By Brigitte L. Nacos
After writing repeatedly about gender stereotyping with respect to female
candidates, I revisit the topic to underline that not the female electorate but
female pundits have the greatest problem, when it comes to shedding traditional
gender stereotypes in politics. As a result, if a woman is serious about
winning the highest office in the land, she is forced to present herself as
tough and knowledgeable, when it comes to hard national security/defense
policies and as caring and motherly, when it comes to soft social policy
issues. But walking this fine line rather well does not mean a decline in
gender-oriented reporting and commentary. On the contrary, in today’s New York
Times, Maureen Dowd boils Hillary Clinton’s campaign appearance down to
this, “In Iowa, her national anthem may have been off-key, but her look wasn’t.
It was an attractive mirror of her political message: man-tailored with a dash
of pink femininity.” In the Washington
Post, Ruth Marcus divorces Hillary and Bill Clinton politically, when she
writes, “There's a Clinton in the presidential race. The surprise: It may not be Hillary. The truly
Clintonian figure running for the Democratic nomination is Barack Obama.” Moreover,
Marcus sees Hillary resembling “Al Gore, more disciplined policy wonk than
natural politician.”
Now, let’s see—Obama is more like the two-time winner in presidential races Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton is more like Al Gore, the loser in the 2000 race against George W. Bush. But, both Senators "face the challenge, fair or not, of convincing voters of their ‘authenticity’." What “authenticity?” Barack Obama as the new Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton as the new Al Gore?
While comparisons between the political styles of Bill and Hillary may be interesting one some level, interpreting childhood games (according to Dowd, Hillary always insisted on being in the driver’s seat in the imaginary space ship when playing with her younger brother) and marital roles (“sitting behind Bill Clinton on his trip to the starts” according to Dowd) is no less revealing that the overemphasis on female politicians’ looks and fashions—often a device to launch another put-down. Thus, Dowd writes, “As YouTube attests, Hillary didn’t care about style as first lady; she was too busy trying to get in on Bill’s substance. She showed off a long parade of unflattering outfits and unnervingly changing hairdos.´ So, what? Aren’t most women experimenting with outfits and hairdos?
It takes nearly a whole column before Dowd gets down to her punch line. After reminding her readers that Jim Webb and Barack Obama opposed the Iraq War from the outset, she writes, ”Hillary didn’t have the nerve to oppose a popular president on a national security issue after 9/11, and she feared being cast as an antiwar hippie when she ran. Now she feels she can’t simply say she made a bad decision. And that makes her seem conniving — not a good mix with nurturing."
I, too, have problems with Senator Clinton’s “if we had known then what we know now” answer with respect to her Iraq vote. You cannot have it both ways. But I am also convinced that because of societal prejudices and stereotypes a female politician with presidential ambitions faces more of a dilemma than her male counterparts, when it comes to take positions on issues of war and peace.
This was the most unfair eieltcon I ever experienced. This was no competition. The Clintons were muzzled by the media. I listened the radio, watched TV, saw the blogs. If 5% support went out to Hillary, that was a lot.So, all you Dems out there who have such viceral hatred for Hillary, I would like to know if you all prefer to have a second Repub back in the White House in 09. If a Repub wins this next eieltcon in November 08, you deserve what you get for your short-sightedness and hatred.I am telling you now that your Obama is a paper tiger. You have the real thing staring you in the face but you would prefer to pare your nose off in order to spite your face. Obama is a coward!!! Can you in all honesty say that about Hillary?? You know that she will go to the mat for America. And, very few people know the ins and outs of government (state and federal) as much as she does
Posted by: Tom | March 29, 2012 at 12:08 AM