Association Puzzle

Viewpoint: The Price of Equality

This is a viewpoint.

This is a short post I wrote this morning for Association Puzzle:

Women EVERYWHERE: Beware if you are smart, ambitious, and want to participate in society. Latest example: Heard on the news this morning that Bill Clinton called Candidate O'Donnell that "witchcraft woman" and Candidate McMahon "the wrestling lady." I guess that makes him the pot-smoking sexaholic that used to live in the White House. But what does that make Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

Of course, I caught some flack for this comment on Facebook but what always makes me sigh is that the flack tossers are women. This is because the current political climate has created a "make labels, don't look beyond your nose" attitude for everyone, men and women alike.

While I do not endorse voting for someone simply because she is a woman, we must take seriously that our place in society as equals is always tenuous. Women are too easily dismissed by men, and the rest of us (women) too often keep silent. 

This code of silence leads to us ridiculing each other rather than saying, "I don't agree with you, but you have a right to your opinion." Instead, the name calling and minimizing add to the perception that women are always in competition with each other rather than supporting each other as competent people with something to offer. And we wonder why there is no "old girls network."

I find these continuing attitudes distressing at best, threatening at worst -- to our society, to our future, and especially to us as women. We are already on the receiving end of negative perceptions by men; we need to stop doing it to ourselves if we are to become truly equal participants in the world.

If we don't take ourselves seriously, why should anyone else?

The mid-term elections are upon us, and the 2012 election cycle will be here soon. What will our campaigns and public discourse say about us as women, citizens, and active participants in our society? Women cannot continue to look the other way when one of us is demeaned or diminished -- even if we don't agree with her.

Let us make a commitment that we will not support namecalling of any candidates -- especially women -- but we will insist that we look at what candidates propose for their policies and their positions on the important issues. If we agree with them, they will get our vote. If we don't agree with them, then we vote for the other candidate.

The price of equality, like liberty, is constant vigilance. Women cannot ignore remarks like those made by former President Bill Clinton, especially during an important two-year election cycle. 

Some past blogs I wrote on women's issues related to politics:

http://associationpuzzle.typepad.com/association_puzzle_see_ho/2008/06/womens-issues-hillary-clinton-misogynys-latest-victim.html

http://associationpuzzle.typepad.com/association_puzzle_see_ho/2008/08/womens-issues-sara-palin----it-only-took-24-years.html

Women’s Issues: Hillary Clinton – Misogyny’s Latest Victim

This is a Viewpoint.

 

Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of any political party. I registered to vote at the age of 18 as an independent, and that is how I will leave this world: an independent.

 

However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t follow politics.

 

Watching the nomination process this year, it was interesting to compare how easily the Republicans settled on a nominee with their relatively uncomplicated process, and the ridiculous street brawl that emerged from the Democratic Party due to their overly complicated and bloated system.

 

It was painful to watch the strenuous machinations in the back rooms of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to make certain that Hillary Clinton did not get the nomination. It only reaffirmed my choice to stay away from any political party, as they are all ridiculous and many times run by idiots.

 

Another disclaimer: I did not vote for Bill Clinton, nor did I ever like the guy as President. I thought he was a lightweight, although I liked that on the Barbour Scale he was a positive/passive. He loved being President, but he really didn’t do much. It was fun to watch him be President.  

 

I never liked nor trusted Hillary Clinton, either. Until the last two months, she always came across cold, calculating, and aloof, and it seemed to me that she was going to tell all us peasants what was what. However, during the campaign, it turned out she actually is a human being, so I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Now, keeping in mind that I never liked either of the Clintons, I am still objective enough to see when someone has been screwed.

 

For the last three years, Hillary Clinton was the heir apparent to the Democratic Presidential Nomination. She is smart, hard working, and has raised millions of dollars for the Party. She has been in the Senate for a full term, and even had a “real job” before entering politics, having been a partner in a law firm. She earned her chance to run for President from many years of dedicated service to a group of people that she thought returned her loyalty. And, I really think she could have won.

 

But then the DNC decided that two states that would have easily made her the nominee months ago -- Florida and Michigan -– didn’t count. What?? This is the Party that demanded a RECOUNT in the 2000 election to make sure that every vote counted. Now, they are denying a full vote and voice to their own members. Why? SO A MAN CAN RUN FOR PRESIDENT. And,this man is such a lightweight and has so little to contribute, he doesn’t deserve naming.

 

That’s how it looks from the cheap seats, folks. It’s more important for a MAN to run for President than a WOMAN. Who cares that Hillary Clinton has more experience,is smarter,actually has substance in her speeches,and has a long track record of party service? Obviously,the DNC doesn’t.

 

Why? Misogyny reigns. It’s everywhere, and it even affects United States Senators.

 

Hillary, I’m sorry you got screwed because they didn’t even kiss you first. In the breakup, make sure you get half their stuff.