Readers of this site know, perhaps more acutely than others, how generational many women's responses to this election have been. And weat WVFC decided to query a mother and daughter for their gut responses.

Dr. Cecilia Ford offers some thoughts from the Baby Boom generation:

As millions of people all over the world celebrated the election of Barack Obama last week, it struck me that this moment, while a national and international event, was a personal one for each of us as well. I began to realize that everyone was reacting to it in a way that was unique in its emotional content, through their own personal lens and history. I imagined that African-Americans particularly may have had strong feelings about this election. In the days before the election, I saw a number of black people interviewed on TV who said they were not going to watch the election returns because the tension would be too unbearable....

Meanwhile Ford's daughter,  25-year-old Kate White tells us what Grant Park felt like to her on November 4:

I was seventeen years old in 2000 when George W. Bush was  elected, and thus too young to vote in that election.   Not only could I not believe how long it took to come to a resolution, but I was also extremely disappointed by the outcome. I felt the same when he was re--elected in 2004.  This year, in the months leading up to Election Day, I had a sense of doom because  I was convinced that the Republicans would play “tricks,” and that Barack Obama would lose despite the polls indicating he would win.

My sister and I were lucky enough to be in Chicago in Grant Park  election night,  because our father is a longtime aide to Senator Biden. Nearly everyone I encountered  was celebrating early in the night, before the huge projector in the park declared that Obama was the President-elect, but I wouldn’t let my guard down until it was official.  When the announcement was made, I screamed for almost  five minutes straight.

We'd love to hear comments on Women's Voices for Change - including which of these two feels closest to your own.

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