“We have got to be as clear as possible: You are more than the way you look.” —Hillary to young girls https://t.co/1SCczNmBNT
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 4, 2016
At a campaign event in Haverford, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton took questions from young girls, mothers, and other community members about issues that matter to children and families. At some point during the discussion, the Democratic nominee took a question from a young girl named Brennan, who touched upon a timely subject in the wake Trump’s criticism of a former Miss Universe‘s body.
“At my school, body image is a really big issue for girls my age,” the 15-year-old said. “I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look. As the first female president, how would you undo some of that damage and help girls understand that they are so much more than just what they look like?”
Clinton thanked Brennan for the question, and seemed thrilled to address this issue. “You are right, my opponent has just taken this concern to a new level of difficulty and meanness,” Clinton replied. “It’s shocking when women are called names and judged on the basis — solely on the basis — of physical attributes.” She went on:
“I am passionate about this too, because we know that young women begin to get influenced at earlier and earlier ages by messages from the media: ‘forget your mind, forget your heart, care only about what you look like because that’s all we care about.’ And we have to stand up against that … We need to laugh at it, we need to refute it, we need to ignore it. And we need to stand up to it and especially the bullying. There are too many young women online who are being bullied about how they look and being shamed and mistreated. Sometimes that leads to tragic outcomes. The pressure of being talked about that way leads some women to try and hurt themselves. So we have to be clear as possible: you are more than the way you look.”
“We’re not all going to end up being Miss Universe, I hate to tell you,” Clinton concluded. “So let’s be the best we can be, and let’s be proud of who we are, and let’s support other women and girls in being proud of who they are.”
