Men, Hilllary, & the sexism no one will talk about.... [View All]

[debbierlus]

Now, granted. There are a bunch of legitimate reasons not to vote for Hillary Clinton (the same is true for Barack Obama). However, as these have been hashed, rehashed, & hashed again throughout the progressive community, I want to address in this blog something that isn't getting much coverage.

Let's bring the sexism around Hillary Clinton out in the open. It is clear that it is happening. Men are largely going for Obama in something like a 2 to 1 ratio. If the white community was going for Clinton, two to one, we would be hearing the calls of racism and the backwardness of American culture. There would be cries of fury, and deep long blog posts about the plight of minorities in American society. The same prejudice is occurring with Hillary Clinton, however we don't hear much of a peep. I believe this is largely due to the word feminism being equated with the word bitch, & more importantly, women being fearful of asserting this truth. Women are between a rock & a hard place. If we advocate for our fellow women and acknowledge the fact that sexism lives, we are accused of wanting to have our cake & eat it too. A strong woman doesn't complain about the discrimination & glass ceilings above her head, otherwise she is accussed of being weak, whiney, and not tough enough to legitimately compete in a male dominated world.

Hillary is the personification of the problems every American woman has ever faced in this society. Every strong attribute she possesses is degraded to be a weakness. She is bitch, witch, power-hungry, emasculating, & cold - NOT strong, tenacious, capable, & equal. She is smart - she is accused of being calculating. She weathers storms and remains standing, she is entitled. She overcomes the heartbreak of an extra-marital affair in the view of the entire nation, she has no dignity.

Watching the race between Hillary & Obama for POTUS, it is clear the American people hold these dictomies in the collective thought. Obama offers no substantive advantage over Hillary. Close examination of his policies show he is a LITTLE to the right of Hillary. Yet, he garners the progressive vote not for policy, but for message. And, that is plain scary. If you listen to Hillary, she is mature in her speech, thoughtful about the realities facing this country, and logical about the limitations and possibilities the next President will face. One blogger put it - 'she is motherly without the warmth', as if we are electing a parent instead of a President. And, when this woman does show even a trace of emotion, she is back to being the manipulative bitch.

To me, the election of Barack Obama will not represent a sign of progress. It will show the immaturity of a nation that wants a feel good candidate instead of one of maturity. There is no substance behind Barack' message that transcends Hillary's experience of years of battling the entrenched male dominated politics of Washington. People may say that she holds no true experience, but that is a pure line of bull. She was in the trenches will Bill, the reason he was able to climb to a two term Presidency. If you don't like that dynamic, or you believe another Clinton term will not serve the American public, that is one thing. She tried to fix this health care crisis before it became a crisis.

She lived the principles of feminism when it became unpopular again for a woman to assert her strength. She is tough. She is strong. And, she has stared down the male establishment & emerged a contender.

And, many men (and some women) downright hate her for it.