Editorial: So much progress for women, yet so many glass ceilings too
The 100 years that have passed since the adoption of the 19th amendment have seen some extraordinary political firsts.
The first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.
The first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
The first woman to be the presidential nominee of a major party.
Regardless of whether you liked the policies of the people involved, each first marked a turning point for American women, who outnumber men and - according to a recent Pew Research Center survey - have higher rates of voter turnout.
Yet for every first, there is still a "never."
A "not yet."
A "maybe some day."
So today as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote, we pause to remember how far we have come - and not just in the political arena. We also pause to reflect on how far we have yet to go.
When Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 election but lost the electoral college to President Donald Trump, she made a concession speech that seemed to be directed to every woman who ever felt that she was denied an opportunity that she believed should have been hers - to every woman who wondered why she had to fight harder to advance at work or why she was paid less.
On that day, Clinton's words tempered disappointment with hope.
"I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling," Clinton said at the time, "but some day someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now."
With so many female candidates in the early days of the 2020 election battle, "some day" seemed to edge a little closer. In the end, the Democrats nominated Joe Biden, and this week the Republicans once again nominated Donald Trump.
Still, this election will be a another historic one as Sen. Kamala Harris campaigns to be the first woman to serve as vice president - a battle fought and lost by Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008.
As the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, Harris' background speaks volumes about our melting pot nation. But the ugly comments directed toward her speak volumes about the way we treat women in this country - especially strong women.
Trump called her "nasty." Memes shared by some of his supporters have depicted her dressed and posed as a prostitute might be. And then, of course, there have been unfounded and disturbing questions about her eligibility for office, diminishing her groundbreaking candidacy with dark doses of both sexism and racism.
Yet the very fact that Harris will be on the Nov. 3 ballot is part of the reason it is so important to mark the centennial of women's suffrage today.
We need to continue to celebrate progress for women in all walks of life, to push against glass ceilings, to tell our daughters they can achieve their dreams - and mean it.
But first, we owe a deep and abiding debt to the suffragettes who fought for women's right to vote.
And we honor them by exercising it.