In a recent question-and-answer session on Facebook, Hillary Clinton shared just how much work it takes for women to get ready in the morning.
The former Secretary of State and current Democratic presidential front-runner responded to a female Facebook user who asked about her morning routine.
“Every morning, as my boyfriend zips out the door and I spent 30+ minutes getting ready, I wonder about how the ‘hair and makeup’ tax affects other women,” Facebook user Libby Britain asked Clinton. “As a young professional woman, I’d genuinely love to hear about how you manage getting ready each morning.”
Clinton, who has spent a good portion of her career as a widely-known public figure, agreed that the ‘hair and makeup’ tax is a real problem.
“Amen, sister — you’re preaching to the choir,” she wrote. “It’s a daily challenge. I do the best I can — and as you may have noticed, some days are better than others!”
Despite her lighthearted tone, her answer is indicative of a problem that has troubled Clinton for several years — that women, no matter their age or rank in government, always seem to be scrutinized for their looks. It’s hardly surprising, for example, that the average American woman will have approximately 104 different hairstyles over the course of her life.
Clinton has a long history of pointing out the unequal experiences she’s had as a woman in politics. In 2010, during a town-hall meeting with students in Kyrgyzstan, a moderator asked her if she had any favorite fashion designers. Her response was appropriately barbed: “Would you ever ask a man that question?”
However, despite speaking out against some pretty evident gender inequalities, some still believe Clinton answered too many of the easy questions — and too little of the tough ones — during her question-and-answer session.
“Clinton ignored hundreds of tougher questions,” wrote Chuck Ross of the Daily Caller. “She did not answer the Daily Caller’s inquiry about whether she believes that “All lives matter” is a problematic statement. She also did not answer when asked for the specific date that she decided to scrub her personal email server.”
Still, it’s hard to find fault with Clinton’s ideas about ending gender inequality, especially when comparing her views with those of other presidential hopefuls.
“There is a gender card being played in this campaign,” Clinton wrote in one of her responses. “It’s played every time Republicans vote against giving women equal pay, deny families access to affordable child care or family leave, refuse to let women make decisions about their health or have access to free contraception.”