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Since 1789, there have been 44 presidents. Each one has had very different values and views but have all had one thing in common: they've all been men. And in a country where about half of the population is female, it doesn't seem fair to have only men lead us.

Women have been fighting for their rights since the beginning of time. It wasn't until 1920 when women had the right to vote—and that was just white women. Women of all races could not vote until 1964. Before that, the first female senator, Hattie Caraway, was elected in 1932. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, where she served until 2006.

According to the Eagleton Institute of Politics, in 2016 women compose 20 percent of the Senate and 19.3 percent of the House of Representatives. Even with these rising numbers and growing platform for the women's rights movement, a female has yet to be president.

But we're getting closer: yesterday evening at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pa., Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted the Democratic party nomination for President of the United States. This is the first time a woman has ever received a party nomination, and the closest a woman has ever been to the Oval Office. This moment is incredibly important for women everywhere. Now, with the very real possibility of a woman in the White House, girls who say, "I want to be president when I grow up," will have someone to look to as an example.

"We've reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union: the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president," Hillary said at the Convention. "Standing here as my mother's daughter, and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come. Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. Happy for boys and men, too – because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone. When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit. So let's keep going, until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves."

That being said, if you can vote, it's still important to vote for whomever you agree with most, or encourage those around you who can vote to do the same. But whether or not you support Hillary's politics, she will go down in history as the first woman to be a major party nominee for President of the United States. She's truly changing the course of *herstory.*

Photo credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

by Deanna Schwartz | 7/29/2016