Kirsten Gillibrand (1966-)
Kirsten Gillibrand is from Albany, New York. She was raised in a house of women which one could categorize as "independent" and full of "free thinkers". Her household role models were only the beginning of the conscious and thoughtful approach to equality which Kirsten Gillibrand seeks out today. Being raised in a house like this, how can one expect to result in being anything but a strong and independent woman as well.
As a young lady transitioning into adulthood, Gillibrand had a lot of influence in the area of having her own opinions and voicing them. Gillibrand left the house to attend an all-female prep school followed by Dartmouth College. Unfortunately, in the educational establishment of Dartmouth, Kirsten Gillibrand experienced strong sexism.
Gillibrand majored in Asian studies in college. To grasp a deeper and more complete understanding for the culture, she traveled to China where she was given the opportunity to interview political leader Dalai Lama. Following her education at Dartmouth, she attended the University of California for her law degree.
In 2006, Gillibrand received her sear on the House of Representatives despite New York's tendency to remain primarily Republican whereas Gillibrand ran Democrat. She resigned from the House in 2009, but only to move on in becoming the youngest elected member of the Senate at the age of 43. She began to run in the 2020 presidential election, however, unfortunately experienced low success with this election.
Kirsten Gillibrand has been advocating for gay rights and same-sex marriage throughout her time in politics. The senator led in the repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy which banned open service of gays. She also took part in fighting for women's rights. She fought for change in the handling of military sexual assault. When calling for a vote for the Military Justice Improvement Act, the vote was lost. However, Gillibrand's relentless determination allowed her to partake in proposing the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (link below), which increases the regulations when handling sexual assault cases along with having the intent to influence a decrease in cases.
I believe that Gillibrand's fight for women's rights is making a huge impact. Gillibrand is using her political strength towards fighting for women whom are lacking justice when they need it most. Senator Gillibrand is speaking for all of the women who feel like their voices do not matter. She is fighting every day to bring back the voices of survivors and not allow their stories to be invalidated. In 2015, she wrote a novel titled "Off the Sidelines: Speak Up, Be Fearless, and Change Your World". In her New York Times Bestseller, she speaks of here personal story and reaches out to other women to make a difference in the world, because its their world too.
Most women who report sexual assaults are not believed in their stories and are never given back their justice. Kirsten Gillibrand's work really resonates in my life and I found her to be a very critical addition to the fight for gender equality. Gillibrand shares stories of sexual assault survivors whom request her voice and widespread audience with the intent to reach people who want to enact change like they do. Her fight is advancing each day as more people become aware and motivated to fight against sexual assault. I hope we can all be motivated to follow in Gillibrand's steps in staying "off the sidelines".
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=senaor+gillibrand
https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/about
https://www.biography.com/political-figure/kirsten-gillibrand
Kirsten Gillibrand growing up in a free thinking house hold is what allowed her to express her opinions and that is probably what allowed her to be so successful to this day. We hear about all these women getting their voices suppressed, but this is the opposite and I'm glad she got to say what was needed to say about women's rights and other important civilities. That's also awesome she got to be the youngest in the House of Representatives to show younger ladies and children that they can do absolutely anything if they put their mind to it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning about Kirsten Gillibrand. I love her focus of activism with the military; members of the LGBTQ community need more support and representation than what they have currently (especially under Trump). I think her focus on assault on women in the military is also important because it's even more taboo than regular sexual assault and is easy to not even realize it's going on. I think this goes to show women can do a lot with their voice when they're allowed to use it.
ReplyDeleteThe work that Kirsten Gillibrand is doing for sexual assault survivors is so important. The response sexual assault survivors are met with when they share their stories publicly is often horrific. There are plenty of go to talking points to victim blame that are disheartening to see, but often the response is to just not believe them. People will find any excuse to try and discredit survivors’ stories. People act like the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to debating the validity of these claims, but it’s so much more complex than a random stranger on the internet reading the statement and making up their mind on whether or not it happened. Cases of sexual assault are so hard to be prosecuted on and far too often the perpetrator walks free. The backlash and often unproductive results of court cases is why so many survivors are afraid to come forward. By giving these people a positive space to step forward in, Gillibrand is playing a role in helping with the daunting process of sharing something so traumatic with a world that will nitpick it to death.
ReplyDeleteWe love seeing an education women obtain leadership roles and use them to promote equality. I love her resilience and dedication to gay rights and protecting those against sexual harassment. Her work with the military is interesting because I feel like we don't hear about activism in that field as much. Her ability to share sexual assault stories for others is truly inspiring. I know it can be hard for some to get their story out and the help that they need. Just by telling their stories, Gillibrand is helping these survivors in tremendous ways. It's always nice to have a voice when you are voiceless. I think she is truly an inspiration and a great person to write a blog about. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGillibrand is such a great example of a woman in a leadership role. We need more voices like hers to help things change. The patriarchal system has not addressed the many issues that have plagued so many individuals who have been voiceless for so long. Gillibrand is an inspiration.
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