I’ve been in a snit all day about Hillary and gender, and so I decided to let some of it out.  I’m really getting fed up with how the press is talking about Hillary using gender stereotypes and out-and-out sexism against her. 

I’ve asked a lot of people who oppose Hillary the reasons why, and the vast majority of the time I haven’t received anything resembling a straight answer.  Prying a little bit beneath the surface usually produced some kind of thinly-veiled version of she’s a “ball-busting bitch.”  Typical crap leveled at any assertive, strong woman.  There are tons of double standards at work here too.  Men who engage in much more aggressive political behaviors are routinely excused, but when a woman starts to get pretty good at playing their game, they try to beat her back with accusations, either direct or indirect, of being some crazy cold-hearted opportunist.  Have these people looked in a mirror lately? 

Then something happens.  A supposedly softer moment, and the same people pounce, with exactly the opposite response.  I say supposedly, because the characterizations of this moment, which I’m sharing with you via the miracle of YouTube, are pretty different from what I observe here: 

This incident has been described in the mainstream press as a “candidate cracking under pressure,” “weeping,” “sobbing,” “crying” “breaking down,” and so on.  Really?  Is that what you got out of it?  If so, you better watch it again, and this time with a dictionary in hand. 

What’s even worse is when another candidate, who some of us have found reason to admire in the past, jumps at the chance to exploit the situation by declaring this kind of display un-presidential and wraps himself in a ridiculous masculinist, tough-guy rhetoric, which I’ve got to say, sounds exactly like the rough-and-tumble-cowboy-on-the-eve-of-war kind of thing, George W. would say.  I’m speaking of John Edwards, who I quote, “I think what we need in a commander-in-chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are tough business, but being president of the United States is also tough business.”  Chances of Edwards getting a vote from me at this point: zero. 

I could go on forever listing all the sexist crap shot at Hillary just in the last couple of days.  Let me just give you a few more: shrill, hellish housewife, nagging, cackling, screechy, “an aging and resentful female,” and my personal favorite, “when Hillary Clinton speaks, men hear, ‘Take out the garbage.’”  Not to mention the notion that she pretended to go all weepy and all the women out there couldn’t help going weak in the knees and just had to vote for her… 

I’m not saying all of this is reason to be FOR Hillary.  But if you’re going to be against her, for God sake, come up with something better than this crap. 

I’m also not saying this is anything new, as anyone who has been paying attention during their sentient lives could tell you, but I don’t think we’re making enough noise about this junk in this election–not that we ever do make enough noise about it period!