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Hillarysworld -> Hillary 2012 -> Women Need to Crush White House Gender Barrier (Newsweek 6/11/10)
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TOPIC: Women Need to Crush White House Gender Barrier (Newsweek 6/11/10)
Jen the Michigander


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Women Need to Crush White House Gender Barrier (Newsweek 6/11/10)
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http://services.newsweek.com/id/238660

As the father of two formidable daughters (one is 5, the other 2, but they already seem formidable to me), I loved the splendid evening female candidates had last Tuesday in primaries from South Carolina to Arkansas to California. Leaving aside the politics of the winners, the returns ratified the cultural and political shift that took place in 2008, when Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin played central roles, in effect establishing a new normal in which female candidates more often than not stand on the same ground with male ones.
The larger female presence in the arena—or, more precisely, on the stage—means a lot in my house. On the weekend between the 2008 Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, our daughter Mary, then 3½, was playing in the room where I was watching the Democratic presidential debate. (Mary's mother had gone out for a bit, and I am, to put it mildly, a soft touch on the discipline, go-to-bed front.)

Looking at the television, Mary asked me what was on. I said something to the effect of "These are people who want to be president." She paused, and, noting Senator Clinton on the screen, said: "But girls can't be president."

My stomach turned. It was a terrible moment. Had I somehow telegraphed diminished expectations, or gender-related limits, to this amazing little girl? I pressed her: "What do you mean? That's not true. Girls can be anything they want." Her reply: "There aren't any pictures of them." Gradually I worked out that she meant girls had not been president, not that they could not be, and she had drawn this conclusion from, of all things, a place mat of the presidents from Washington to Bush 43, a relic of a quick souvenir purchase at Reagan National. The color bar has now been broken on those knickknacks, and soon, one hopes, the gender barrier will be, too.

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freespirit


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I don't know who this author supported in 2008, but I damn sure know who News Week supported - OBAMA. And they were none too kind to Hillary, as I recall. If this dude want's his daughters to have a shot at POTUS, maybe he should do an article on the sexism hillary was subjected to at the hands of his and other publications.

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Jen the Michigander


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STAMP!

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Sanders


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freespirit wrote:

I don't know who this author supported in 2008, but I damn sure know who News Week supported - OBAMA. And they were none too kind to Hillary, as I recall. If this dude want's his daughters to have a shot at POTUS, maybe he should do an article on the sexism hillary was subjected to at the hands of his and other publications.



freespirit, that is an astute observation.

 

The author Jon Meacham's last entry on his Facebook page shows that back in Nov 2009 he wished for VP Dick Cheney to run for 2012.

Conveniently he now wants women to run... and win.  Yep, I wonder if he even had two good words about Hillary in 2008.

 



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