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We recently sat down with Hillary Clinton to talk about what kind of leader she wants to be, why she's adding campus sexual assault to the list of vital issues all candidates should be talking about, and why women's issues aren't just for women — but, rather, for every American.
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We recently sat down with Hillary Clinton to talk about what kind of leader she wants to be, why she's adding campus sexual assault to the list of vital issues all candidates should be talking about, and why women's issues aren't just for women — but, rather, for every American.
Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
For the latest trends and videos, visit: refinery29 [dot] com
Like Refinery29 on Facebook: Refinery29
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Secretary Clinton, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:02Thank you. I'm delighted to be here with you.
00:04Can you tell us a little bit about where we are and why we're here?
00:07We are on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa.
00:11And I came here today to roll out a policy about sexual assault on campus.
00:18And I chose to come here because they've actually been a leader in trying to figure out how to have
00:25a comprehensive system,
00:26a fair process, and increased education and prevention.
00:31I wanted to come to a place that is trying to really deal with the problem, not deny it, not
00:36push it under the rug.
00:37One in five women are affected by sexual assault on campuses and, as you know, throughout our society.
00:45So this is a serious problem for everyone, and it's something that I am personally committed to trying to address.
00:50It feels like a bold move to put this front and center in a presidential campaign.
00:56Why is that issue so important to you?
00:59That's a really fair question because usually when you run for president, you talk about the economy,
01:05you talk about national security, you talk about some additional issues like health care and education,
01:10all of which, of course, I'm talking about and have very specific ideas about what to do.
01:15I want to be the president who takes on these big issues, whether it's climate change or Syrian refugees or
01:22ISIS or anything else.
01:23But I also want to be the president who really helps people with the problems that they worry about in
01:31their own lives,
01:32the problems that keep you up at night, the problems that might be a lack of childcare or a friend's
01:38mental health issues
01:39or your own substance abuse issues or, certainly in the case of so many young women, sexual assault, which is
01:46real and which affects them.
01:48If not them personally, often someone they know and care about.
01:52I think a president can do a lot to help set an agenda that is both very big and global.
02:00Let's combat climate change and let's get clean energy, but also personal and local so that we can do better
02:08together.
02:08I really want to see our country coming together and helping everybody be more empowered to make the best decisions
02:14they can make in their lives.
02:17There are a lot of voters that we hear from.
02:19They're only interested in economic issues and less so social issues.
02:24But shouldn't they be thinking about women's issues based on their economic impact?
02:29I do. And economic issues in today's world are, of course, about how we get incomes rising again.
02:36That's the very center of my economic policy, how we get the deck to be stacked in favor of hardworking
02:44people,
02:44not just rigged in favor of those at the top. And I'm laying out a lot of those policies.
02:49However, here's what I want your viewers to know, and that is if you want to grow the economy, if
02:56you want it to be fairer
02:57and have more people really benefiting from their hard work and their productivity and sharing in the profits that they
03:04help to make, you have to focus on women.
03:08You have to focus on whether young women, middle age women, all women are being treated fairly in the workplace.
03:17Because when women aren't, that not only hurts them, it hurts their families, it hurts the economy.
03:22So when I talk about affordable childcare, that's an economic issue, not a social issue. It's an economic issue.
03:28When I talk about paid leave and I point out that we're one of the very few countries, the only
03:34advanced economy,
03:35that doesn't take into account how much more difficult it is for most women to balance family and work.
03:41That's not just a personal issue or a social issue. That's also an economic issue.
03:46And certainly when I talk about equal pay for equal work, it is long past time we finally got that
03:52fixed.
03:53As a young woman or a woman of any age, you should be as right entitled to equal pay for
04:00equal work.
04:01So these are economic issues and they're family income issues and they're advancement issues.
04:06I don't want to see young women who work hard, who get their education, who are really out there trying
04:12to make the most out of their own lives
04:14to wake up as so many have in the past and realize they're doing the same job as a young
04:20man hired at the same time
04:21and they're not being paid the same. That's not America. That's just wrong.
04:25In a lot of ways today, the economic issues and the social and the personal issues have to be integrated.
04:30And that's why in my economic proposals I talk a lot about how we need to make the workplace work
04:35for women.
04:36What do you want to say to those women that feel a little bit afraid to negotiate, a little bit
04:40afraid to ask for equal pay?
04:42I understand that. I know that it's not easy. I remember very well the first job I had out of
04:48law school, I didn't negotiate.
04:50The second job I had out of law school, I didn't negotiate. I was just so happy to have a
04:54job
04:55and have a job that I thought would be purposeful and give me some real opportunity to grow.
05:01But the more I represented people, the more I was a lawyer for people, the more I saw what was
05:08happening out in the work world,
05:09the more convinced I became that young women need to follow Sheryl Sandberg's advice about leaning in.
05:17Doing it in a smart way, not in a way that's going to cause a lot of waves, but a
05:22way which is going to put your worth front and center.
05:26I've often said that I've employed a lot of people now. I've worked with a lot of young people in
05:31my various jobs over the years.
05:33And often when I come to a young woman and I say, I want to give you more responsibility or
05:37we think you're ready for a bigger job.
05:41She will say, do you really believe that or are you sure? And that's kind of ingrained in us about,
05:47wait a minute, are you really talking to me?
05:49When I go to a young man and I say, we're looking for greater responsibility for you, maybe a different
05:54job.
05:55Honestly, they will say maybe not exactly these words, but the message will be what took you so long.
06:00You know, I, of course, I'm ready. I'm able.
06:03So part of my message to young women is first and foremost, believe in yourself, believe in who you are.
06:12You have a unique contribution to make to the world. We all have gifts. They're all different gifts.
06:16And you have something that can make life better, not just in your home with your relationships, but in the
06:23broader world of work in society, in politics.
06:26And so study what experts, people who've been very successful, like my friend Sheryl Sandberg and others, tell you how
06:33to do this and how to take that deep breath.
06:36It is scary, but to go ahead and take it, to try it out with your friends and just be
06:41specific.
06:42Here's what I've done. Here is the feedback I've gotten.
06:45I really believe that I am the best person to continue this project or this work plan, and I want
06:53to be sure that I am paid accordingly.
06:56It's scary, but we need women supporting other women, too.
06:59We need to kind of remove the mystery about pay. In some places, you can't even find out what somebody
07:05doing the same job is getting.
07:07And so we have to get more transparency and more information so that young women are supported in the risk
07:14they feel they're taking in trying to get paid fairly and equally.
07:17One of the resonant things that we hear from our audience all the time is this idea of hope and
07:22optimism.
07:23Yes.
07:24No matter what the stats are, no matter what the news is, they believe that they can change the world.
07:29They believe they're going to live in a better world.
07:31Yes.
07:31What is it about this generation that makes you most hopeful?
07:34I am thrilled to meet so many young women who believe exactly as you are describing, that they are hopeful,
07:42they are optimistic,
07:43because there has never been a better time in history or a better place in history to be a young
07:49woman than in the United States of America in 2015.
07:53And I feel that so strongly.
07:56So, yes, do we have some challenges? Of course we do. We're human beings. We're going to have challenges.
08:00But we have to keep working to make our country the place it should be, the place we know it
08:05can be.
08:06But what really excites me about a lot of millennials is that there's a great devotion to public service.
08:13I hear it. I see it. They get involved in all kinds of service activities and projects in their community,
08:20at their workplace, on their campus, if they're still in school.
08:22So they really do feel the urge to try to improve somebody's life, to try to deal with both small
08:29problems here at home, maybe cleaning up a park, and giant problems around the world like combating climate change.
08:34So I'm thrilled that that is the ethos that I am seeing when I go to campuses, when I speak
08:40with young women in particular.
08:42I would just like to connect that with the very real need to be active politically.
08:48Because I often hear from young women that I speak with about these issues.
08:52They love public service. They love to be involved in good causes and charities and all kinds of actions that
09:00give them a lot of satisfaction.
09:01But they're not so enthusiastic about being involved in politics.
09:06And what I try to explain is how whatever individual commitment you have, whether it's tutoring a child or working
09:15at a food bank, whatever it might be,
09:17I applaud you and I thank you. I'm very grateful.
09:20But it's really hard to meet all the needs that we have for all the kids who need to be
09:25tutored, all the people who might need extra nutrition,
09:29particularly children or pregnant women, without having political change, without having political leaders who will work hand in hand with
09:37the not-for-profit sector and the private sector,
09:40to try to meet the very human needs that Americans have and certainly many people around the world.
09:46So don't give up on politics. Don't turn away from politics. Look for ways to become educated, to become involved,
09:55to feel that you can see a linkage between an issue or cause you care about
10:02and what could be done by somebody you support, work for or vote for in politics.
10:07I think running for office is something that requires a tremendous amount of confidence but also competitiveness to say, you
10:15know, I'm going to win this. I can do this.
10:17Which we see less among women. We see women less likely to run once and then not get the seat
10:24and then run a second time.
10:25You've done it. You've done it. As a senator, you're doing it again as president.
10:30Have you always had that confidence or have you cultivated it?
10:34I have not. I have not. I, like every other woman that I ever grew up with, any one of
10:41my friends, this has been a journey.
10:43And I was coming of age just at the beginning of the women's movement, just when all of the options
10:51were being discussed.
10:52Now, I was fortunate. I had parents and teachers who never made distinctions, at least that I can recall, between
11:00the boys and the girls.
11:01You know, they expected us all to work hard, do well and all of that, which gave me a good
11:06foundation to believe I could be successful if I tried.
11:08But I didn't have any smooth path. And in fact, the first time I was seriously thinking about running for
11:16office, I was an adult.
11:17It was 1998. I had never thought about doing this before. And I really was reluctant, in fact, resistant.
11:24People were approaching me about running for the Senate in New York. And I kept saying, no, you know, I'm
11:29not going to do that.
11:30I'm sorry. Thank you very much. And they wouldn't give up. And they kept pushing me.
11:34They wanted me to run. And they clearly saw something in me that I was not yet convinced of.
11:39I kept saying no. And I'll tell you what changed my mind, because there was a moment.
11:43And that moment happened at a high school in New York City. I was there as first lady to help
11:50highlight a documentary about American women in sports,
11:54American women athletes who had gone to the Olympics, who had won tennis and golf tournaments and swimming contests,
12:01all kinds of athletic achievements going back 100 plus years.
12:04So we were at this high school and there were some great women athletes, Billie Jean King and others were
12:08there.
12:08And I was asked to go make a few words because I really support equal rights for women.
12:14And I supported equal participation in school programs under Title IX.
12:18So it was a good event for me to be at. And a young woman who was the captain of
12:22the volleyball team introduced me.
12:24She was a very impressive, tall young woman. She introduced me.
12:27And there'd been all this speculation in the press, like, you know, would I run for the Senate?
12:31Would I say yes? All these people wanted me to. And as I came up, I wanted to shake her
12:35hand and thank her because she did a nice job.
12:37And so I said, thank you so much. She bent over to me. The name of the documentary was Dare
12:42to Compete.
12:43And she said to me, whispered in my ear, dare to compete, Mrs. Clinton, dare to compete.
12:50Honestly, I was momentarily speechless because she had really kind of called me out, to be honest.
12:57I mean, I had been a very strong supporter of women running for office, women serving in office.
13:03I had actively helped to recruit women to make those elections, then certainly help them raise money and all the
13:10rest of it that you do.
13:11And all of a sudden this young woman is basically saying, hey, don't just talk the talk, walk the walk.
13:18And it was from that moment in, you know, mid spring of 1999 that I really began seriously to think
13:26about it.
13:26And I said to myself, you know, gosh, I don't want to be hypocritical about this.
13:29I go around telling women to be in politics. Now people are asking me.
13:33I care deeply about all the issues that affect our country.
13:37And I'm saying, no, no, no, no, no. And this young woman is saying, hey, dare to compete.
13:43And, you know, a few months later I said, OK, and literally just stuck my toe in the water for
13:48the first time.
13:49It was really a big challenge. I had supported everybody else.
13:53I had never done it for me. And I had to learn.
13:56Does that woman know that she's had this tremendous impact?
13:59I think so. I've written about her and talked about her.
14:01And it was it was one of those real moments of epiphany and change in my thinking.
14:07I do want to go back to campus assault for a second.
14:10I want to talk about Emma Sokowitz at Columbia.
14:13You said of her that that image should haunt all of us.
14:18What does the plan you want to put in place do for women like Emma?
14:23You know, first of all, there needs to be a decision in our country and on every college campus
14:30that any woman who reports an assault should be heard and believed.
14:38And there should be a process that is in place, not made up every time that something like this happens.
14:44There should be a regular process in place to examine what she is saying, to begin to hear from people,
14:53to make some kind of decision that is viewed as fair to everybody because it does need to be fair
15:01to everybody.
15:01But too many women like her and too many others feel that they are basically being asked to remain silent,
15:09that nobody wants to hear from them and nobody wants to believe them and nobody wants to have the comprehensive
15:15services that they need.
15:16We have colleges that don't have any services in their health clinics or any cooperative agreements with nearby hospitals,
15:24even to treat somebody who's come forth.
15:27So there's like a checklist that we're going through that every place should have to be able to comply with.
15:34And then when it comes to the process, I mean, I've talked to survivors.
15:37A lot of them don't want to go into the criminal justice system.
15:41They don't feel that they will be heard or believed there.
15:46And it's a very difficult process for so many.
15:50So they want to be able to trust their college or university process.
15:55But if they choose to go into the criminal justice system, they should be supported by their college or their
16:01university.
16:01And there are some good programs. There are just not enough of them.
16:05And I want to raise the visibility of them.
16:07And I want to also do more to emphasize prevention.
16:10This starts at an early age. The culture plays a role in this.
16:14The messages that are sent to young men, the kind of visual images that are seen all too often, the
16:20lyrics of music.
16:21We know that there's a kind of pressure or expectation about behaviors that are hurtful.
16:27And so we need to do more, starting in high school, I would argue, to begin to change those signals,
16:33to begin to try to change the culture.
16:35So I've consulted, talked with a lot of people who have been through this.
16:40There are excellent leaders, really strong advocates for survivors, places that are doing good work.
16:48But it's not knit together. And the Obama administration has begun to shine a spotlight.
16:53I just want to make it a very broad and bright spotlight.
16:57And then to really move forward very steadily and urgently to try to meet the needs that are out there.
17:04Thank you so much.
17:05Oh, my goodness. I enjoyed that so much, Shannon. We could just keep going. I loved it.
17:11Many more questions.
17:13Yeah. Well, how about to be continued?
17:15To be continued.
17:16Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed it.
17:19You want to get a crew picture, too?
17:20Yeah.
17:20I'll be wonderful.
17:21Thank you so much.
17:21Yeah, great.
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