was also at the concert, tweeting: "OMG YOU GUYS HILLARY IS HERE AT THE CHRISTINA CONCERT" along with photos and footage of the Clintons. "Omg Huma is with them," he wrote shortly afterwards. And, a little later: "I looked back and saw Hillary boppin her wig to Fighter."

Here are the Clintons arriving at Radio City Music Hall:

And here they are backstage with Xtina herself:

You may not be able to get Abedin's exact style, but you can get plenty of apparel with similar messaging for all of your resistance needs:

The Best Political Swag to Buy for 2020

And if you're looking for a Lingua Franca sweater specifically, here are some similar styles to Abedin's.

From explainers to essays, cheat sheets to candidate analysis, we're breaking down exactly what you need to know about this year's midterms. Visit Marie Claire's Midterms Guide for more.

On Friday afternoon, Hillary Clinton informally endorsed four trailblazing Democratic women in their midterm races, writing on Twitter: "We'd all be lucky to see these four extraordinary candidates win their races for Congress this fall." Among her endorsees were Stacey Abrams, the progressive and popular Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, and Deb Haaland, tipped to be the first-ever Native American woman in Congress.

"With a historic number of women running this year, we have a tremendous opportunity to make our government better reflect our country," Clinton wrote on Twitter. The former presidential candidate and Secretary of State has also focused on Onward Together after her 2016 loss, a nonprofit which funds and gives other kind of aid to progressive grassroots organizations within politics.

Here's who would have Clinton's vote (you know, if she lived there):

Lucia McBath

"LucyWins2018 is a businesswoman and activist running for Congress in the 6th district of Georgia," Clinton noted on Twitter. "After her son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed, Lucy turned her grief into action by fighting for both gun safety and criminal justice reform."

You may recall the 2o12 Jacksonville shooting of Jordan Davis, who was shot dead at a gas station by a white man who said Davis had been playing music too loudly. (He was later sentenced to life in prison without parole.) After Davis died, McBath became an advocate for commonsense gun reform, and eventually joined Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail. After the Florida shooting this past February, McBath formally announced her intention to run.

Stacey Abrams

Writes Clinton: "@StaceyAbrams is the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia. She’s served as Georgia’s House Minority Leader, founded a voter registration organization, and written eight romance novels! She’s running to strengthen Georgia's schools and economy."

I know the tidbit about romance novels caught your attention, so let me elaborate—under the pen name Selena Montgomery, Abrams published nine romance novels. But that has little to do with her run for governor, which is tipped to be one of the most exciting races of November.

Former VP Joe Biden has also thrown his support behind Abrams, and is even hitting the campaign trail with her next week.

Gina Ortiz Jones

Clinton endorsed Ortiz Jones with the note: "@GinaOrtizJones is a veteran of the Iraq war, intelligence officer, and candidate for Congress in the 23rd district of Texas. She wants to create good-paying jobs and expand health care options for all Texans." A first-generation American, Ortiz Jones would be the first Filipina American in Congress if elected.

Ortiz Jones spent three years in the U.S. Air Force, operating under the now-defunct policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"—she came out as gay as a teenager. She also worked under Trump in the U.S. Trade Representative's office as a director, finally quitting in protest and announcing her intention to run for office.

Deb Haaland

A single mom who would be the first Native American woman in Congress, Deb Haaland spoke with MarieClaire.com last month about the myriad reasons she decided to run. "I want other Native women to see they can do it, too," she shared. Haaland has a storied history in New Mexico state politics, having run for lieutenant governor in 2014 and served as chairwoman of New Mexico's Democratic party for two years.

"If I can inspire young women like that to finish their schooling, get some experience, and then eventually think, I can run for office, I’m happy about that," she explained to MarieClaire.com.

From explainers to essays, cheat sheets to candidate analysis, we're breaking down exactly what you need to know about this year's midterms. Visit Marie Claire's Midterms Guide for more.

The Best Political Swag to Buy for 2020

Following her keynote address at the Women’s Forum of New York’s 2018 Elly Awards on Monday, Hillary Clinton has raised more than $1.5 million for families being separated at the border, her team confirmed exclusively to MarieClaire.com.

After taking to Twitter to urge her followers to donate to a group of 10 organizations that are fighting our country's immigration policy (a direct donation that is split evenly across each organization), Clinton was able to raise $750,000 in just one day—a number that has continued to grow throughout the week, largely in part to the politician's massive social media following.

With an average donation of $60, Clinton has raised money for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, and seven other organizations—all of which are fighting tooth in nail to protect children and families separated by President Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy. Half of the donations alone have come from Twitter, with email, Instagram, and Facebook following behind.

In Clinton's Monday speech, the politician expressed her disdain for the atrocities happening at our nation's borders. "This is a moral and humanitarian crisis," she said. "Everyone of us who has ever been a parent or grandparent, an aunt or a big sister, anyone of us who has ever held a child in their arms, every human being with a sense of compassion and decency should be outraged."

Nick Merrill, Hillary Clinton's communications director, says it's no surprise there was "appetite among her followers to take action." He continued, "It was in keeping with the response to the crisis, which has been one of heartbreak and outrage, that drives that activism."

To find out how you can help immigrant children separated from their families, click here.

Melania Trump showed up to the State of the Union a) separately from her husband, and b) wearing a white Dior pantsuit, reminiscent of the one Hillary Clinton wore when she accepted the democratic presidential nomination.

There were many sartorial statements during Trump's address (some female politicians wore black in solidarity with the #MeToo movement and many African American politicians were seen wearing Kente cloth scarves in protest of Trump), and Twitter is convinced Melania was making a statement of her own by dressing like Clinton.

This all sounds great, but chances are Melania was just wearing a pantsuit. Or she was trolling her husband and is a problematic living legend, either way.

Following reports of sexual misconduct in The New York Times and The New Yorker, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama have released a statement about Harvey Weinstein.

“Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein. Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status,” Obama said in a statement. "We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture—including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect—so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future."

Michelle and Barack Obama's daughter, Malia, interned for The Weinstein Company's NYC office over the summer. Harvey Weinstein himself is a known supporter of the Democratic party, and fundraised for Hillary Clinton's recent campaign (as well as Obama's campaign in 2012). Clinton released a statement saying she was "shocked and appalled by the revelations."

For more reactions to the news, click below.

Angela Merkel has been the object of a lot of sisterly praise over the last year. Hillary Clinton named the German chancellor one of her favorite world leaders. Prominent women's rights activists in the U.S. have lauded Merkel for her open-door refugee policy and remarked on her ability to remain cool when Donald Trump refused her handshake. "Angela #Merkel, more and more the feminist icon," tweeted journalist Lauren Wolfe in July after an image of Merkel at the G20 appeared to show her rolling her eyes at Vladimir Putin. On the heels of Clinton's defeat, the desire American women have to look to Merkel as their new beacon of girl power is understandable.

Never mind that Merkel herself is reluctant to use the F word.

At home in Germany, women are conflicted about their chancellor. "I like her," says Nicole, a 42-year-old security policy analyst in Berlin, "but I won't vote for her party."

That's a sentiment many women echo. Germans tend to be issue voters, voting along party lines and basing their votes on policy stances rather than personalities. And that's why women are reluctant to tick the box for Merkel: She just hasn't done much for them.

Merkel has been in power for 12 years, and her party—the Christian Democratic Union—has been criticized for being behind the times. Ulrike Helwerth, communications director of the National Council of German Women's Organizations, summed up a common attitude among women ahead of the 2009 election, "Why on earth should 'we' vote for Merkel?," noting that her government had little to offer besides reforms that were long overdue and had been put in motion by former governments already.

That criticism hasn't changed much during Merkel's tenure, nor have the problems women want addressed, including, for example, a loophole that enables employers to avoid holding jobs for women on maternity leave. Though Angela Merkel may have shattered a glass ceiling in 2005 by becoming Germany's first female chancellor, the life of the average German woman hasn't progressed along with it.

"The typical German woman's career is still this: Get educated for a low-paid job in the social, medical, or educational sector, take time off for children, return to work part-time (doing more hours than you're actually paid for, but getting less recognition than your full-time male colleagues), take time off to tend to elderly parents, return to your job part-time and then, when you're retired, take care of ill husband and stressed-out children's children, all while dwelling on a mediocre pension," writes German journalist Anne Sauerbrey in The New York Times.

Sound familiar?

"For women in Germany as a whole, things have not gotten better," says Julia Schramm, a member of the Left party and author of the book Fifty Shades of Merkel. "To be a woman or to be recognized as a woman still has real disadvantages in society, and that begins with the fact that one is repeatedly sexualized. Just because there is a woman in a position of power doesn't mean things are better."

Even after Merkel reluctantly came out in favor of a quota requiring 30 percent of board members on publicly traded companies be women, it hasn't made much of a difference. None of Germany's top 30 companies has a female CEO. In the 160 largest firms, women hold just 7 percent of executive positions.

So much for a woman in charge leading to a sea change.

And Germany's gender problems aren't just at the C-level. In a recent open letter to the Chancellor, the National Council of German Women's Organizations noted several factors standing in the way of the everywoman's progress: There is the question of taxation, which Helwerth cites as one of the main factors for the yawning gender wage gap (the average woman earns just $37,000 to a man's $55,000). Known colloquially as the "housewife tax," the lower-income partner in a marriage is taxed at a higher rate, fostering the economic dependence of wives and effectively keeping them out of the labor market or in part-time, low-income jobs.

"This is a very high barrier on the path to gender equality. Thanks to the resistance of Chancellor Merkel's party, the issue was not on the agenda," Helwerth says.

Still, German women possess rights and advantages that American women continue to have to fight for—the cuts to abortion services and reductions in access to reproductive health that are putting U.S. lives at risk are unthinkable in current German politics. Abortion has gotten little political attention in the country since the law was revised in the 1990s to ensure that abortion is legal. Health insurance is mandatory and government-subsidized, meaning gynecological services—though not birth control—are available to all.

And for women in Merkel's inner circle, at least, having a female at the top has been advantageous. The chancellor seems to be a believer in shine theory, repeatedly appointing women to her Cabinet, even in non-traditional roles. Ursula von der Leyen, for example, has led not only the Family Ministry but is now the Defense Minister. Currently, women hold the top position in six of the 15 ministries, including the Economics Minister and the Construction and Environment Minister.

Female politicians have poured through that broken glass ceiling: Since her election, there's been something of a "Merkel effect," with more women than ever running for local offices. Three of the six major parties have put forth female candidates for the chancellorship in 2017. It's estimated that once this weekend's elections are over, 32 percent of the representatives to German Parliament will be women (by comparison the U.S. Congress is just 20 percent female).

Electing Angela Merkel back in 2005 may not have been the feminist coup that a Hillary Clinton presidency might have been—especially in terms of policy—but her mere presence at the top makes her a role model nevertheless. For women wanting to hold their own in a room full of male egos, her stoicism in the face of sexism is admirable. And the youngest generation of Germans have only known life with a woman in charge. "There are now children who ask if a man can be Chancellor," says Schramm.

On the other hand, the top seems to be the only place where the lives of German women have changed for the better. Says feminist writer Anne Wizorek of the continued double standard: "We are told, 'You can become chancellor—what more do you want?'"

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Hillary Clinton is set to release a new memoir, What Happened, detailing the 2016 election. And it'll likely bring back some moments you may have suppressed because they were just that awful. (Yes, this really happened, and less than a year ago, if you can believe that.)

On Wednesday, Morning Joe aired an excerpt from Clinton's audiobook, in which she talks about the campaign and moments she wished she could do again. "Every day that I was a candidate for president, I knew that millions of people were counting on me, and I couldn't bear the idea of letting them down," she said. "But I did. I couldn't get the job done, and I'l have to live with that for the rest of my life."

She talked about how the book will feature moments she wished she could do over. One of those was October's town hall debate, which came after Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which he bragged about groping women. During that debate, Trump kept walking very closely behind her, and the result was incredibly creepy. Here's what she said in the excerpt aired on Morning Joe:

"No matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled. It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching, 'Well, what would you do? You stay calm, keep smiling, and carry on as if he weren't repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye, and say loudly and clearly, Back up, you creep! Get away from me! I know you love to intimidate women but you can't intimidate me, so back up!' I chose option A. I kept my cool, aided by a lifetime of dealing with difficult men trying to throw me off. I did, however, grip the microphone extra hard. I wonder, though, whether I should have chosen option B. It certainly would have been better TV. May I have over learned the lesson of staying calm, biting my tongue, digging my fingernails into a clenched fist, smiling all the while, determined to present a composed face to the world."

Listen to the full excerpt below, if you can handle it:

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As the Trump administration keeps chugging along, causing ever more awkward moments with fellow world leaders, Hillary Clinton is opening up about what's helping her get through it all. And the answer is the same as the rest of us: wine.

Clinton gave the commencement speech Friday at her alma mater, Wellesley College. It wasn't the first time at that podium, either; she gave the speech when she herself graduated from the school 49 years ago. (Yes, she was that big of a deal, even in her early 20s.) She also gave another commencement speech in 1992.

This time around, she reminisced about her time at Wellesley and how her parents encouraged her to "stick it out" after she got intimidated by the academics. "I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be this year than right here," she said.

"You may have heard that things didn't go exactly as I planned but, you know what, I'm doing okay," she said. "I've gotten to spend time with my family, especially my amazing grandchildren." She joked that "long walks in the woods" and "organizing my closet" helped her process things. "I won't lie, Chardonnay helped a little, too," she said with a smile. Which is the most relatable thing Clinton has likely ever said in her life.

"But here's what helped most of all," she said. "Remember who I am, where I come from, and what I believe. And that is what Wellesley means to me." You can watch her full speech below:

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Remember how President Trump and Mike Pence were once obsessed with Hillary Clinton's private email server, leading "lock her up" chants across the country? Right. Same.

But this week news leaked that Mike Pence had also used a private email account for official business while he was governor of Indiana—that is, the same ethical crime for which Clinton was put through the wringer. Inevitably, the internet had some thoughts about this because the internet forgets nothing.

To complicate things further, Pence's office refused to release all the emails from his account, claiming that some were too "confidential and too sensitive to release to the public."

Now this tweet from October 2016 is—understandably—coming back to haunt him:

Around the same time, Pence told CBS' Face the Nation "that literally Hillary Clinton had classified information on a private server that she said she didn't have…that, to me, is the kind of double standard that the American people are weary of."

And on that point, Pence was definitely correct.

All we can say is 😶.

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Hillary Clinton surprised Katy Perry at the UNICEF ball, and while her sweet speech was caught on camera, what we didn't get intel on was Katy's reaction. Until now. The "Roar" singer, who campaigned more than hard for Clinton, hit Instagram to express just what her idol's presence meant to her. She also revealed that she wept profusely on election night. Join the club.

"I was profoundly moved and thoroughly surprised when Hillary showed up to give me this award," Katy writes in the Instagram post below. "I broke down and wept watching her take the stage. The last time I was in NYC was for Election Night. I left covered in a blanket of sadness and despair because for me, and I imagine others, the results triggered a lot of dormant fears and emotions to the surface. I feared that we were not ever going to see the light of justice or fairness. I felt vulnerable, confused and frightened like a child...."

Perry goes on to say that she grew up afraid to use her voice, but that Clinton helped her "see that we're all in this together, no matter where we come from, what color we are, or what status and education we have or don't have."

"Hillary lit a fire inside of me that burns brighter and brighter every day, and that fire will NEVER be put out. Feelings of despair still comes in waves, but now more than ever I am MOTIVATED to fight against social injustice and to promote equality and kindness as best I know how, through my art and influence. I am continually inspired by her strength and how she continues to rise like the Phoenix she is, every time."

Ummmmm, same.

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Katy Perry was one of the most fervent and vocal supporters of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign: she sang "Rise" at the Democratic National Convention, she wore #ImWithHer swag like it was her job, and she even dressed as her idol for Halloween.

So it just makes sense that Clinton herself—who's basically been straight-chilling since the election—would make a surprise appearance to honor Perry at the UNICEF ball.

"[Katy] has the spirit and the energy and the compassion that Audrey Hepburn brought to her work for UNICEF," the former secretary of state said after being greeted with a standing ovation. "Someone whose powerful voice and creative lyrics remind us when you get knocked down to get back up...She has been a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF since 2013, she has traveled the world advocating for the rights and needs of children, she has visited some of the poorest places on Earth, and lent her voice to kids who would otherwise be voiceless from remote villages to Vietnam and Madagascar. She has put a spotlight on child poverty and encouraged the empowerment of women and girls."

This. Just all of this. Cheers to powerful women who use their platforms to make change. 🍸

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From now on, when people indignantly claim that the animosity Hillary Clinton met when running for president was specific to her, tell them the story of Victoria Woodhull. She was the first woman to run for President in 1872, and spoiler alert: It didn't turn out great. (To be fair, while Woodhull didn't have a private email server, she did believe that she could cure cancer with her mind.)

Woodhull was born in 1838, the child of an alcoholic father who likely set her family's home ablaze for insurance money. By the 1850s, he had Woodhull and her sister working as "medical clairvoyants" in a fervent attempt to set their finances aright. Woodhull made elixirs to cure people's ills, and even claimed she could heal sick people with her very presence. Her life became stranger still when she turned 15 and married Canning Woodhull, an older man who professed to be a doctor and turned out to be a broke alcoholic with no medical credentials.

Being a complete fraud isn't a promising beginning for any presidential candidate, but whether or not her elixirs were a sham (they were), Woodhull was extremely skilled at selling them. By 1866, she was a somewhat famous and extremely wealthy woman who had divorced Woodhull and instead married Colonel James Harvey Blood, a Civil War hero from the Union Army. Blood was a "champion of freedom in all domains," which might explain why he and Woodhull chose to practice Free Love in the form of an open relationship. Woodhull would later state that she had "an inalienable constitutional and natural right to love," and that she could "love as long or as short a period" as she liked and "change that love every day" if she pleased.

This sense of freedom was revolutionary—especially considering that Woodhull was living in an era when men controlled women to such an extent that they were entitled to their work profits. To cap it off, Woodhull even kept her own name.

On the flip side of the sexual-freedom coin (and as further reminder of the inescapability of male control at the time), Woodhull discovered that her pyromaniac father was pimping her sister, Tennessee. So she invited Tennessee to live with her in New York City.

As its current inhabitants are well aware, New York is always a good idea if you're a forward-thinking, absurdly ambitious human, and in 1868, Woodhull and her sister opened the first female-owned brokerage house on Wall Street with help from Cornelius Vanderbilt (he was a fan). They never hid anything about their past; in fact, they did the opposite, and left a scrapbook filled with articles about themselves in the front office so investors could see exactly who they were dealing with. Victoria and Tennessee's firm was—perhaps unexpectedly—hugely successful, with a large clientele of women who wanted to work with other women: widowed wives, high-class prostitutes, actresses, and anyone else who was lucky enough to have their own money. Eventually, they started a weekly newspaper dedicated to promoting political reform and exposing frauds on Wall Street. Oh, and they were also the first American publication to reprint the The Communist Manifesto.

At this point, Woodhull's probably sounding more and more like a viable presidential candidate, right? (Minus the curing cancer with her brain thing. We can all agree that was iffy at best.) The problem is, when she ran for president in 1872, the very culture that encouraged her to be an interesting local anomaly wasn't enthusiastic about her having any real power. But that doesn't mean Woodhull didn't advocate for herself. In 1871, she spoke before Congress and declared the following:

"Women are the equals of men before the law, and are equal in all their rights. If Congress refuse to listen and to grant what women ask, there is but one course left to pursue. What is there left for women to do but to become the mothers of the future government?"

Congress didn't agree.

A year later, Woodhull followed through on her promise to become "the mother of a future government" and began her presidential campaign as a member of the newly formed Equal Rights Party. She stood before 668 delegates in New York and vowed to fight "despotism, inequality, and injustice." She called for women to have the right to vote, for financial regulations, and for an end to industrial exploitation. She wanted Frederick Douglass to run alongside her as Vice President. Her audience cheered and cheered, and a judge nominated her for President of the United States.

And it all went downhill from there.

Everything Woodhull stood for was publicly mocked: her ties to spiritualism, her belief in free love. And while those beliefs are still controversial today, she was also shamed for her former marriage to an alcoholic and her love for wearing "short skirts" (note: said skirts came up to her ankle). The bullying continued so relentlessly that before long, popular caricaturist Thomas Nast began describing her as "Mrs. Satan." In one drawing, Woodhull's depicted with bat wings as a mother carries her child up a hill. The mother exclaims, "I'd rather travel the hardest path of matrimony than follow in your footsteps." (Never mind that Woodhull was married with two children herself.)

Fellow suffragists spurned Woodhull, and her business began to fail. Meanwhile, Frederick Douglass never even acknowledged her request that he run alongside her. The final blow came when Woodhull was thrown in jail just before the election because her weekly publication ran an article about—among other controversial subjects—a stockbroker who was known for getting underage girls drunk and then having sex with them. She and her sister were arrested for publishing "obscene materials," and, as far as research can determine, nothing happened to the rapist stockbroker.

Victoria and Tennessee were released from prison after paying $16,000 in bail, and it will surprise no one that Woodhull did not, in fact, become president. Instead, seemingly saying "to hell with this garbage country that hates women so much," she moved to England and worked to support their suffragette cause. She died in 1927, a year before Englishwomen won the right to vote.

It is now almost 150 years since Woodhull's run for president, and this country has still never seen a female take up the role. It's not the most uplifting ending to this story—or to our recent near miss—but you might take comfort in Woodhull's words:

"They may succeed in crushing me out, even to the loss of my life; but let me warn them and you that from the ashes of my body a thousand Woodhulls will spring to avenge my death by seizing the work laid down by me and carrying it forward to victory."

From the ashes we rise. The story isn't over.

Jennifer Wright is the author of It Ended Badly: 13 of the Worst Break-Ups In History and the upcoming Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues.

Confronted at the family Thanksgiving table with the question of what you're thankful for this year, you might have cringed. In light of Donald Trump's surprising presidential win earlier this month—and the hate crimes and controversial appointments that followed—it can feel like there's less to be hopeful for than fearful of. Especially when your Trump-supporting uncle is the one who's doing the asking.

Consider this news a salve: Today, a group of Hillary Clinton supporters took it upon themselves to remind her that she's what they're thankful for. That she's "an American hero" whose hard work will not be forgotten.

Clinton tweeted a photo of the signs she found this morning expressing gratitude, and she returned the favor. So uh...anybody got tissues?

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Donald Trump has won the United States presidency in a shocking and unprecedented turn of events, and what will follow is both unnerving and unknown. Hillary Clinton has yet to concede the presidency to him (she is set to give a speech at 9:30 a.m. ET), but presidential campaign chairman John Podesta had this to say:

"They're still counting votes and every vote should count. Several states are too close to call, so we're not going to have anything more to say tonight. So listen to me, everybody should head home. We should get some sleep. We'll have more to say tomorrow...Goodnight. We will be back. We will have more to say. Let's get those votes counted and let's bring this home."

Meanwhile, Trump mentioned that his political rival had called and offered congratulations:

"I've just received a call from Secretary Clinton, she congratulated us, it's about us, on our victory," he said upon winning. "And I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. She fought very hard."

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Hillary Clinton came *this* close to breaking the glass ceiling and becoming the United State's first female president, but Donald Trump has taken the title in a truly unprecedented win. It's a huge blow to liberals and conservatives alike who were hoping to see Hillary make history, but her concession speech was a reminder that now is not the time to abandon hope and acquiesce. It's a moment to rise up, use our collective voice, and remember that we are stronger together. On that note, here are the most inspirational and poignant quotes from Hillary's concession speech.

1. "This is not the outcome we wanted and we worked so hard for, and I'm sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share, and the vision we hold for our country. But I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together."

2. "This is painful and it will be for a long time. But I want you to remember this. Our campaign was never about one person or even one election. It was about the country we love and building an America that is hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted."

3. "The American dream is big enough for everyone. For people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people, and people with disabilities. For everyone."

4. "I have spent my entire adult life fighting for what I believe in. I've had successes and I've had setbacks. Sometimes really painful ones. Many of you are at the beginning of your professional, public, and political careers. You will have successes and setbacks too. This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what's right is worth it. It is. It is worth it."

5. "To all the women and especially the young women who put their faith in this campaign and in me, I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion. I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now."

6. "To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable, and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams."

7. "I believe we are stronger together and we will go forward together. And you should never ever forget fighting that."

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On Tuesday I voted with my daughter. She is only five, but together we cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton. I was so proud to have her help me vote not just for a woman, but for the most qualified candidate in the race. I've always told my daughter she could be anything and for one day, I was telling the truth. And for myself, as a woman who was once a little girl with dreams of becoming the president, the world—for a moment—felt limitless.

I was able to achieve this moment of near-euphoria despite that the fight for America's first female president has been entrenched in opposition. People I know on Facebook share memes with Clinton's face in a target and call her "Killary." And it's not just one side against another; during the Iowa caucuses, a man, a Bernie Sanders supporter, screamed at me and spit in my face. "How," he asked, "could you support that criminal?"

This election has always been about women. From Donald Trump's first comments about Mexican men being rapists, which acted like a dog whistle to our misplaced fears about what threatens women, to Tuesday, when Trump won among white, non-college educated women by 62 percent, and among college-educated white women by 45 percent.

So the glass ceiling may not be broken, but dangerous shards surround us. Clinton's loss reveals how deeply broken America is. The sexism and raging xenophobia revealed by the election of 2016 sets a tenuous foundation for the next four years. If this election cycle has proved anything, it's that we are woefully unprepared for our first female president—and perhaps that's why we needed her the most.

Women, exhausted and grabbed by the pussy once too often, are ready for our first female president. But our country isn't. The warnings were everywhere.

I was told, by coffee shop baristas and family members, that Clinton should go to jail. Photos from Trump rallies show angry men and women wearing buttons that declare Trump that bitch while chanting, "Lock her up!" Yet, this misogyny isn't new.

I remember in the early 90s hearing my father and other men from our church gleefully calling Hillary Clinton "ugly." Such sexism was commonplace. But it wasn't overtly embraced by politicians on the campaign trail until this year, when Donald Trump laid bare the cloaked misogyny of our modern era.

You know the rundown by heart now just as well as I do: numerous sexual assault claims, Trump calling women fat and ugly, bragging about grabbing them by the pussy, muttering "such a nasty woman." With little encouragement, his supporters and campaign surrogates followed their man's lead, minimizing sexual assault as "locker room banter."

Upping the ante of misogyny, Trump has also revealed sexism deep within branches of the government. In the weeks before the election, a conspiracy of men worked to bring down one woman: FBI director James Comey, in an unprecedented move, sent a letter stating that Clinton was being reinvestigated over her emails. This was seen as an attempt todirectly influence the election. Fox News's Bret Baier falsely reported a possible indictment over anFBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. And Rudy Giuliani revealed that the FBI leaked information to the Trump campaign about Clinton.

And all the while, women have been watching and identifying, however, subtly, in what they see. A good friend of mine, a brilliant lawyer, said it best when she observed, "Little girls believe they can be anything. They don't need Hillary Clinton. It's us adult women who need her, because we don't believe—we've had our limits beaten into us since the moment we left college."

That woman is undoubtedly me. I remember when I gave up on my dream of being president. I was 21, sitting in a quiet room, taking the GRE. The day before, I'd learned that one of my sisters had been sexually assaulted. I cried through the whole test.

My plan had been to take the LSATs, go to law school, then run for office. I had been planning it since I was 13. That year, my parents let me stay up late and watch the election, a rare occurrence for our screen-free household. I saw Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole. I asked my father why there were no women presidents. "No one has been good enough," he said.

I took his words as a challenge. It would be me, I thought. I would be the first. I would be good enough, smart enough.

But years later, as my tears blurred the logic questions on the GRE, I thought, This is too much.

The easier thing was just to slink away—something I thought I would never do. I was "good." I was smart. I got almost perfect grades. I didn't drink until I was 21. I was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. I once asked an underage student to leave a party, because I didn't want to get in trouble. But this came at a cost. My senior year of college, I was tired and worn thin from walking the tightrope of perfection—and that's exactly what broke me and what's been expected to break our female president hopeful.

"We expect a great deal from a female candidate for president. It's called perfection. The slightest stumble is magnified 10-fold. Compare Clinton's e-mail carelessness with any of Trump's deliberate false activities with Trump University, his bankruptcies, and the complaints from his vendors who still are waiting to be paid," writes Madeleine May Kunin inBoston Globe. "Some voters are incredibly forgiving of male politicians' mistakes. 'Boys will be boys,' but girls must be goddesses."

And I was that "goddess"—perfect and careful, always doing the "right" thing, until the day I couldn't. How could a woman do all she had to do and put up with all the world threw at her? I wondered.

So I never took the LSATs. I never applied for law school. I married the first good man I met. I moved to Iowa and wondered what had happened to the strong woman I set out to be.

This is how misogyny works: It eats at the foundations of who you are until you find yourself, 33, a mother of two, constantly stepping on the scale, wondering if you, too, have become fat like Alicia Machado—trying to laugh away the compulsion, while also crash dieting. It's me as a little girl listening to my father talk about how "ugly" Hillary Clinton is. And it's me, walking into the bathroom examining my face, hoping I'm not that ugly, too. It's a pastor refusing to meet with me alone. It's the emails I get from people telling me they liked me a lot better when I just wrote about being a mom. It's the liberal men in my neighborhood asking me what my husband thinks of my writing. It's friends and family who gaslight my sister, suggesting that maybe she had been compliant in her assault. Or maybe, they told her, it wasn't as bad as she had thought. It's the family member who once whispered to me that all women have been assaulted, but the good ones don't whine about it.

It's always been there—in men, too but in women, who need to survive. It has always been with us, but it took Donald Trump to present it so starkly before us. To remind us that misogyny has been there all along.

And yet, even as we stared at this neon orange misogyny straight on, so many people explained it away.

As a child in church, I used to wonder at the people in the Bible who saw the face of God and walked away unchanged. But now, as a woman, I wonder at the people who stared at the face of pure misogyny and voted for it anyway.

In the face of Clinton's loss, it's easy to speculate how this election would have played out if we'd had a "better" female candidate. Someone who wasn't so awash in the ugliness of politics. Someone more "likable," someone without whatever it is that makes people turn up their noses. But the truth is, Clinton carries the burden that we gave her—the one we demanded of her. It's the double bind of all women, who are required to be perfect and work like dogs. Required to compromise and work endlessly and wake up fresh-faced and energetic.

It says everything that we can forgive Trump for speaking the sexism, but we can't forgive Clinton for living it.

What this election shows us is that misogyny and racism are, in fact, thriving. A monster was revealed—and elected. If I wanted to show my daughter proof positive of a better world, it has to start now with me teaching her that we cannot give up on our own agendas, even when it is hard—especially when it is hard.

Last night, my sister called me sobbing. She was so tired, she told me, she was so tired of always fighting. "This is how it always goes for us," she said. I told her I loved her. I told her to get sleep and take care of herself, because in the morning I was going to fight for her.

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Donald Trump lost with women overall on Tuesday night—according to CNN exit polls, 54% of women voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and 42% voted for Trump. The majority of white women, however, helped lead Trump to victory.

According to the same polls, 53% of white women cast a ballot for Trump, while 43% voted for Clinton. It appears that Clinton won over college-educated white women by a slim margin, and that non-college-educated white women favored Trump, according to the Associated Press.

The new President-Elect has been caught on tape discussing sexually assaulting women, has been accused by multiple women of groping and sexual assault, and has been criticized for insulting women.

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Women across the United States wore white pantsuits to vote on Tuesday, a nod to suffragettes as well as Hillary Clinton, who's spent this entire election donning her signature look. For the most part, the democratic candidate rocked red, white, and blue (#USA!), but she mixed things up during Wednesday morning's concession speech and wore a Ralph Lauren suit with purple lapels and a matching purple blouse.

Why? Because blue (the color of democrats) and red (the color of republicans) mixed together makes purple. Hillary was sending a sartorial plea for unity, and while it's hard to stay positive, let's take up the mantle and hope that this election will prove that we are, in fact, #StrongerTogether.

P.S. Shoutout to Bill's purple tie.

H/T to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Hillary Clinton just gave her first remarks after losing the election to Donald Trump, who was elected the 45th president of the United States on Wednesday, November 9. The democratic presidential candidate spoke from the Grand Ballroom of the New Yorker Hotel after choosing not to concede last night at the Javits Center. You can watch her speech in full here, and read it below.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Very rowdy group. Thank you, my friends. Thank you. Thank you, thank you so very much for being here. I love you all, too. Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans. This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I'm sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share, and the vision we hold for our country.

But I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together, this vast, diverse, creative, unruly, energized campaign. You represent the best of America and being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I know how disappointed you feel, because I feel it, too. And so do tens of millions of Americans who invested their hopes and dreams in this effort.

This is painful and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this. Our campaign was never about one person or even one election. It was about the country we love and about building an America that's hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought, but I still believe in America and I always will. If you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power and we don't just respect that, we cherish it. It also enshrines other things. The rule of law, the principle that we are all equal in rights and dignity, freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values, too, and we must defend them.

And let me add, our constitutional democracy demands our participation, not just every four years, but all the time. So let's do all we can to keep advancing the causes and values we all hold dear. Making our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top, protecting our country and protecting our planet, and breaking down all the barriers that hold any American back from achieving their dreams.

We have spent a year and a half bringing together millions of people from every corner of our country to say with one voice that we believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone, for people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people and for people with disabilities. For everyone.

So now, our responsibility as citizens is to keep doing our part to build that better, stronger, fairer America we seek, and I know you will. I am so grateful to stand with all of you. I want to thank Tim kaine and Anne holden for being our partners on this journey. It has been a joy getting to know them better and it gives me great hope and comfort to know that Tim will remain on the front lines of our democracy representing Virginia in the senate. To Barack and Michelle Obama, our country owes you an enormous debt of gratitude.

We thank you for your graceful, determined leadership that has meant so much to so many Americans and people across the world. And to bill and Chelsea, Marc, Charlotte, Aden, our brothers and our entire family, my love for you means more than I can ever express. You crisscrossed this country on our behalf and lifted me up when I needed it most, even 4 month old Aden who traveled with his mom. I will always be grateful to the creative, talented, dedicated men and women at our headquarters in Brooklyn and across our country.

You poured your hearts into this campaign. For some of you who are veterans, it was a campaign after you had done other campaigns. Some of you, it was your first campaign. I want each of you to know that you were the best campaign anybody could have ever expected or wanted. And to the millions of volunteers, community leaders, activists and union organizers who knocked on doors, talked to neighbors, posted on Facebook, even in secret private Facebook sites, I want everybody coming out from behind that and make sure your voices are heard going forward.

To everyone who sent in contributions as small as $5 and kept us going, thank you. Thank you from all of us. And to the young people in particular, I hope you will hear this. I have, as Tim said, spent my entire adult life fighting for what I believe in. I have had successes and I have had setbacks. Sometimes really painful ones. Many of you are at the beginning of your professional public and political careers. You will have successes and setbacks, too. This loss hurts but please never stop believing that fighting for what's right is worth it.

It is. It is worth it. And so we need―we need you to keep up these fights now and for the rest of your lives, and to all the women and especially the young women who put their faith in this campaign and in me, I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion.

Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but some day, someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. And to all the little girl whose are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.

Finally―finally, I am so grateful for our country and for all it has given to me. I count my blessings every single day that I am an American, and I still believe as deeply as I ever have that if we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strength in our convictions and love for this nation, our best days are still ahead of us. Because, you know, I believe we are stronger together, and we will go forward together. And you should never, ever regret fighting for that. You know, scripture tells us, let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. So, my friends, let us have faith in each other. Let us not grow weary. Let us not lose heart, for there are more seasons to come, and there is more work to do. I am incredibly honored and grateful to have had this chance to represent all of you in this consequential election. May god bless you, and may god bless the United States of America!

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To: My Darling America

Subject: CLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-4830439 Doc No. C05768582

Date: 11/08/2016

RELEASE IN FULL

From: Hillary Clinton

My Darling America,

I decided to write you this classified e-mail on the morning of our Election, which I presume I have won, because the whole "not seeing each other before the polls close" tradition was freakin' killing me.

I think that it's normal for most people to have "cold feet" before they become President, which is completely understandable, as leading the country will no doubt be a thankless commitment with terrible lifelong personal and professional ramifications, compounded by the fact that I have a vagina. But this is a feeling that I, President-Elect-To-Be Hillary Rodham Clinton, will never experience. As I am writing you this classified email from my secret Bberry, rather than being scared of what the future will hold or what could have been without you, I am sitting here completely content with how my career has played out, other than the Lewinsky scandal and the e-mail BS. If I could live my career one thousand times over, I can honestly say that I would not change a thing except the stuff I just mentioned. America, you truly are the single greatest constituency that has ever happened to me. From the moment we met in Mr. Hinkle's Government class in high school, I seemed to just have this feeling about you. The feeling that I am talking about is, of course, power. And America, I power you.

I've dreamt of winning my Election my whole life. Like all little girls, I pictured the day when I would wear a white pantsuit, walk across stage to a podium, and say "I do...accept the election results!" in front a nationally-televised crowd of millions. We'd make love that night, metaphorically-speaking, from a politician-constituency standpoint…and what sweet, metaphorical love it would be.

I'll admit that the months, days, and moments leading up to our Election Day have been nothing short of a f*cking nightmare. But winning the most important, powerful, internationally-recognized job in the world has reminded me why I fell in love with you in the first place, and made you my bitch. I probably don't tell you this enough, America, but you truly are a beautiful constituency, inside and out.

All my love,

Your President-Elect-To-Be,

Hillz

P.S. HI ASSANGE

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Update, 11/5: Last night, Beyoncé and Jay-Z gave their enthusiastic endorsement of Hillary Clinton at the #GetOutTheVote concert in Cleveland, Ohio. The celeb couple hung out with the presidential candidate during the rally, before taking the stage to voice their support.

Before delivering an epic performance (we'll get to that), Beyoncé gave a rousing speech in which she urged the audience—women in particular—to exercise their right to vote, and let it be known with no uncertainty that she is fully on team HRC:

Queen Bey closed out the show (and probably secured the Beyhive vote for Hillary Clinton) with a performance of "Formation" and "Freedom," during which she and her dancers all rocked Hillary-esque pantsuits.

And during "Run the World," she incorporated a Hillary Clinton quote perfectly. 👌

Blue Ivy, lucky four-year-old that she is, got to watch it all go down from backstage:

Beyoncé and Hillary Clinton hugged; Beyoncé, Hillary Clinton, and Jay-Z hugged; Jay-Z and Beyoncé shared a kiss on stage... Basically, it was the magical night that we all needed with just a handful of days left before the election.

Breaking news: it appears as though Beyoncé is taking time out of her busy schedule of slaying to win Hillary Clinton this election. Because let's be real: even the undecided voters among us can agree that Bey has more influence than any politician.

CBS News reports that Beyoncé will join her Instagram Husband Jay Z at a free concert in Ohio on Friday. Will they perform "Drunk in Love" while Hillary awkwardly stands next to them? That remains to be seen. Either way, the concert (which also includes performances from Katy Perry and John Legend) is reportedly aimed at millennials and African-Americans, and will surely inspire the Beyhive to get out and vote.

There isn't a war this army hasn't won, so expect big things.

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I live in Iowa, and in my church and at my children's parochial school, I'm an anomaly: "that crazy liberal." As a pro-choice, same-sex-rights advocating, Christian-identified feminist, I'm used to a fair amount of stares, passive-aggressive (or just downright aggressive) Facebook comments, and being asked to please not bring up politics at Bible study.

So when I went to caucus for Hillary Clinton back in February, I knew I wouldn't be joined by any friends—they were all across the street with my husband, throwing in with the Republican party. But as I made my way to the Clinton section, I saw the unmistakable wide smile of my neighbor Melody*, a Christian mother I have always assumed votes Republican. Melody is the former director of a local Christian non-profit—a revered religious leader in our town. And the last person I expected to see out here supporting Hillary.

I was stunned. "This is our little secret," she said as she gave me a warm hug. We laughed nervously.

Over the course of the 2016 presidential election, I've come to find that Melody is not the only conservative woman in my community who's secretly voting Democrat. While nodding along with their husbands' politics and passing as Trump supporters in their neighborhoods, there's a group of women making fervent plans for what happens when they're finally alone in the voting booth.

As a swing state, Iowa has oscillated between red and blue for the past several decades. On the one hand, Iowa has some of Washington D.C.'s most conservative representatives. On the other, Iowa has a deeply progressive history. (In 1851, it became the second state in the nation to legalize interracial marriage; in 2009, it became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage.)

And yet, it's full of just the kind of people who support Donald Trump: white Christians, who, according to a 2015 PRRI survey, comprise 67 percent of the state's population, and senior citizens, of whom Iowa has a larger percentage than the national average. That's why, in poll after poll conducted by the Des Moines Register, Donald Trump has maintained a lead over Clinton. Harry Enten, a political writer and analyst for FiveThirtyEight, told the Register that Trump's messaging about "crooked Hillary" has worked particularly well in Iowa: "It's very clear that Iowa voters have a big beef with Hillary Clinton—more so than voters nationally."

All of this weighs heavily on secret Hillary Clinton voter Jennifer*, a wife, mother, and Evangelical Christian in her 30s. "Hillary is not who you would see as a typical Evangelical woman leader," she admits, citing Clinton's pro-choice platform and unapologetic leadership in a male-dominated landscape as potential sticking points. That may explain why Clinton is spending time campaigning in Iowa in the final weeks before the election: to woo women just like her.

When I meet with Jennifer at our favorite local coffee shop, she immediately expresses concern that I'll "out" her. If Jennifer's presidential choice goes get beyond our café table, she says, it could cost her career: She works at a faith-based non-profit with a lot of Evangelicals, which makes it very hard for her to publicly support a Democratic candidate.

As we talk, I look around the coffee shop and see my old boss, the pastor of the Lutheran church, and the photographer from the local paper. This is the kind of closeness that makes me feel claustrophobic—and makes political differences all the more fraught. We live and work with the people we vehemently disagree with—it's just a part of being in Iowa.

One woman who works in Jennifer's office shares homophobic and anti-Hillary Clinton memes on Facebook regularly—things that say Clinton should be in jail or that she's to blame for her husband's infidelity. "This isn't what Christians should be doing," Jennifer tells me—but she keeps her comments to herself online.

She's good at working within conservative religious spaces, and knows that she has to circumvent the issues carefully for professional advancement—and the advancement of her organization, which provides help to women in need. "For a long time the Republican Party has been viewed as the only acceptable choice," she says of her work environment.

This means she steers clear of voicing her beliefs both on social media and in person. "It's just not worth the capital for me to support Clinton in a visible context," she says. "But one on one, I try to convince people that there are other alternatives to Trump."

For the most part, though, she's content to "pass" as a Trump voter. "In a normal election cycle, most Evangelical Christians are assuming others are like them," she says. "I don't correct their assumption."

Susan*, another secret Hillary voter, is less cautious. In her 20s and a mother of two, she grew up in a conservative religious household and went to Bible college. In the past few years she's begun distancing herself from her conservative past—but still, she finds herself reticent to be vocal in her support of Clinton. "I just don't have the emotional energy to go there, especially with other Christians."

That doesn't mean other Iowans haven't gone there with her. Susan's husband is a vocal Clinton supporter, and as a result, she's been in many heated confrontations with friends who ask her how a Christian can support a pro-choice candidate. The emotional effort of constantly feeling like she's under attack—on Facebook, with her family, and with her clients—is taking its toll.

Susan suspects there are other women like her, but that part of the reason conservative female Christian voters won't openly support Clinton is because of the culture of submission in Evangelical churches. Wives are supposed to follow their husbands' lead in every matter, including politics. Speaking out against those traditional teachings can come with a risk—a social penalty of alienation from a very tight-knit community, to which spouses, extended family, children, and support systems are all intricately linked. Still, she knows of pockets of women who are defecting from Trump. "I hope all those people who are saying no to Trump are also, secretly, saying yes to Hillary," she says.

Susan and Jennifer are not as anomalous as we think. There are hundreds of private Facebook groups with names like "Secret Hillary Club," most of which were formed during the caucus, when Clinton supporters felt alienated by ardent Bernie Sanders fans. But now, these online groups have coalesced into places of support and encouragement for counties that burn predominantly red in the polls. Cynthia Silver, a director and acting teacher living in New York City, started her pro-Hillary private Facebook group after a heated social media argument with a former student. Since Clinton won the nomination, Silver has been surprised to see the group grow to well over 2,000 members from all over the country.

One member of Silver's group, Amy*, lives in Ohio (another swing state). As a young Asian-American who grew up Catholic, voicing her support of Clinton is just not something she wants to risk. "When Hillary would show up on TV, my parents wouldn't hesitate to call her a 'liar,' a 'bitch,' and sometimes worse," Amy says. "Since I live near my parents, that makes it very difficult to openly support Hillary. It feels more like Trump supporters are the louder, more aggressive citizens, while the Hillary supporters would prefer to stay quiet rather than draw ire from the opposing side."

That may be changing. With the release of the Access Hollywood tapes in which Trump brags about sexually harassing women and the scores of women who have come forward in the weeks since to accuse him of sexual assault, the wall of silence is starting to break down.

Recently, popular Evangelical author and speaker Beth Moore came out against Donald Trump. She tweeted: "I'm one among many women sexually abused, misused, stared down, heckled, talked naughty to. Like we liked it. We didn't. We're tired of it." In an article for the Daily Beast, Dr. Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, noted that he's seeing a groundswell of conservative Christian women who are privately opposed to Trump. "I have heard from many, many Evangelical women who are horrified by Christian leaders ignoring this as an issue," he said.

Katherine Francis, a political science professor at Western Governor's University, believes this dissatisfaction among women who traditionally vote Republican is indicative of a wider split between religious groups and the Republican Party. "There is deep unrest in the base, which since the 1970s has been associated with the Religious Right," explains Francis, who was raised in a conservative home. "There is a growing number of people questioning whether issues like gay marriage and abortion should even be the primary issues for people of faith."

Even in times of great Republican shift, the real impact of secret party-hoppers is impossible to measure. Bruce Nesmith, a professor of political science at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, doesn't doubt that there are secret supporters for Clinton, but "all we have is survey data and we know that with survey data people tend to give the more socially acceptable answer," he observes.

It's the "spiral of silence" theory in action, which argues that because of our fear of isolation, an individual will be silent rather than voice what seems like an unpopular opinion. And breaking with Evangelical tradition to vote Democrat in this particular election is especially taboo, given Clinton's association with her husband, who drew fire from the Religious Right during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

"If you're a Republican and an Evangelical voting for Trump, you probably know other people like you," observes Susan. "But if you're an Evangelical and Republican voting for Clinton...well, you are alone."

Maybe not forever. Maybe these women are just the start.

*Names have been changed.

Donald Trump referred to Hillary Clinton as a "nasty woman" during their third and final debate on Wednesday night — sparking quite an empowering reaction from viewers,including apparel — but it wasn't so long ago that Trump had an entirely different view of his opponent.

In a 2008 interview with NY1, a local news station in New York City, Trump praised both Hillary and Bill Clinton, calling Hillary a "great senator" and a "great wife to a president." In the three-minute clip published just before Wednesday's debate, Trump also discussed how well the country did during the Clinton years.

"You know you look at the country then," he said. "The economy was doing great. Look at what happened during the Clinton years. I mean, we had no war, the economy was doing great, everybody was happy. A lot of people hated him because they were jealous as hell. You know people get jealous and they hate you."

Trump has attacked Bill Clinton for his sexual misconduct in the White House and criticized trade deals he helped steward as president. But in a 2008 blog post, which CNN unearthed, Trump addressed the NY1 interview, continuing to lavish praise upon the Clintons.

"Hillary is smart, tough and a very nice person, and so is her husband," he said. "Bill Clinton was a great President. They are fine people. Hillary was roughed up by the media, and it was a tough campaign for her, but she's a great trouper. Her history is far from being over."

Prior to this year's bruising and bitter campaign, the Clintons and the Trumps were at least on friendly terms. Trump has donated to past Clinton campaigns and contributed to the Clinton Foundation, according to NPR. The Clintons attended Trump's wedding to Melania in 2005; Bill and Donald have been photographed playing golf together, and their daughters, Chelsea and Ivanka, are friends and, according to Chelsea, will remain friends after the Nov. 8 election.

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From: Elle

It's become impossible to talk about feminism without at least mentioning the three most visible women in American culture today: Kim Kardashian, who embodies sex and power, a new form of independence that courts controversy for seeming, to some, degrading. Taylor Swift, who embodies friendship and equanimity, the push to help other women and to be relentlessly positive above all else. And Hillary Clinton, who embodies ambition and career success and is judged for the exact lack of the others' traits: not being womanly enough, not being warm enough, not being "enough" enough.

Through all the praise and criticism of social and mainstream media, these women have come to represent the three distinct pillars of the feminist agenda—no overlap, no wiggle room, no gray area. You're either a Taylor or a Kim or a Hillary—you can't be all three, and they certainly can't either. (Or perhaps you're a Beyoncé, who arguably produces feminist art but whose personal politics we know next to nothing about).

Maybe feminism is still too new and too threatening to be portrayed as anything but cartoonishly simple, painted with broad strokes in black and white.

And how lame is that? That these archetypes—which Swift, Kardashian, and Clinton have been unwittingly cast in by our culture—leave no room for complexity or humanness? That we still have to fit a mold, even while breaking another one?

Taylor Swift has built an empire on being unapologetically girl-geared, which explains why she, more than her pop-star peers, has been elevated to the rank of feminist figurehead. Thanks to her squad and the anti-bullying messages in her music, she's been pigeonholed into a "virginal" role, one that has nothing to do with actual sex and everything to do with how she comes across: coy smiles, sweet makeup, sleepovers with her friends. She can get away with a lot, but, as she has noted, not with being seen with two men in the same week.

She's expected to be Female Empowerment: Squeaky-Clean Edition.

If Swift represents girl gangs and that lean-in group mentality of pushing other women forward with your own success, then Kardashian is about empowerment of the self over all else. Her brand of feminism is defined by a refusal to acknowledge or bend to the opinions of others: Kardashian posts nude selfies. Kardashian appropriates black culture. Kardashian oozes sex, demanding that you see her for her body just as much as her motherhood, if not more. She doesn't smile—she pouts, smolders, and poses. She walks with her impeccably dressed children in tow, looking you in the eye and daring you to challenge the validity of her unabashed love of her own body. Even her kids have a stare-down that would turn you to dust.

Then there's Hillary Clinton, who may not be the Original Feminist, but who, for a new generation, could be. She has stood proudly in those pantsuits for decades with a firm, calm demeanor that seems to say, "This is feminism, and it is work."

Clinton's feminism is tireless, in both appearance and effort. It isn't about fun or sex or self-empowerment so much as it is about the unyielding work of being a woman. Clinton's feminism isn't pretty. It doesn't cater to sexuality or safety in numbers. It is in many ways the most accurate indicator of what feminism feels like for many of us: a job.

Of course, none of these figures is as one-dimensional as their designated "characters" imply. But we've begun to compartmentalize feminism into separate categories rather than allow it—and the people inside it—breathing room.

Want proof? See what happens every time one of these women reveals themselves to be multi-dimensional: We attack.

When Kardashian had a baby, the world lost its mind over the provocative nude magazine cover that followed. Mothers can't be sex objects!

When Swift was shown (by none other than Kardashian) to be a smart, shrewd businesswoman concerned about—gasp!—her image, the world threw a #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty.

Watch literally any news network right now and see how Clinton's gender is relentlessly analyzed simply for existing. Her voice is too stern! She doesn't smile enough! Her demeanor is too masculine, but her body is too feminine and fragile—look, she just coughed!

Feminism in 2016 isn't inclusive, or empowering. It's divisive. It's like boxing with one hand tied behind your back, or playing poker with half a deck of cards. You can be yourself...as long as your self isn't contradictory to the acceptable types of women allowed in the world.

You can be a working mom as long as you don't talk about your sex life too loud. You can be a powerful leader but only if you don't threaten the men while you're at it.

The sad thing about our treatment of Clinton, Kardashian, and Swift is that they may collectively be some of the most multi-dimensional, talented, and successful women in recent history. They've created empires for themselves, broken records, and shattered ceilings. They're quite literally pioneers for our gender, and yet we still push them off into separate corners, swatting them back when they try to flex their muscles.

Swift is a record-selling machine who has revolutionized the music industry all while being the one of the most charitable celebrities in history a good girl who sings songs.

Kardashian is an iconic businesswoman who has mastered modern technology to create a billion-dollar brand out of nothing a reality star with a sex tape.

Clinton is one of the single most experienced political candidates ever to run for presidential office a harsh-looking know-it-all.

There are, of course, countless other women who are redefining and challenging female roles in society today, women who are quite literally in the business of feminism: Laverne Cox, Roxane Gay, Ellen Page, Chimimanda Ngozi Adiche, and Malala Yousafzai all defy compartmentalization. But we don't give them a fraction of the attention that we give to Taylor Swift being seen in public with a man, or to Kim Kardashian taking a selfie with her clothes off.

It might be how we've gotten to the point where a man is running for president whose view of women is so unilateral and skin-deep that he uses sexual assault and menstruation and body-fat percentage as talking points.

Are we going to keep calling it an accident that he's made it this far, or are we going to start considering the fact that a large percentage of the country agrees with what he says? Are we going to consider that millions of people would prefer to have a possible sexual predator as president than a woman who comes off as "bitchy" for just being there in the first place?

The future is, as we know deep down in our feminist hearts, female—but only if we allow it to be.

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Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail after taking a few sick days to recover from pneumonia, and she delivered a pretty thoughtful update about her health. So, what did the presidential hopeful get up to during her time off? Aside from obsessively scrolling through Donald Trump's Twitter feed (one assumes), she pretty much hung out with her adorable dogs.

"It's great to be back on the campaign trail. As you may know, I recently had a cough that turned out to be pneumonia," Clinton told crowds in North Carolina. "I tried to power through it, but even I had to admit that maybe a few days of rest would do me good. I'm not great at taking it easy, even under ordinary circumstances, and sitting home was pretty much the last place I wanted to be with just two months until Election Day. But having a few days to myself was actually a gift. I talked with some old friends and spent time with our very sweet dogs."

Sounds like #goals, but the democratic candidate also noted that people in her position are lucky enough to be able to afford days off work. Not everyone has that luxury. "Millions of Americans can't," she said. "They either go to work sick, or they lose a paycheck. Lots of Americans still don't even have insurance—or they do, but it's too expensive to actually use."

We can all agree that the flu-ridden among us deserve a few days to relax at home and get better, right?

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Donald Trump just revealed his maternity leave policy for working moms, and it's...well...a decent(ish) effort. The republican presidential hopeful plans to give new moms six weeks of paid maternity leave, which is super nice and generous of him—just not quite as nice and generous as Hillary Clinton's policy, which is literally twice as long.

"We need working mothers to be fairly compensated for their work, and to have access to affordable, quality child care for their kids," Trump said, while his daughter Ivanka Trump (who influenced the policy) explained. "As a society we need to create policies that champion all parents, enabling the American family to thrive."

Trump held up this small child while delivering the news, which...okay, sure.

While Hillary offers more time off than Trump (12 weeks, to be exact), she's also offering leave to both mothers and fathers. "We're not living in a Mad Men era anymore where only women are taking care of infants," policy advisor Maya Harris said. "It's just completely unserious. While his plan would undercut women in the workplace, it also provides no relief to working families."

Meanwhile, Ivanka criticized Clinton for not enacting better childcare policies during her time in public office, telling Good Morning America, "Respectfully, Clinton has been around for decades and there's no policy benefiting either mothers or fathers in terms of paid leave. Certainly she had opportunity to have a concept like that in the past. We have not been in public office for the last several decades and she has, so she could have instituted some of those policies in that role and has not done so."

Fair point, but—ahem—Hillary's website begs to differ.

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Hillary Clinton is often unfairly criticized for being "cold," "unsmiling," and lots of other adjectives that her male peers simply don't have to deal with. And while it's the belief of *yours truly* that Hillary does not come off as cold (have you heard her talk about her granddaughter?!), she recently took accountability for her poker face. And you guessed it—said poker face is the result of years of being questioned, marginalized, and put-down.

In an interview with Humans of New York (read the full Facebook post below), the democratic presidential candidate explains that the treatment she endured in law school inevitably made her guarded. If she's cold, it's because she had to be.

"I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional. But I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions. And that's a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don't want to seem 'walled off.' And sometimes I think I come across more in the 'walled off' arena. And if I create that perception, then I take responsibility. I don't view myself as cold or unemotional. And neither do my friends. And neither does my family. But if that sometimes is the perception I create, then I can't blame people for thinking that."

Any other women find this relatable? Hillary Clinton has spent her life making her mark in a male-dominated field, and that deserves applause—not derision—no matter what face she's making. Oh, and P.S., most of the time she looks like this:

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Look, we know it's hard to focus on feuds other than Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift's, but all celebrity drama is created equal—which brings us to Chloë Grace Moretz. The Neighbors star still has a lot of feelings about The Wife of Pablo, and now she's bringing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton into it.

In case you need a pop culture refresher, Chloë and Kim began their feud after Mrs. West posted a naked selfie to social.

"I think I gave my attention to people who don't deserve my attention," Moretz recently told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about the tweets. "In some ways I think I regret giving them the attention, [though] I don't regret what I said."

The actress went on to casually muse that Hillary Clinton inspired her not to care about the following Kim clap back:

"I realized that being the most opinionated and loud person in the room is not always the most impactful. I learned that from Hillary," she said. "'It's great to be feisty.' Those were her exact words. But sometimes the smartest way to get into the psyche of people is to be the quietest person in the room. Let everyone else bicker and throw their words around and then you come in with the quiet voice and that will be the most impactful."

Truer words, etc, but remember—two can play the Hillary friendship game:

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In his first official role as the spouse of a presidential nominee, Bill Clinton did what is normally the role of the future First Lady: give a speech humanizing the candidate. He recounted their history together as a married couple, recast her as "first and foremost a mother," and spoke emphatically about all the work she did while the world's eyes were on him.

But even in this speech, Bill did what wouldn't be considered appropriate in a First Lady (a title his wife's election would morph into First Man—or possibly First Gentleman or First Spouse, TBD): He took aim directly at Donald Trump, depicting him as fake and inexperienced. It was a grand departure from the traditionally more demure "First Lady" speech—and as the potential First Man, Bill might digress from the conventional etiquette in much more drastic ways than that.

He is, after all, different from every First Spouse before him, not just in gender but in the fact that he once held the office of President himself. He knows better than anyone what the job requires—and, perhaps acutely, how best to support it.

Not that he'll follow the same decorum.

Think of what First Ladies are generally praised for. From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, the things we love in a First Lady are her clothes, her parties, and her unwavering support of her husband. In its obituary for Nancy Reagan, The New York Times praised her for showering her husband, President Ronald Reagan, with adoration: "Mrs. Reagan was a fierce guardian of her husband's image, sometimes at the expense of her own, and during Mr. Reagan's improbable climb from a Hollywood acting career to the governorship of California and ultimately the White House, she was a trusted adviser." During a segment on the Today Show, Reagan's son complimented the fact that she was "totally dedicated to her husband."

The way Nancy Reagan was praised says more about our concept of the First Lady than it does the woman herself. Will we expect the same servile, decorative bauble temperament from a First Man that we have historically expected from First Ladies?

Based on Bill's DNC speech, probably not. So what will this role entail? And what etiquette should we expect these men to follow?

Here's what we do know: If Clinton does become President, Bill will not be picking out china patterns.

The Job Description

Clinton has indicated that Bill would be in charge of fixing the economy—much more substantive work than most First Ladies are tasked with managing from the desk of their East Wing office. (See above re: having been President.) Clinton has also said that she will be reliant on her husband with an "all hands on deck" approach, depicting him as a behind-the-scenes advisor—a role many First Ladies, like Eleanor Roosevelt, were openly criticized for.

An article in The New York Times goes so far as to encourage Clinton to keep her husband busy: "Historically, when Mr. Clinton does not have a job to do, he gets into trouble." Putting the onus on the woman to keep her man happy has, of course, long been the sexist criticism leveled at the aggrieved spouse—and here we see it again, in 2016.

In any case, we do know that Bill's unique position as former President means he will not be sacrificing his career, as many First Spouses have before him. "The way he will upend the role of presidential spouse will have more to do with his résumé than his gender," Kate Anderson Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies, tells MarieClaire.com. "We will only know how the position will change once a woman wins the presidency who has a husband who is a doctor or a lawyer. Then we will see if he will be expected to give up his career for the unpaid and misunderstood position. I doubt it."

We have a model for this: Michelle Obama gave up her career (in health, education, and law) to support her husband's bid for the presidency. In 2009, she said quite frankly, "Clearly Barack's career decisions are leading us. They're not mine; that's obvious. I'm married to the President of the United States. I don't have another job, and it would be problematic in this role. So that—you can't even measure that." She later added that the equality in a marriage ought to be measured over its lifetime and not just over the length of a presidency. And it might be this quid pro quo that we're seeing now in the partnership between the Clintons.

Though perhaps the best model for what it will be like to have a First Man in the White House is the Presidents who had no spouses at all.

Thomas Jefferson, whose wife died before he took office, relied on Dolly Madison—the wife of later President James Madison. Martin Van Buren, also a widower, leaned on his daughter-in-law, Sarah Angelica Singleton Van Buren. Chester A. Arthur was also a widower and had his sister unofficially assume the role of First Lady. James Buchannan was a bachelor, so his niece, Harriet Lane, served as de facto First Lady.

C-Span president Susan Swain has even speculatedthat Bill Clinton could be tossed from the First Man title altogether with the couple's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, assuming the duties of First Lady. Now that would be a coup.

The alternate—if by far least likely—scenario is Clinton hiring someone to fill the role. A move that would revolutionize the East Wing, monetizing years of unpaid labor, sacrifice, and support. A move that would create a little breathing room in the East Wing, giving future First Ladies the ability to be more than just extensions of their partners.

Regardless of the role the First Man takes, it makes sense that Hillary, former Secretary of State and Senator, should have the chance to move back into the West Wing. Think of it as a final renovation of the White House, except it's not wallpaper she's tearing down—it's stereotypes about women.

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When the Democratic National Convention formally nominated Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday, it was a monumental and historic moment for women humans across the country. As Hillary said herself, "we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet."

But, by Wednesday morning, countless newspapers and media outlets decided to cover the historic nomination with a picture of Bill on the front page. Interesting choice, indeed. Sure, he spoke on Tuesday and gave a moving speech on the epic Hill-Bill love story, but, uh, guys? This wasn't his moment—it was Hillary's. (Thankfully Twitter users were ready to set the record straight.)

The Wall Street Journal made the mistake in the first edition of Wednesday's print issue, featuring an image of Bill:

And although a later edition of Wednesday's paper did feature Hillary:

At that point, the WSJ website still did not show the actual nominee. Still bad.

The Chicago Tribune made the same mistake, with a picture of Bill on the front page and a headline so unclear it literally could have been from the 1992 DNC where Bill was nominated. Seriously, it doesn't even specify which Clinton won.

The Washington Post at least mentioned Hillary, but still only included a photo of Bill.

Local newspapers made the same mistake. The Buffalo News used a Bill photo on their front page:

The San Diego Union-Tribune's website prominently featured Bill, even mentioning his "emotional boost" to his wife's nomination:

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette also only showed Bill. It's his home state, yes, but still?

And finally, this zoomed in image of The Alaska Dispatch News front page shows an image from the crowd of just Bill.

Of course Hillary is largely supported by her husband, and the former president/potential First Gentleman combo is historic for Bill as well. But, the decision to cover the wrong Clinton is just that—wrong. As usual, the Twittersphere said it best:

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Bill Clinton just delivered his hotly anticipated DNC speech, and basically recounted the plot of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Because yes, that's how cute his love story with Hillary Clinton is.

"In the spring of 1971, I met a girl," Bill began. "The first time I saw her, we were appropriately enough in a class on political and civil rights. She had thick blonde hair, big glasses, wore no makeup. And she exuded this sense of strength and self-possession that I found magnetic."

In the words of Kenickie in Grease, keep talkin', oh, keep talkin':

Let's pause for a quick water break 'cause the romantic tension is too hot to handle.

Kay, cool. Moving on, Bill faked his way through a class registry just to see her again.

"We stood in line and talked…and I thought I was doing pretty well. 'Til we got to the front of the line and the registrar looked up and said, 'Bill what are you doing here, you registered this morning!' I turned red, and she laughed that big laugh of hers. And I thought, 'Well heck, since my cover's been blown,' I just went ahead and asked her to take a walk down to the art museum. We've been walking, talking, and laughing together ever since."

Bill asked Hillary to marry him three times before she said yes, but it was worth the wait. "I married my best friend. I was still in awe, after more than four years of being around her, at how smart, and strong, and loving, and caring she was."

Annnnd cut to Warner Brothers and FOX fighting over the rights to this movie.

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