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Nov 08Sexism and a Project Runway reference.
There’s been a flurry of articles (okay, two) claiming that sexism played a major part in the 2008 election. From The Daily Beast’s article, “The Barrier That Didn’t Fall”:
The race appears to have crystallized attitudes among women that they face discrimination in almost all areas of private and public life. Women over 50, the first generation to have a majority in the workforce, see far more discrimination in every area of life than younger women. And when it comes to the armed forces, the poll shows a similar pattern of older and higher income women reporting the highest levels of discrimination against them. About 72% of women that they were being treated unfairly in politics—a perception that Hillary Clinton’s appointment as secretary of state, the third woman in that position, would likely do little to assuage.
The New York Magazine piece “The ‘Bitch’ and the ‘Ditz’” argued along similar lines:
In the grand Passion play that was this election, both Clinton and Palin came to represent—and, at times, reinforce—two of the most pernicious stereotypes that are applied to women: the bitch and the ditz. Clinton took the first label, even though she tried valiantly, some would say misguidedly, to run a campaign that ignored gender until the very end.
[...]
Palin was recast as the charmer, the glider, the dim beauty queen, the kind of woman who floats along on a little luck and the favor of men.
Having never been female (except that one time in a dream), I obviously can’t speak to anyone’s personal experience, but let’s start with the NYMag article’s subjects. Well, the first pitch is a fastball down the center: Sarah Palin was “recast” as a dim beauty queen? Let’s leave aside the “leering old men” vibe of “Heartthrob” Kristol, “Little Starbursts” Lowry et al. for just a moment. No one outside the monkey house1 thought for a second that Palin was qualified; check out just about any of Andrew Sullivan’s posts over the last six months, or any of these posts from this humble blog. For fuck’s sake, she couldn’t name one news publication she read! She winked during a Vice-Presidential debate! That wasn’t sexism, just a truly inept candidate. The article even admits that “it is fair to criticize her for campaigning on a platform of charm rather than substance. … [I]t’s impossible to imagine a male candidate mentioning fatherhood as the source of his readiness to be the nation’s second-in-command.” I think we can move on.
To… Clintonnnnn. She was labelled a “cackler,” there was debate about whether her crying was genuine, and the fact that she was perceived as emasculation personified–sounds like she’s got a case. Except… her Senate experience isn’t really that much more substantial than Obama’s, and her claim of experience via osmosis from Bill’s administration, even if it was true, sounded like the “I invented the Internet” story that helped sink Al Gore. She supported the Iraq war, which became increasingly toxic as the race went on. And at a time when Obama was pushing for a break from the past, Hillary’s counter-mantra of “experience” helped him lump her in with Bush 44. And there’s Bubba–it’s been common knowledge that they were a two-pack since Bill left office, and he didn’t always help her campaign, instead becoming a visible reminder of the past who often sounded like a petulant (and sorta racist) man-child.
And what about Michelle Obama? Even if she ran against Jesus Hubert Christ in 2016, I’d think about voting for her. The unflappable-yet-practical Princeton and Harvard Law grad is motivated, scary smart, almost unerringly fashionable (except on election night), and acerbically funny. Having an erudite, charming black woman in the White House, even as “Mom-in-Chief”, is certainly more inspirational than having a Vice-President who “admittedly smell[ed] like salmon for a large part of the summer” and thought Ivana Trump would bring “glamour and culture” to any place, even Alaska.
That sounds flip, and I don’t want to fully dismiss the idea that sexism may have played a role in the 2008 Presidential election, but let’s not forget that Barack Obama was extraordinary, and more importantly, really lucky. Claiming unfair treatment diminishes Clinton’s accomplishments and Obama’s victory, does nothing to elevate or advance the discourse, and strengthens another “vice-grip of female stereotypes,” that of women as powerless victims. Yes, sexism is still a problem. But it’s not why Obama won.
Links:
The Barrier That Didn’t Fall (The Daily Beast)
How the Year of the Woman Actually Set Women Back (NYMag)
Related: The Other Obama (The NYer)
1. Remember that Project Runway where Tim Gunn first saw Chris’s hairy collection? He compared it, unfavorably, to being in a monkey house. It went something like “When you step in the door, you’re like “Oh god, this stinks! Then after an hour it’s not so bad, and eventually you just get used to it.” The Republican Party is deep in monkey house denial right now. Back
Tagged: culture, news, politics, pop