Q: UGH! to the smutty campaign headlines. How do I handle conversations with my clients and friends?
A: I am asking myself the exact same question. I found myself using language with my friends that I picked up from the headlines, without realizing that I had inadvertently joined the “smutty” talk as opposed to being responsible for the conversation. By her example, First Lady Michelle Obama demonstrated how to change the discourse by speaking personally– almost intimately– from her values and vision.
And I have to tell you that I can’t stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.
So while I’d love nothing more than to pretend like this isn’t happening and come out here and do my normal campaign speech, it would be dishonest and disingenuous to me to just move on to the next thing like this was all just a bad dream. This is not something that we can ignore. This is not something that we can sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season ….
And I have to tell you that I listen to all of this, and I feel it so personally. And I’m 
sure that many of you do, too, particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. It is cruel. It’s frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts.
The First Lady is a sterling example of how we can speak authentically and it begins by having the courage to talk about what matters personally to us and resist being carried along by sensational headlines.
Here are questions to consider:
- Are you and your friends or colleagues the source of the conversations you having?
- Are you talking about topics and issues that reflect your values and beliefs?
- Do your conversations have depth?
- Are you elevated or do you feel defeated when the conversation ends?
- Do you press “pause” and say, “Enough! Why are we talking about this?”
I am reminded, and I hope that you are too, to talk about what matters, change the conversation and go high when others go low.
“Enough is enough…This is bad for women, yes. But it’s also bad for all of us.”