‘We Need a Woman’

Dulce Maria Gonzalez doesn’t consider herself a political person, but when Hillary Clinton campaigned in Brownsville on Wednesday, Gonzalez wanted to sing about a trait she believes Clinton hasn’t emphasized enough in her race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“We Need a Woman,” crooned Gonzalez at the rally, moving the audience to cheer for their candidate.

But once she stepped off the stage, Gonzalez says she faced a backlash she hadn’t anticipated.

Now her Myspace page, www.myspace.com/dmga86, is filled with negative comments.

“When I go to the store to just to buy something, people feel the need to start up a political debate with me,” Gonzalez said, who at 21-years-old has been singing since she was seven.

“I took a chance by exposing myself through my music. You have to be careful.”

Gonzalez says that even her family members are divided in their choices in the primary, and she understands why.

“I think that Obama’s speeches are inspiring to a lot of people and he has good points, too,” she said. “I wanted to write a song that would emphasize a difference that Clinton never talks about — that she’s a woman. Women look a lot at the details that men often don’t notice, and I think the details make a big difference.”

At one point in the song, Gonzalez sings, “If a woman can carry the weight of a child, she can carry the weight of a nation.”

Gonzalez looks to Clinton as a role model of female achievement. Growing up as a young singer and songwriter, Gonzalez has been invited to sing on television and even at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has spent a lot of time backstage and in studios, singing into the microphone while professionals recorded her.

“I know that Hillary has spent eight years backstage, watching what it means to be president. I watched how they used recording equipment and taught myself how to use it, and now I have my own studio and record songs by myself,” Gonzalez said. “She has watched, and now she’s prepared to do the job.”

Gonzalez says that her public support of Clinton has put her at odds with potential employers and fans.

“I wouldn’t like people to feel like they can’t talk to me about politics in a positive way, even though we have a difference of opinion,” she said.