In story posted on the popular Facebook page Humans of New York, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton likened perceptions that she is "cold" or "unemotional" to having to learn to control her emotions as a young woman.
Clinton recounted taking a law school admissions test and having a group of men taunt the women. According to Clinton, they yelled things like "You don't need to be here" and "there's plenty else you can do."
"One of them even said: 'If you take my spot, I'll get drafted, and I'll go to Vietnam, and I'll die,'" the post reads.
She said she "couldn't afford" to respond or get distracted during the test and connected instances like that to a challenge she's facing now as a candidate — that people see her as cold.
"I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional. But I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions. And that's a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don't want to seem 'walled off.'"
Nearly 60 percent of voters find Clinton unfavorable now, according to the latest Real Clear Politics average. A July survey from Gallup found Clinton's favorability at the lowest in 20 years. She and rival Donald Trump both struggle with historically low favorability ratings.
She added that she takes "responsibility" for creating the perception. "I don't view myself as cold or unemotional," she said. "And neither do my friends. And neither does my family. But if that sometimes is the perception I create, then I can't blame people for thinking that."
Here's the full post via Humans of New York:
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