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I am a college student, if you use the box below I earn money to spend on Amazon to buy books. 1/09/2008
THAT WOMAN!
I get an article from my boss about Hillary. Written by Gloria Steinem it, when boiled down to a few words, is about gender bias and the presidential race. We're not sexist, are we? Oh no. But one phrase I've heard over and over again (in fact, it was commented on by one of the faculty on the Iowa trip) is "I will not vote for that woman."
You've surely heard someone say it. Not "Hillary," not "that candidate," but "that woman." I almost want to put it in all caps, italicized, and twice as large as the rest of this text. We've all heard it so much we don't even register it anymore.
Imagine if you heard one of the following:
"I won't vote for that Mexican."
"I won't vote for that black man."
"I won't vote for that Southerner." Ok, not so offensive, but still unfriendly.
"I won't vote for that Mormon."
"I won't vote for that Christian." You actually might hear this, but I haven't heard it yet and I find Atheists who evangelize just as annoying as anyone else who does.
"I won't vote for that fatty."
"I won't vote for that Muslim." It's not applicable anymore, but it is still part of his heritage.
So why is it ok for people to say "I won't vote for that woman?" Granted, this hits me pretty personally as I happen to be a woman, have been for over thirty-two years. Maybe the speaker means it in a completely harmless way but it doesn't come out that way. By referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton as "that woman" you're stripping away credentials, platforms, beliefs, and assigning her a label. It's an unfair label to be sure, as the labels above may or may not confirm. I'm not the greatest debater so my point may fall flat, but I think diminishing her as "that woman" is hurtful and sexist.
People have their own reasons for not caring for Hillary (I'm not supporting her in the primaries because quite frankly I don't care for her voting record in the Senate and I prefer Obama), but gender should not be part of one's disregard (neither should Bill, by the way).
You've surely heard someone say it. Not "Hillary," not "that candidate," but "that woman." I almost want to put it in all caps, italicized, and twice as large as the rest of this text. We've all heard it so much we don't even register it anymore.
Imagine if you heard one of the following:
"I won't vote for that Mexican."
"I won't vote for that black man."
"I won't vote for that Southerner." Ok, not so offensive, but still unfriendly.
"I won't vote for that Mormon."
"I won't vote for that Christian." You actually might hear this, but I haven't heard it yet and I find Atheists who evangelize just as annoying as anyone else who does.
"I won't vote for that fatty."
"I won't vote for that Muslim." It's not applicable anymore, but it is still part of his heritage.
So why is it ok for people to say "I won't vote for that woman?" Granted, this hits me pretty personally as I happen to be a woman, have been for over thirty-two years. Maybe the speaker means it in a completely harmless way but it doesn't come out that way. By referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton as "that woman" you're stripping away credentials, platforms, beliefs, and assigning her a label. It's an unfair label to be sure, as the labels above may or may not confirm. I'm not the greatest debater so my point may fall flat, but I think diminishing her as "that woman" is hurtful and sexist.
People have their own reasons for not caring for Hillary (I'm not supporting her in the primaries because quite frankly I don't care for her voting record in the Senate and I prefer Obama), but gender should not be part of one's disregard (neither should Bill, by the way).
Labels: politics
posted by Leah at 1/09/2008 06:00:00 AM
1 Comments:
Well, I say that. And I say it in exactly the same tone as I say, "I will NOT vote for THAT MAN, Mike Huckabee."
Actually, I threaten to leave the country if either of them become president.
But she is a woman, no getting around that - so I don't take offense to people referring to her that way. We talk about politics in our workplace quite a bit, but as nobody there is pro-hillary either, nobody's actually checked us about referring to her as "that woman."
Maybe it's early yet, but I haven't seen that much in the press about the race and gender issue either, which is nice. I see an article from time to time, but there's no hysteria over it. You know they could do much, much worse.
I had to go look up the quote, but do you remember last year's superbowl? When there were two black coaches - the first time black coaches had ever been in the superbowl, so it was for sure that one of them would make history as the first black coach to ever win a superbowl? The losing coach, Lovie Smith, summed it up pretty nicely for me:
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"I'm excited about the opportunity. Excited about the step that we're taking. Excited about the progress we're making right now. I talk about the day when we're not talking about the day when we're the first African-American coaches to lead their team to the Super Bowl. That day is coming."
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When Hillary being a woman is no longer an issue - not only for the haters but for the feminists as well - *then* we'll be doing good. :)
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