You know where I'm going, for you know where she went. Hillary Clinton complained again this week that sexism has been a major dynamic in her unsuccessful bid for political dominance. She is quoted by the Washington Post's Lois Romano decrying the "sexist" treatment she received during the campaign, and the "incredible vitriol that has been engendered" by those who are "nothing but misogynists." The New York Times reported she told sympathetic bloggers in a conference call that she is saddened by the "mean-spiritedness and terrible insults" that have been thrown "at you, for supporting me, and at women in general."
I'm sympathetic to the plight of the woman. Really. But I also believe that the kind of talk Hillary is engaging in does nothing to help break down the barriers of sexism but rather reinforces them by making them seem like everything bad happening to her in this election can be blamed on her being a woman. Noonan speculates that this tactic isn't to garner votes, but to shift the lens through which history views her inevitable defeat. But I think that's absurd considering she's going to lose to A BLACK MAN. It's hard to play the prejudice card with people who were once considered less than half a person.
Americans today are much softer than pretty much any people from anyplace else at any time in history. The amount of grief Meir and Ghandi and Thatcher had to endure because they were women was monumental. But I doubt you could go back in the annals of history and dig up a transcript of any of them complaining to the media about the "mean-spirited, terrible insults" they were receiving. But these days that kind of crap makes you a folk hero. And anyone who tells Hillary to suck it up and deal with it is a sexist.
If she can't handle the shit she gets from American media, how is she going to deal with going to places like Iraq and Afghanistan? I just can't imagine someone going into a hostile area like that after groaning about sexist treatment in the media. She seems so fragile it scares the shit out of me.
Jamo, soon, you will owe me $20.
ReplyDeleteOf course gender has played into this election. And of course race has played into this election. But the effects of each is, of course, immeasurable. I agree with you, though, in that it would be way better for womankind if Hillary left gender out of her reflections on her campaign. She's a great representative to speak on overcoming gender issues, but I think she needs to be careful to bring them up in the right forum so as to not confuse the discussion with excuses and politics.