Sexism in Politics

The day Hillary Clinton withdrew from the presidential campaign, I cried. I went next door and my neighbor Wanda and I commiserated with each other. For one brief shining season we thought the unthinkable was possible - we might have a woman president in our lifetimes. A woman whom we both admired and supported.

I do not forgive the obsessive media concentration on Clinton's hair, her clothes, her "shrillness," her "emotionalism." She was constantly and mercilessly belittled. While everyone was waxing ecstatic about the strong campaign an African American was running, Hillary was widely criticized for not bowing to the inevitable and giving in to the tide of history - as if her election would not have been equally historic.

Kristen Schaal's Daily Show segment on sexism during the campaign nailed it: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-june-5-2008/sexism

Had Hillary been elected, her presidency would have been plagued by unabashed misogyny. Since Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, commentary about her expensive clothes, Botox treatments and tightly controlled demeanor has been as vitriolic as the opposition to her policies. If Pelosi were not so rigidly controlled, she never would have risen so far. If she were not as tough-minded as Tom Delay (former Republican House Majority Leader), her legislative record would not be so successful. In Delay it was considered tough-mindedness, in Pelosi it is more likely to be labeled "bitchiness." (One indication of her power? She is as vilified by Republicans as Delay was by Democrats!)

The Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill debacle in the early 1990s still burns in my brain. All those self righteous members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, secure in their superiority - Hatch, Biden, Specter, Leahy come most readily to mind - treating Hill, a subpoenaed witness, with marked condescension. I would gleefully have thrown any one of them under the electoral bus if they had been running in my state. The bitter taste of those hearings endures to this day. One of the few things I feel Obama has gotten right is his nomination of two women to the Supreme Court.

I confess a reluctant admiration for Sarah Palin, who has managed to neutralize the sexism of the right and refudiate the misogyny of the left. I detest her political positions, but am awed (and terrified) by her success. Incidentally, I think refudiate is a GREAT word.

On April 10, 2001 Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift became the first woman governor of Massachusetts when Governor Paul Cellucci resigned to become the U. S. Ambassador to Canada. Swift made two huge mistakes - she came from the Berkshires, the western section of the state residents of the more populous eastern half tend to ignore except for leaf peeping excursions in the fall, and she had a young family (her twin daughters were born while she was governor). Staffers occasionally watched her children. This was considered a serious ethics violation. I guess no male office holder ever asked for help when they unexpectedly had charge of their kids? She once took a state helicopter home when a child was sick. Ugly behavior. Obviously far worse offenses than the wide scale corruption that plagued Boston's "Big Dig" project for years. The attacks from the media and good old boy politicians began immediately and did not let up until the day she left office. She might well have had an undistinguished term anyway. But she was never given a chance.

I think Margaret Carlson was a little harsh in this article: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,219749,00.html

Not all women in public life are admirable, competent, likable or interesting. All deserve to be judged on their merits, not sexual stereotypes.

Below is a link to a video of Senatorial candidate Ken Buck's response last week to the question why voters should choose him over his opponent (cursor down the page to see the clip): http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/0723/Could-high-heels-joke-spike-Ken-Buck-Senate-campaign

I rest my case (temporarily).

Coming soon: Sexism - You've come a long way, baby?