No, women wouldn't have solved it sooner. (Why gender stereotypes don't help women)

[gollygee]

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/17/women_are_not_here_to_clean_up_the_worlds_messes/

Women in Congress don’t succeed because they are women. They succeed because they happen to be good at their jobs. (Even if, like Bachmann, your “job” is to be a wildly self-promotional and obstructionist jerk.)

Arguments exalting women for their rationality and ability to do it “better than the boys,” specifically in this moment of domestic and global crisis, also put women in a traditionally female position of cleaning up other people’s messes. So John Boehner allowed an extreme minority of the Republican party to take the country hostage for 16 days? Boys will be boys! Relax and let the women of Congress clean House.

Rosin seems to concede this framing when she references Iceland’s economic turnaround under female leaders using a quote from IMF chief Christine Lagarde. “She explained how women brought Iceland out of its recession. After the economy crashed, ‘the banks, the funds, the government — everything was taken over by women,’ [Lagarde] told The Wall Street Journal. ‘So when it’s messy, you get the women in. But when the mess is sorted,’ she added, ‘keep the women.’”

Such narratives are enticing, but gender parity in politics is important because women make up 50 percent of the population, not because of any secret magic powers they possess. As half the population, it only makes sense, is only fair, to have women make up the same proportion of our political representatives.

[Dash87]

1. Yup. What a silly concept.

I think praising individuals is due, and praising the role of women in congress is due, but saying things like, "only a woman could have done this" is really silly and counterproductive.

[Orrex]

2. .

[seabeyond]

3. agree. it is like i am seeing the kicking of a little dirt and oh, shucks. from the boys.

i am not into this at all. excuses the inexcusable for men and creates a nonreality for women.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. Is it just me or do, "She's a good politician because of her girlie parts" come off as akin to

"She's a good stripper because of her girlie parts"? Imagine the campaign posters -- "Vagina brings us together!"

You know you're on a bad date when they can't stop referencing your breasts.

It also let's men off the hook for their bad behavior. "Boys will be boys" leads to boys making country club business deals to being obstinate politicians to Tailhook scandals to wilding gang rapes. Meanwhile, there are plenty of Gandhis, MLKs, Obamas, Pasteurs, etc. etc., etc. who were all men that we could be encouraging our boys to emulate as men. And it shouldn't even be about them being men -- or not being men --but about being people who reach for things bigger than themselves (or their genitalia).

[seabeyond]

13. exactly. i am so feeling like mommy patting johnny on the head and condescendingly telling

him, it is ok, now get back to work.

[CK_John]

4. Women woundn't have put us in the position to do so much harm to begin with.EMO.

[scheming daemons]

5. Bachmann, Palin, Coulter, Blackburn are all women

You don't have to have a Y chromosome to be a crazy.

[kwolf68]

6. It's silly and it makes me uncomfortable

It's kind of like the "roll call" of various races to take their turn at the Presidency. We'll, we've had a black Prez...now lets get a women? Or a hispanic?

How about, lets just get the best person for the job.

Women are not a damn bit better (or worse) than men in governance. If the likes of Bachmann, Blackburn and others didn't exist I'd think differently.

[gollygee]

7. If we always got the best person for the job

Congress would probably look a lot more like America, with more women and people of color in it and in other positions of power. Our society creates barriers all the way from birth for people other than white men to even reach a point where they're prepared to be a candidate, let alone to where they're a candidate and have a good chance of being elected.

I don't really think the system is set up for the best person to get the job as far as government elected positions go.

[Skittles]

16. THANK YOU

no female president and we are OVER HALF THE POPULATION - that is sheer SEXISM

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Speaking for myself alone, I dislike it when men are called 'boys' much as women

take issue with being called 'girls' in matters of State and of business. Both words are cheap shots.

[gollygee]

9. She wasn't calling anyone a boy

She was talking about two childish sayings - "Girls are better than boys" and "boys will be boys." The stereotype that is being used about women relies on those two childish ideas.

[seabeyond]

14. exactly. i just used it in my post above cause i feel like as a nation, we have all been reduced to

children. wtf???? lol

[Tigress DEM]

10. In general, women ARE brought up differently in our culture. It CAN be a benefit for public service.

I also think there are many excellent men out there to elect.

HOWEVER, lets talk about the WHY of the perception.

Go back to our society as hunters and gatherers and you see that whole macho gun toting mentality in it's infancy.

Women gather together and work together by the nature of the work they do as Mothers and the need to integrate their children into society.

Physically we are wired with a more verbal mentality and the right and left sides of our brains still converse a bit more than the average male, allowing us a slight advantage in multitasking.

We're allowed to feel more deeply and are likely to be peacemakers because losing soldiers means losing family members.

NOW a lot of this can be true about many men as well, so I say look for these advantageous attributes in a candidate moving forward and get away from all the labeling of MALE vs FEMALE because it's too simplistic and doesn't help bring consensus or promote women accurately anyway.

You are right. JUST being a woman isn't enough. Bachmann and Coulter are proof of that. Shudder

[Schema Thing]

11. It's also silly when John Mcain was pushing harder than Susan Collins.

[cynatnite]

15. Let's look at history when women were in charge....

Oh, that's right.

FAIL!

[ohheckyeah]

17. So, I'm the only woman here that has

secret magic powers?


Ooops - now it's not a secret. Damn.

[Bucky]

18. Thank you for putting all those women in their places.

Pssst, it's 52% of the population... and over 60% of Democratic voters