Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton believes her experience in politics serves as a model for women around the world.
“I have often thought that I am a kind of a Rorschach test for people who are trying to make sense, not just of me personally, but of women’s roles and women’s expanded opportunities, in not only America but around the world,” she said during a paid college speech at Rutgers University.
Clinton expressed disappointment that she was no longer seen as an individual because she had been in the public spotlight for 25 years.
She pointed out that she was “the first woman of my generation” as First Lady who actually had a law degree before going to the White House with her husband, which brought about “assumptions and caricatures.” She also pointed to her “monumental” role in working for health care reform as First Lady.
“I would hope that people would spend a little bit of time actually looking behind the image or the picture, and that is I think is what we hope for all of us, we want to be known as who we are and judged positively and negatively based on what we actually do and not by what people said we did,” she said.
Clinton said that the 2016 election was “traumatic” but added that long walks in the woods, some chardonnay and writing her book “What Happened” helped her cope.
She warned the audience that they should be prepared to experience people who want to pull back opportunities and progress for women.
“You have to understand that’s part of breaking through glass ceilings and moving forward and bringing others with you,” she said. “You cannot allow yourselves to get discouraged about that because it’s going to happen.”