Ha, ha. Powerful women are bitches.
I’m not sure there is anything new here, but consider this in light of the study on sexism in the workplace that I wrote about yesterday. What using “bitch” as a joke in reference to Clinton does is establish a shared standard that this is an acceptable term to use for powerful women that you don’t like. The study also revealed that when exposed to sexist humor, men were more likely to cut funding to women’s organizations than to other organizations. So, it’s just not funny. Not when it’s said by a man, not by a woman, and regardless of what you think of Clinton.
Via Feministing
November 13th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
*sigh* Yes, and when people said about her husband, “How do we beat the bastard?”, it was because people don’t like powerful men. I remember well the first time I was ever told that the reason I disliked her was because I was afraid of powerful women- it was just over a year after the Republican convention where I signed the petition asking Bush the elder to pick Jeanne Kirkpatrick as his running mate, and about five years after I hung the autographed picture of Maggie Thatcher on the wall. Yes, McCain should have called the lady out about her language, but I truly believe most opposition to Senator Clinton is earned by her positions and statements, not mere sexism. In fact, I would say more of her supporters are more sexist than her opponents; her opponents can usually give political reasons why they oppose her, but her supporters are often unable to list her positions- they like her only because she is a woman.
November 13th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Honestly, Joel, I’m not a big fan of hers, so I’m fine with attacking her statements. It’s just that a fair amount of critique has been about her clothes, weight, hair, fat ankles, and overall femaleness.
November 17th, 2007 at 3:26 am
Wow; that was sooo inappropriate. And to be met with approving laughter by a bunch of middle aged professionals - I can’t say I’m disappointed as I didn’t have high expectations of these people to begin with, but I didn’t anticipate such tackiness.