The XX Factor: What women really think.

Not My Generation

Welcome, Hanna (and for anyone who is wondering, Hanna is a contributing editor at The Atlantic and the author of the new book God's Harvard, and we are v. glad she has joined us here). You captured my feelings about the Morgan essay—a mix of guilt and chagrin and dismay. In this I think we are very much reflecting our generation. For me, Morgan's ourage is entirely too shrill. I can agree on some of the subtance, but the style makes me want to run. The tone and the worldview are so far from mine that I can't get past that. But here's the thing: For the older women whom I've discussed this essay with, who are Hillary supporters, Morgan's take is the one that's missing. They see her essay as a crucial reminder of the past and its continuing relevance. This comes across poignantly toward the essay's end, when Morgan says, "We are the women who brought this country ..." and then lists about two dozen advances that most of us are probably extremely grateful for. Amen and thank you to her generation. Now they are trying to be the women who bring us our first woman president—a good president, they feel certain—and we are hestitating, hedging, resisting, as Meghan puts it. I can understand how infuriating that must feel. Even if, like Dahlia, I reject the premise.