Say Goodnight

Hillary is hanging up her hat tomorrow, which makes me sad on several levels.

No, I don't think she should shoulder on and 'create further division' within the Democratic Party, that is not the origin of my sadness.

What has me down is just how screwed up the whole gender issue is, even now, even here, in the grand ol' US of A. Oh, I know, "But Tamsen, things are better there than they are in so many other countries. Women have even been able to vote for the last 80 years!". Yes, all true- and maybe makes things worse.

This is the top of the mountaintop, yet it has not changed that a man garners more respect than a woman, even if saying the same words. It has not changed that a strong tone from a man is considered, well, strong- commanding, a mark of leadership- and from a woman the same ball-busting and shrill. What has changed is that even women are in on the game. Instead of finding articles out in the great World Wide Web of Hillary's fortitude, her tirelessness, her political skills (hate her or not, she didn't just float on a giggle to the running), I see two sorts of vicious cattiness couched in a guise of feminism. The first is that she dared to mention sex had anything to do with how the media portrayed her (because, really, the media IS running the show, or Obama would not be on top right now as the Manchurian Candidate). The second is that she didn't use that card enough- that she's cut her hair short, that she wears pantsuits, that this is obvious male pandering and she is setting the movement back.

Well. A big "fuck you" to you, girls, because if anything was detrimental to how women are regarded, it was the stereotypical bitch-biting that didn't concentrate on any of the actual, you know, campaign issues, and instead focused on the color of Hil's jackets and whether her Slight Tearing Up was going to screw up her message.

I don't believe in a movement. I did believe in progress. Now I believe more in John Lennon nailing it, only the perpetrators are gaining size. The so-called Feminists are now like those women who insist that their daughters be circumcised because they were circumcised themselves, and the men just shrug and walk away with a, "well, if they don't care about it, what can I do" attitude- rightly so.

I can't imagine how screwed up this next generation of girls are going to be in their mid-thirties, when they are raised that being like Paris Hilton or her crew is something attainable and positive to aspire to (have ya seen the Bratz dolls? seriously?), but to be like Hillary Clinton, with all her degrees, poise, and tireless will, is to be a demon.

Comments

[tamsen]

you could be right...may be I need to have more faith...

[Cassandra West]

What are 'Obamaheads?'
Harry Truman is now considered one of our best Presidents, yet he worked in a men's store before he was asked to enter politics.
There really is no training for that office. It's sink or swim.
Kennedy, Reagan and Obama all shared the same ability to inspire people. They may not have been experts in any area, but they were able to get things done by inspiring other people. That's a quality of a potential great leader.
Obama also has the potential to diffuse some of the hatred around the world because he keeps talking about peace.

[tamsen]

I don't care what color Obama is...I definitely can't see how someone with negligible experience is the better candidate- but all moot now, anyhow.
I never actually said that she lost because she was female. My Point is how she was treated, regardless of how ahead or behind. If she had actually managed to eke out a win again BHO I would still feel exactly the same in this post.

And since when are women assassins because of a political race? But then, I've noticed the Obama-heads are never able to take as good as they get.

[Cassandra West]

I must say that I was startled that so many women felt that strongly about it. After all- isn't Obama a minority too? I voted for Obama because I feel he is the best hope for the country. I did not vote 'against' Hillary Clinton. I voted FOR him.
And I fear Xero is right about Obama being in danger. I even fear that if he puts Hillary Clinton in as his running mate, some woman who feels as strongly as what I've noticed some do will kill him just to make sure they have their chosen candidate in power.
Can't it be we have matured enough as a people that we have started to ignore those sorts of differences and vote for the person we think is best for the office? I choose to think THAT rather than that we are so misogynistic that we simply aren't 'ready' for a woman. I think it says we ARE and that we didn't vote for Clinton just to prove that, but rather voted for someone we thought was good for the country.

[Xero]

It couldn't possibly be that Obama is actually a better choice for presidential candidate? No, it must be because Clinton is female, though barely.

Seriously I don't know how either of these excuses for a liberal got chosen, but that doesn't mean Obama was chosen because he's male.

If things had been the other way around I would probably reading on some black persons blog about how there has been no progress and that black people are still oppressed.

Look at the bright side, at least Clinton will live to run in 4 years, can't say the same for Obama if he wins this one.