“Sure [Fred Astaire] was great, but don’t forget Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards … and in high heels!”
That line is often mistakenly attributed to the actress Ginger Rogers herself, although it actually came from a 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon and was used as a line in a speech by Texas Gov. Ann Richards at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. But the message is unmistakable: Women have been succeeding at accomplishing great things, often facing greater odds than men, and often in men’s shadow and in the face of criticism. The list of those women includes (but obviously isn’t limited to) Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Much already has been written about how former Secretary of State Clinton decimated her Republican inquisitors during her appearance before the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Chairman Trey Gowdy developed the worst case of flop sweat since Richard Nixon faced John F. Kennedy in a 1960 televised debate. The other GOP representatives, looking less like statesmen and stateswomen and more like smarmy middle schoolers as the day wore on, became fixated on her emails, Sidney Blumenthal, and what was said at what time on what day. They demanded to know why she didn’t control every single aspect of the State Department and why she couldn’t be in contact 24/7 with diplomatic staff in 270 countries.