You've Come a Long Way, Maybe

Here is an interesting discussion about the role of women in
American politics. I know I will be putting this book on my
"to read" list.

Dennis Prager on the Feminization of Society

I linked this article early today in my post earlier today. Then by sheer coincidence
Dennis Prager talked about the feminizing of government and society on his show
today:




I would say we have become a more feminized society and our government
looks different because of it. I would say it has had some good and bad consequences.
But it's probably sexist to say that it is possible that there have been some
negative consequences due to women having a larger role in shaping our
government, huh?

Caroline Kennedy, You've Just Been Palin-ized!

I sorta touched on the media double standards in the whole Caroline Kennedy vs.
Sarah Palin qualifications debate in my last post. Ace writes this in response to an
Op-ed published in yesterday's edition of Washington Post:

Meanwhile, it is believed that Sarah Palin did some light volunteering work
herself, raising the profile of Alaska by accepting the figurehead position of "governor."

Avoiding the press? Check.

Giving answers in a sometimes-unpolished vernacular? Check.

Unable at times to clearly answer questions? Check.

But Princess Caroline is just like other women, so she's qualified,
unlike Sarah Palin, who's unlike many other women in the sense
that she's been the governor of a state and has negotiated multibillion
dollar deals with large oil companies and foreign governments.

Also note that with Sarah Palin off the stage (for the moment), it's
safe once again for the MSM to begin pedaling the sexism card.
Sexism was an important concern when Hillary was running; then
not so much when Palin was being attacked; and now that Princess
Caroline is running asking her relatives to make phone calls to get
her appointed, it's back.

Funny how the timing always works out so joyously to liberals'
benefit. Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd suspect some
kind of double-standard or something.

I wonder if the double standard also has to do with Gov. Palin's looks.
Here me out now. She's a former beauty queen. The left called her
"Caribou Barbie." Tina Fey's now famous impression (which is getting
her major props from the media) made sure to remind us she's a former
beauty queen:



In my previous post about women in politics I noted that woman politicos are
stereotyped as either Elle Woods (high maintenance beauty queens) or Tracy
Flick (cold, calculating, and overly driven). Gov. Palin was carefully painted as the
Elle Woods, beauty queen type by the left, therefore, one can question her credentials
and intellect. Caroline Kennedy, however, has not been casted as the Elle Woods
stereotype, therefore, in their mindset it's sexist to question her resume or intellect
even if she does sound like teenager, you know? It was just a bad interview! You
know!

I don't think it's sexist to question a woman's qualifications, you know. However, I do
think it's sexist to question one can be a mother and do her job (as happened with Gov.
Palin). I still don't think the media realizes their double standard.

If Caroline Kennedy ends up being Senator Caroline Kennedy, it's because she was not
successfully 'Palin-ized'. So even though Caroline Kennedy and Sarah Palin have
similarities; weak resumes, carefully managed, unpolished vernacular, only one was a
former beauty queen. And with our superficial media does that make a difference?
You betcha!

Campbell Brown: Is Hillary Serious on Sexism?

CNN) -- Sexism or just good-natured fun between new best friends?
You decide. We found this photo posted on The Washington Post's
Web site. Take a good look.

The guy on the left ... the one cupping Hillary Clinton's breast on this
cardboard cutout, that would be President-elect Obama's chief
speechwriter, Jon Favreau. He struck this rather intriguing pose at
a party, and then, bummer for him, the photo got posted by a pal on
Facebook.

Jon, I'm not even going to go after you for this, because it is just too
easy. It is shooting fish in a barrel. My 1-month-old kid could look
at this picture of you and say, if he could talk yet, "what a total idiot
move."

So, I'm not even going to bother. You know how incredibly stupid
that was.

This is what I am struck by: Sen. Clinton's response.

Jon Favreau has, apparently, "reached out to Sen. Clinton to offer
an apology." No surprise there, but according to The Post, it doesn't
seem like that was even necessary.

A Clinton spokesman described the photo as an example of just
good-natured fun between former rival camps. The Post quotes
Sen. Clinton's adviser Philippe Reines as saying, quote, "Sen. Clinton
is pleased to learn of Jon's obvious interest in the State Department,
and is currently reviewing his application."

No harm, no foul -- apparently.

I'm sorry, but this is the same woman who, during the campaign,
pointed to example after example of sexism directed at her saying
that, quote, "It's been deeply offensive to millions of women"?

Is this the same woman who pointed out the references to
her cleavage or her cackle, the comments by certain pundits
and the media?

The same woman who concluded, quote, "the remnants of sexism
are alive and well" after someone at a rally shouted out "iron my
shirt"?

She made a point of calling people out during the campaign, and
for that, she became a hero to millions of women. But now, the
campaign is over.

She is joining Team Obama, and, apparently, this photo of her
likeness being groped by another key member of Obama's team
doesn't bother her a bit. Just good-natured fun, or so her spokesman says.

Really, Sen. Clinton? Boy, have you changed your tune. You really
think this photo is OK?

Put another woman in that photo, just an average woman who
supported you during the campaign. Have it be her image being
degraded by a colleague of hers. Would you be OK with that?

You drove an important conversation about issues just like this
during the campaign.

Michelle Malkin notes the double standard: "Can you imagine if a GOP White
House speechwriter were caught doing the same?" No way would a Republican
speechwriter still be working in D.C. if he had done this. Women groups probably
would have asked for him to be fired. (I'll let you judge if this guy should have
been fired or not.) It seems that fellow liberals give each other the benefit of the
doubt that they are not sexist that they do not grant to conservatives.

Gender and Politics

I was listening to this segment in NPR about Obama's win and they discuss the role
race played in the campaign. However, the most interesting commentary I found in
this piece had nothing at all to do with race but gender. Quote from Trish Callahan:

Callahan: I'm sort of moving on now to gender and politics.
I'm really curious about how we've treated our female
candidates, both Sen. Clinton and Gov. Palin. I was thinking
our next area to move forward on and make progress on is how
we treat women in politics because I do think this represents
some degree of accomplishment with race and politics.

Now that I've had time to reflect some, I must say I am quite disgusted about how
the women candidates were treated in this election, both Hillary Clinton and Sarah
Palin. I think this video made by a Sen. Hillary Clinton supporter during the summer
documents well some of the attacks on her that have misogyny written all over them:



Gov. Palin also received an intense hatred towards her, which is especially odd since
she was new on the scene. I assume President Bush hatred his fueled by his eight year
track record. What was the reasoning by the Palin hatred? Why was the media reporting
about on how much Gov. Palin spent on her wardrobe while President-elect Barack Obama
spent $5.3 million just to have a place to give his nomination speech! Double standards?
As a certain folksy woman politician likes to say, "You betcha!"

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that Sen. Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic
nomination because she's a woman. Or that Sen. John McCain lost the presidency
because he picked a woman VP. There were other problems with their candidacies.
I'm in no way denying that. What I am saying is: The women candidates in the 2008
election seemed to make for easy targets. Mainstream media memes appeared to
stick better to the women candidates. For example, Sen. Hillary Clinton was often
portrayed as cold and callous. Gov. Sarah Palin was labeled "Caribou Barbie." So
women have a small needle to thread. They can't be seen as too hard and cold like
Hillary Clinton. They also can't be too folksy and attractive like Gov. Sarah Palin.
It's a balancing act for them.

What I also found the most disconcerting was women were openly participating in
this misogyny. There was a photo posted on Flickr of three people wearing a t-shirt
that said, "Sarah Palin is a c***," that's now not available to view. But two of the people
in the photo were female. Notice that on Twitter that it was mostly women calling
Palin a b****. Women can be vicious to other women.

I think we should all be proud as Americans, that race did not a play a significant
factor in this election. As Americans, however, we should be concerned how women
politicians are being treated because it might represent a larger societal problem.
I fear that Hillary Clinton is over-estimating the amount of cracks in the glass ceiling.

I'll leave you with "If I Were Boy" by Beyonce: