Wednesday, February 3, 2016

A Woman and A Jew Run For President

When I was little, my Grandpa told me that I could be anything I wanted to be.  "This one," he told my parents, "this one will go far. Even to the White House."

Patiently, I explained to him that there were three very good reasons I never could become President: I was poor, I was Jewish, I was a woman.

Poor is still an issue, were I to run for public office.  The only way Michael Bloomberg can say that he'll join the candidates if Trump and Sanders are the winners is because Michael Bloomberg wants to die broke, and he has $33 Billion to burn through before that happens.  He's the 8th richest person in the USofA.  That might trump the fact that he is a Jew.

I've enjoyed this election season immensely, for no reason other than the fact of Bernie Sanders's religion has not been the subject of a single editorial, op ed, news report, or protest... at least that I have seen.  He looks like all my Jewish great-uncles. His repartee is straight from their mouths.  He's disheveled, like a Wandering Jew, I suppose, but no one makes the connection.

Perhaps my Grandpa was right; I could be elected as a Jew.

But I am still female, and that's another matter entirely.  Princess Myrtle directed me to this feminist blog post at Shakesville, which says it all clearly and profoundly.
To continually assert that she is representative of "the establishment," into the highest echelons of which women aren't even allowed, is a neat way of obfuscating the fact that she is, in her very personhood, a challenge to the establishment.

Let me say that again, plainly: Sanders calls Clinton emblematic of an establishment that has never even allowed a woman to be seated at the head of the table.
Hillary is many things, and certainly she was on the edges of power while her husband was The Most Powerful Man in the Free World.  She was a Senator, following in the footsteps of women who had been elected before her.  That, in itself, is a powerful thing.  Aside from Olympia Snow, I had no such role models as a child.  The path that Mrs. Clinton is plowing is even more rutted and muddy.
... paths littered with obstacles are always easier to traverse if someone has tread them before.
 Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro don't figure into this equation, although Ms Ferraro was eminently qualified for the post to which she aspired.  Being handmaiden to the Man In Charge is something with which women have been relegated forever.  Taking on the challenge itself, knowing that you are capable, putting yourself out there in front - those are things which Feminism touts and which America seems to have a hard time embracing.

There are, as Shakesville points out more eloquently than I do, many ways in which Bernie Sanders could run against Hillary.  By ignoring the fact that The Establishment does not now and never has before allowed a woman to assume the mantle of the presidency without trying to bring her down by critiquing her hair, her clothes, her mannerisms, her tone of voice.  As Shakesville notes, Bernie's disheveled appearance is considered adorable by the media in a way that would never been condoned regarding Hillary.

Doubt me?  Think back to Pant Suits.... hair styles.... makeup.....

I suppose that I could be thrilled about a Jew nearly winning the Iowa caucuses... if he didn't do it by stomping on a woman.

Grandpa, not that much has changed, it seems.

10 comments:

  1. Don't forget Trump and his bathroom comments. That really irked me. He would never have made such a comment about a man. Why in this day and age are women STILL held to a different standard? I'm actually quite sick of it. And you are right, if Hillary came out in any way looking disheveled or not totally put together, she would never hear the end of it. Why do we even have to focus on looks? She is more than qualified to be President (much more so than Palin). Palin annoys me because she uses being a woman too much. She tries to play up her looks and not that she has any brains, she is stereo-typical of how men see women. And she does nothing at all dispel that stereo-type.

    I, too, wish Sanders had not brought in Hillary's personal life. It has no bearing on her qualifications to be President. No one is bringing-up his personal life or even Trump's.

    Very annoyed today with women being treated this way--STILL.

    Happy Wednesday.


    Megan xxx

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  2. I thought I paid a lot of attention to the campaigns but apparently missed something. What did Bernie say that stomped on Hillary's personal life?

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  3. Rain, I stand corrected. I misread this article as personal life and not "personal attacks". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-sanders-attacks_us_56af5663e4b077d4fe8ea7fc

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    1. thank you, MS. I know she accused him of that but I thought that what he has been saying is all fair game. The issue of the emails is very real and needs resolution because if the FBI decides a felony was committed, I wish they'd get there soon. And if not, they need to make clear she did nothing wrong. As for her being in the pocket of Wall Street, I think that is fair also. He has to go for where he differs from her or he won't win. So far, I have felt he has been fair but if others see places he has not, I'd like to hear. He's my candidate btw at least as far as the primaries. In the main election, it'll be whichever Dem has won the nomination.

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  4. I know exactly what you mean. I was not a Bill Clinton supporter when he first sought the nomination because I thought he was too conservative, showing how out there I am, I guess. I do like Hillary and I am absolutely hungry for an experienced and well qualified woman to be president. Still my preference would be Elizabeth Warren. I like Bernie. I am from Vermont, where we all don't much care about hair and trendy fashion statements, by the way. It is a real dilemma for me.
    On the other hand, should Trump end up as president, I would have no problem moving out of the country. God forbid Cruz gets it and I will move to the moon or Mars or something.

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    1. Can I get on the charter to Pluto? Bernie pushing Hillary to the left is a good thing. I just want a woman.. And damn of she isn't the first qualified one to try and have a real chance.

      I thought this would have happened years ago!
      a/b

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  5. Uncle Bernie has grown on me. I think it may be good that I had not thought of religion at all in this campaign. Is that a sign of progress in this country? JFK being Catholic was a big deal, Romney being Mormon was problematic among evangelical Christians (everything is a problem for them). Jewish, I can't imagine that being a problem but maybe so. Muslim, yes that would be problematic I think. Uncle Bernie has done a much nicer job being the savior of angry middle class Democrats than Trump with the angry Republicans. You gotta love Bernie, but not enough to make him president.

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    1. You gotta love Bernie, but not enough to make him president......
      My sentiments, exactly. As Big Cuter said last night, "It's nice that Liberal is no longer an ugly word."
      a/b

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  6. Bernie has not yet felt the burn of Republican scorn. Just wait until the God Party tears into him.
    Hillary, on the other hand, has already seen and heard it all.

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    1. I agree, Linda.
      They are to busy fighting amongst themselves.
      a/b

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