As a presidential candidate, Clinton was vanquished. But as a feminist symbol, she’s certain to live on. Her supporters have already begun to use her as a convenient shorthand to represent the challenges of their own lives, seeing their struggles in hers. To them, she’s the women who withstand the painful misogyny of American society. She’s telling your daughter to raise her hand in class, even if the boys make fun of her. She’s pantsuits and she’s the more than 3 million members of the Facebook group Pantsuit Nation. She’s every qualified woman who had an unqualified man beat her out for a job. She’s the “I Voted” stickers on Susan B. Anthony’s grave. She’s the cracks in the glass ceiling that didn’t break. She’s what could’ve been. She’s the promise of what someday will be.

And, in the nature of such symbols, she’s likely to be remembered in falsely idealized form, her flaws and foibles fading away. Susan B. Anthony was herself a polarizing figure, and left behind a complicated legacy—but she’s thrived as a symbol of suffrage.

This will come at a time when the American women who supported her most need such a symbol. In Donald Trump, Americans will have as their president a man who has repeatedly attacked women—verbally, and allegedly physically--raising fears among many women of what could become socially acceptable behavior in a Trump era. At a policy level, Trump has pledged to appoint a Supreme Court justice who could tip the court into reversing Roe v. Wade, limit access to contraception, and gut welfare programs that disproportionately provide aid to women and their dependent children.

Of course, many American women voted for Trump. But those who invested their hopes for a transformation of the role of women in American political life in the prospect of a President Hillary Clinton are still struggling with its outcome and what it means for them. It’s a question that will take years to answer. But there’s a date for all of them to bear in mind meanwhile:

On August 18, 2020, American women will celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the right to vote. That will be just 77 days before the next presidential election.

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