News organizations say it might have been the biggest all-women demonstration in Egypt's history, outdoing even a 1919 march against British colonialism.

After footage by a Reuters photographer went viral on the Internet, women took to the streets of Cairo on Tuesday to protest the military regime that took power after the Arab Spring toppled Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. The video showed soldiers kicking and clubbing a young woman, and dragging her by her black robe, revealing her naked torso and blue bra.

The "blue bra girl" has made her mark. Organizers on Twitter are using the hashtag "#BlueBra." A Cairo protest rally, called "Regaining honor and defending the revolution," is scheduled for today.

Clearly, the revolution did not end in February when Mubarak was overthrown. Tuesday's march shows that women will not be deterred from participating in the transition from autocracy to democracy, even if they are singled out for humiliation and violence.

"The girls of Egypt are here," chanted the women as they marched at Tahrir Square and Egyptian men formed lines around them to protect them, shouting, "The women of Egypt are a red line!"

To its credit, the United States, which gives Egypt $1.3 billion a year in military aid, is not standing by in silence.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton minced no words in telling the world what she thinks of the situation.

"Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago," she said.

She also denounced the transition government for excluding women. Egyptian women, she said, "have been largely shut out of decision-making in the transition by both the military authorities and the major political parties." At the same time, she said, women "have been specifically targeted both by security forces and by extremists."

And she spoke in direct words to the military regime itself: "This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people. As some Egyptian politicians and commentators have themselves noted, a new democracy cannot be built on the persecution of women, nor can any stable society."

Coming from a powerful American woman, Clinton's words carry special resonance. The women of Egypt know they have people watching – and standing in their corner. They are not alone.

The army council issued a statement saying that it "respects and appreciates Egyptian women and their right to protest and fully participate in political life." That's a start.

Now we'll see if the Egyptian government follows through.

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