Don’t tell Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand that she “has it all.”
The New York Democrat said at a panel Wednesday night that she hates the phrase “having it all.”
“I think it’s insulting,” she said. ‘“All’ implies that a woman staying home with her kids is somehow living a life half-full. What we’re really talking about is doing it all. How do we help women do all the things they want to do?”
Gillibrand continues to get attention for her recent book, Off the Sidelines. Earlier revelations from the book about how male senators commented on her looks drew widespread media attention.
In the panel discussion, Gillibrand argued that discussions about appearances can hurt female candidates.
“They’ve studied this and they’ve found when [a woman]’s appearance is commented on publicly during a campaign, it undermines her; it actually hurts her,” she said.
Gillibrand attributed former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for guiding her “in the right direction” during certain situations as a congresswoman, which thus encouraged her to reach out to other young women.