We think of Barack Obama as our first black president. What we tend to overlook is that he is our first feminist president.
Last month Glamour published an essay by President Obama under the title “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like.” Coming on the heels of the historic presidential nomination of Hillary Clinton by the Democratic Party, the president’s essay captures his embrace of the feminist idea that “the personal is political.” Indeed, it is no small gesture for the president of the United States to identify himself as a feminist and to discuss the personal significance of gender equality for him and his daughters, Malia and Sasha.
In this special issue of The Chronicle Review, we turn our attention to the accomplishments and disappointments of the past eight years. See the whole issue here.
But the president’s commitment to feminism goes beyond the personal. While he has certainly had his share of critics, with some on the left complaining that he hasn’t done as much as he could have in his eight years in office, one inarguable achievement of this presidency has been its persistent push for initiatives that have expanded opportunities for women and girls in the United States and abroad.
The litany of accomplishments is long and heartening. The first bill Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Right at the outset of his presidency, he created the White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that each of the federal agencies takes into account the needs of women and girls in all policies and legislation. His signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act, included among other provisions support for breastfeeding, birth control, mammograms, and a range of preventative services for women.
Obama’s efforts on behalf of women are one of the least understood aspects of his presidency.
The president has also led a concerted effort to combat violence against women. Obama signed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013; Vice President Joe Biden appointed the first White House adviser on violence against women to address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. The administration also mounted a campaign to prevent and respond to sexual assault in the military and on college campuses, and redoubled its efforts to eliminate human trafficking, making violence against women a foreign-policy priority.
Despite these achievements, President Obama’s efforts on behalf of women and girls are one of the least understood or most commonly overlooked aspects of his presidency. This is partly because the gains that have been made can still be overshadowed by the right’s “war on women.” It’s also partly because historically, policies regarding women have tended to be overlooked in broader discussions of national and global politics.
It will be up to future historians to offer an accurate and comprehensive account of just how much women’s lives improved under Obama’s presidency. Seen from our vantage point, it is not hard to imagine a historical narrative in which the election of Obama will represent a fundamental shift in the history of American politics — not least because of all he’s done to advance the feminist cause.
