Women worldwide had expected to wake up this morning to a brand new reality—one where the most powerful country in the world is led by a woman. But that will not happen. Donald Trump clinched a stunning upset victory in the U.S. presidential election, handing defeat to Hillary Clinton.
Instead, women are presented with a circumstance they know all too well; one where an experienced woman has lost out to a less-qualified man. Beyond putting the first woman in the White House, the campaign—with its misogynist and sexist undertones—had turned into a referendum on gender. If that’s truly the case, it’s easy to feel as though women came up way short in this round—not because Clinton lost, but because Trump won.
Down ballot, there were several triumphs by women running for Congress. One of those winners, California’s Kamala Harris, a Democrat born of Jamaican and Indian parents, will become the first black woman to serve in the upper chamber in nearly two decades. Early this morning, she offered some advice to supporters as Trump’s path to victory became real. Her remarks were clearly partisan in nature, but they also apply to the ongoing fight for gender equality. “We must not despair. We must not be overwhelmed or throw up our hands,” she said, “It is time to roll up our sleeves and fight for who we are!”
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
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| Pitching in |
| Women doctors, nurses, and emergency medical technicians in pink veils are now working at soccer games in Gaza after being banned. Some fans are not happy about women's presence at the previously male-only events known for their macho atmosphere. "They have a problem that a female can touch the male [body] and do first aid," said EMT Hanan Abu Qassem. "But it's something ordinary for me." |
| NPR |
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| Protecting their own |
| Police in northern Nigeria have deployed 100 female officers to camps occupied by citizens fleeing Boko Haram to ensure the safety of women there. Male security officers have reportedly sexually abused some female refugees, according to a Human Rights Watch report, so the female officers are being asked to "dig out true happenings" in the camps. |
| BBC |
THE AMERICAS
| Understanding the upset |
| If you're looking for an explanation of how Hillary Clinton lost last night, this Quartz piece is a good place to start. Here's a snippet: "In the end, Clinton’s fraught history—symbolized by the baroque investigations into her private e-mail server—overcame whatever advantages her centrist agenda, critiques of Trump’s outrages, and well-funded, professionally run campaign could give her." |
| Quartz |
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| Making history |
| Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, won the Nevada Senate contest yesterday to become the first Latina senator. She beat Representative Joe Heck to fill the seat of Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader, who is retiring. |
| New York Times |
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| Sticking to it |
| After voters cast ballots for the first female president yesterday, some in upstate New York headed to the gravesite of Susan B. Anthony, a suffrage icon who wasn't able to vote in her lifetime. Visitors coated her tombstone with 'I voted today' stickers. |
| Democrat and Chronicle |
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| Fashion sense |
| Separate online movements urged Hillary Clinton supporters to wear white and to wear the candidate's trademark pantsuits when they voted yesterday. The mashup of those trends made for some edgy polling place fashion, including a daring statement by Cindy McCain, the wife of the Republican senator, whose attire obliged both efforts. |
| New York Magazine |
ASIA-PACIFIC
| A smaller pool |
| Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong announced yesterday that the presidential election in 2017 will be reserved for Malay candidates in an effort to ensure the minority community is represented. Under that framework, the speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob is considered a leading contender. |
| South China Morning Post |
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IN BRIEF
| These women waited 96 years to vote for a female president |
| Motto |
| A U.K. town embraced a teenage Syrian refugee and now she's repaying the favor |
| Wired |
| FTSE 350 companies are urged to ensure women hold a third of top jobs by 2020 |
| Financial Times |
| Paris Mayor Anne Hildalgo inaugurates new reception center for migrants |
| New York Times |
PARTING WORDS
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| --President-elect Donald Trump, referring to Hillary Clinton in his acceptance speech. |
