politics

A message for the first female President of America.

You’re out there, somewhere. Watching.

You might be heart-sick today, like so many of us are.

You might be wondering exactly what it takes to be considered qualified for the world’s most high-profile job.

You might be weighing up whether the personal attacks and vitriol could ever make putting your head above the parapet of public life worth it.

hillary-clinton-getty
Someday, someone will shatter the glass ceiling. (Image via Getty.)

Then again, you may be fist-pumping.

You might be thinking that if an ill-qualified man with a cupboard full of skeletons, criminal charges piling up against him and no regard for the "rules" of politics - or indeed, human decency - can win, then it's true what they say: Absolutely anyone can be President.

Even a woman.

Hear Mia Freedman, Rosie Waterland, Jessie Stephens and others debrief about the US election on a special Mamamia Out Loud bonus episode.

Don't think for a moment that yesterday's result will set you back.

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It should not. It will not.

It will motivate and drive you to one day - literally or figuratively - stand on that stage below an ocean of glass.

Smart, strong, committed women who are capable of taking a hammer to the world's toughest ceiling will not be deterred.

You will organise. You will plan. You will work. And you will know that the trailblazers who have come before you, who took the body-blows reserved the First anything, have weakened that ceiling for you.

Women like Hillary Clinton. Women like Julia Gillard. Their courage has chipped away at that barrier.

Hillary Clinton's courage has chipped away at the barrier. (Image via Getty)

It will be your triumph to be the one who breaks through.

To the first Female President of the United States. To the next female Prime Minister of Australia:

Don't stop.

Never stop.