https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dianne-Feinstein#/media/1/203831/275869
Diane Feinstein is the mayor every state wants. She is one of the most influential women who will go down in history. In honor of her recent death, Feinstein should be remembered with love and respect in conversations. There is much that we can learn from her life’s work and even more that we can include in our own lives to carry on her legacy.
Feinstein is a woman of many groundbreaking firsts: “She was the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, the first woman elected Senator of California, the first woman member and first woman ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the first woman to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee.”
In addition to the several moments in history her name is plastered on as ‘the first woman to…’ Diane Feinstein has made the most use of her mayor title by being one of the people to propose the AMBER alert system, taking action on climate crisis through legislation, advocating for violence against women, and being an avid supporter of banning firearms. As San Francisco’s first female mayor, Feinstein spent 18 years in their government breaking barriers and creating change that affected beyond her, but influenced those around her to follow her lead.
There is one story about Diane Feinstein that caught my attention the most. This incident represents the hasty generalizations many people make about women as if they are incompetent or weak. Feinstein was faced with an accusation that she didn’t know anything about gun violence or gun rights. This insulting accusation was based on the fact that Feinstein is a woman, but little did the man know her story and what she had to say about gun violence that blew him out of the water. Senator Larry Craig said “The gentlelady from California needs to become a little more familiar with firearm,” but he didn’t know that Feinstein had seen her colleagues’ dead bodies after a shooting in her workplace. The victims, Harvey Milk and George Moscone, had been brutally murdered in cold blood. In addition to this, there had been a bomb planted outside her vacation home that targeted her daughter. Feinstein emphasizes that these incidents, especially the murders, shaped her to be who she is and played a major role in her view to act on gun violence and fight to place restrictions.
This incident teaches more than just not making assumptions about someone without knowing their story, it also lets us know that being a woman of firsts is hard, but Feinstein is one of the many women who contributed to the lengthy lists of firsts. She teaches us that we shouldn’t be afraid to be the first to run for a spot in the government never taken by a woman or speak up when we are accused of being incompetent. At the age of 90 on September 29, 2023, Feinstein took her last breath, but it was an ending to the beginning of her legacy that will be remembered and cherished by many. Let us all come together and honor Diane Feinstein for the remarkable impact she left on this world and in our hearts.
Written by Aayna Bhatheja
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