From Stanley Crouch: "On TV, Clinton seems by turns icy, contrived, hysterical, sentimental, bitter, manipulative and self-righteous. In short, dehumanized by the mysterious dictates of technology, she takes on qualities that most people hate."
She has been called a ball-buster, a whiner, an ice queen; her suits are mocked, her displays of non-robotic behavior are mocked; Chris Matthews has thrown away whatever journalistic integrity he might have clung to before by being openly biased against her. Under the guise of a tough political race, Hillary Clinton is being defined by her gender. I don't care if you don't believe it. When women like Camille Paglia go so far as to chastise her for not connecting with today's feminists, and women across the country are still pissed off by her decision to stay with her husband after he cheated on her, we are not playing on a level field.
And I'm over it. The first time I was ever called a bitch I was ten years old. Not because I was mean to someone, or malicious, or rude; but because I spoke. I have always been unabashedly opinionated. I have never suffered fools, or b.s. Even at the age of ten I was defiant in the face of societal gender traps, and expected everyone else to follow suit. I am not defined by my gender, I am defined by my intelligence.
I've been called strident, obnoxious, loud; the favorite of my high school peers in the '90's was "dyke." (Short hair, skater clothes, and avoiding dances could really set you back at that time.) Girls are not well rewarded for being independent thinkers, not if it comes with a forthright personality. You can be smart, but don't be all flashy about it. You can have opinions, but not too many, or you're uppity. You can be ambitious, but don't aspire to jobs men already dominate. I get called agressive, when a man would be called assertive.
Hillary Clinton is perfectly qualified for the Presidency. She's smart, savvy, and well-connected. She's already two up on the current President right there. Her choice of pantsuits is irrelevant. Her decision to stay with her husband is irrelevant. If I hear one more person refer to her voice as shrill, I'm going to lose it. And my voice doesn't do that upper register thing, so it's nothing but irate verbal evisceration if I get that mad. Anyway, Bill Maher and Chris Matthews are often shrill, and never get called on it. And President Bush is practically illiterate.
Don't define me, or Hillary Clinton, by our lady parts. Originally written 9.08
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