I wrote this piece following the Democratic National Convention 2016, after watching Hillary Rodham Clinton accept the Democrats’ nomination for President of the United States of America. 

“Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at hello. You had me at hello.”

Dorothy, Jerry Maguire (1996)

In 1995, I turned ten years old the same week our then-First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton stood in Beijing, China and boldly declared, “human rights are women’s rights…. And women’s rights are human rights.”

The Magnificent Seven took gymnastics gold in the Atlanta Olympics when I was in fifth grade.

The Spice Girls showed the world that Girl Power comes in many different colors, styles, and temperaments when I was navigating the early days of middle school.

Gwen Stefani taught me emotion and creativity make for one powerful voice and wrote the soundtrack to most of my adolescence.

Princess Diana embodied the strength of grace and proved there is no greater act than an act of kindness.

Power, equality, vulnerability, grace, and resilience proved key ingredients in the making of my ‘90s girlhood.

The women in my life each played their own role in shaping my feminist identity, and though they were most likely under the impression I was busy incessantly talking, I was always watching and listening.