Philosophy
The postmortems of Hillary Clinton's Presidential run (Aspazia's is the one that started me on this question, although the folks at Shakesville have been all over this from the start) have all rightly mentioned the blatant and horrible sexism that was directed at her, often from major media figures. Where the racism question was treated in code words, it was shocking to see how open people were in using misogynistic language and images.
There is no doubt that these attacks are due to longstanding, but threatened patriarchal power structures. That said, I know, as someone who was bullied, that the bullies don't pick on you because of the things they pick on you about. First, you are determined to be a target, then they look for the soft spots, the places they can attack that will do the most damage.
The sexism was there and came from a place of threatened male privilege (that's why we heard so little of it when Carol Mosley-Braun ran -- she was seen as having little chance and so was not threatening); but did the sexism start from a place of pure sexism or did it start as Clinton hatred which found its expression naturally in a biased society most easily in sexist terms?
I wonder how much of this misogyny would have come out if it had been a different woman running. Suppose the woman was a Republican, say, Liddy Dole or Lynn Cheney. Do you think that either one of them would have received the same treatment if they had been viable Presidential candidates close to picking up the GOP's nomination?
My guess is that Condoleeza Rice, if she were in the equivalent of Clinton or Obama's position would have received much less of a racist or sexist treatment.
- Hmmmm
So, how many houses will the Democratic VP pick have? Does Obama announce his pick today or let the eight house story run as far as it can? UPDATE: Note to blogosphere: mentioning that John McCain spends over a quarter of a million dollars a year on household...
- Funny Girl: Women And Comedy
Sisters, Brothers, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, This weekend's Comedist meditation focuses on women and comedy. Aspazia last week asked whether women have to not be women to be funny. She points to Kate Clinton who argues that there is...
- Hillary Clinton: The Forrest Gump Of Progressive Politics?
I've been watching the field develop in the Democratic primary and it strikes me that Hillary Clinton is the Forrest Gump of progressive politics. She seems to have just happened to be in all of the most important places at the most important times....
- Post Clinton, Ergo Propter Clinton
From Marty Peretz, Editor of The New Republic, Worse can be said of Bill Clinton's stumping in Connecticut for Joe (and Hillary's endorsement, too.) When Clinton came into the state, Lieberman and Lamont were running dead even in the polls, more...
- Fox News' Sexist Remarks On Hillary Clinton's Age
We all know that since Republican presidential candidates have an uncanny ability to get caught in embarrassing scandals and to trip over themselves left and right, Fox News will do whatever it can to try to discredit Hillary Clinton, their most feared...
Philosophy
Hillary Clinton and the Sexist Chicken and Egg
The postmortems of Hillary Clinton's Presidential run (Aspazia's is the one that started me on this question, although the folks at Shakesville have been all over this from the start) have all rightly mentioned the blatant and horrible sexism that was directed at her, often from major media figures. Where the racism question was treated in code words, it was shocking to see how open people were in using misogynistic language and images.
There is no doubt that these attacks are due to longstanding, but threatened patriarchal power structures. That said, I know, as someone who was bullied, that the bullies don't pick on you because of the things they pick on you about. First, you are determined to be a target, then they look for the soft spots, the places they can attack that will do the most damage.
The sexism was there and came from a place of threatened male privilege (that's why we heard so little of it when Carol Mosley-Braun ran -- she was seen as having little chance and so was not threatening); but did the sexism start from a place of pure sexism or did it start as Clinton hatred which found its expression naturally in a biased society most easily in sexist terms?
I wonder how much of this misogyny would have come out if it had been a different woman running. Suppose the woman was a Republican, say, Liddy Dole or Lynn Cheney. Do you think that either one of them would have received the same treatment if they had been viable Presidential candidates close to picking up the GOP's nomination?
My guess is that Condoleeza Rice, if she were in the equivalent of Clinton or Obama's position would have received much less of a racist or sexist treatment.
- Hmmmm
So, how many houses will the Democratic VP pick have? Does Obama announce his pick today or let the eight house story run as far as it can? UPDATE: Note to blogosphere: mentioning that John McCain spends over a quarter of a million dollars a year on household...
- Funny Girl: Women And Comedy
Sisters, Brothers, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, This weekend's Comedist meditation focuses on women and comedy. Aspazia last week asked whether women have to not be women to be funny. She points to Kate Clinton who argues that there is...
- Hillary Clinton: The Forrest Gump Of Progressive Politics?
I've been watching the field develop in the Democratic primary and it strikes me that Hillary Clinton is the Forrest Gump of progressive politics. She seems to have just happened to be in all of the most important places at the most important times....
- Post Clinton, Ergo Propter Clinton
From Marty Peretz, Editor of The New Republic, Worse can be said of Bill Clinton's stumping in Connecticut for Joe (and Hillary's endorsement, too.) When Clinton came into the state, Lieberman and Lamont were running dead even in the polls, more...
- Fox News' Sexist Remarks On Hillary Clinton's Age
We all know that since Republican presidential candidates have an uncanny ability to get caught in embarrassing scandals and to trip over themselves left and right, Fox News will do whatever it can to try to discredit Hillary Clinton, their most feared...