Traditionally in our society, women are portrayed as conciliatory, nurturing beings who don't like bullying or arrogance. Whenever the presidential election of '08 showed signs of becoming "ad hominem" or arrogant, women were the single demographic that was turned off the most, reports showed.

Yet in recent weeks, we've seen two high-profile women behave in ways which, to put it mildly, don't flatter their gender too much.

First, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with her comment that "a wise Latina can make a BETTER decision than a white male." She didn't say that her unique, rich set of experiences enabled her to make JUST AS GOOD a decision as the representative of any other group, be it race- or gender-based. Unlike Justice Alito, who mentioned his Italian heritage during his own confirmation, Sotomayor went further and directly compared two groups, saying one was richer than the other.

Regardless of how you feel about Sotomayor--I have to puke at MSNBC's jubilation and defense of her, since the "wise Latina" happens to be a non-European Catholic with views on abortion that may very well wind up disappointing Keith, Chris, and Rachel--you have to admit this: If we want true diversity, then whites should be part of that diversity, not detached observers of it.

Next, we have Sarah Palin, whose assertion that she represents "the real America" (small-town, that is) implies that other lifestyles (cosomopolitan and urban) are not "real America." Once again: diversity is when different parts are equal. Judgmental comparisons are not the inclusiveness that these people pay lip service to. It's fine that Sarah Palin brings a small-town experience to the table. But it's in no way better or worse than any other American experience.

I'll conclude by saying that men catch a lot of flak in this society. However, not once have I seen any male politician, white or otherwise, be as judgmental as these two ladies. Obama, for example, was very careful to emphasize harmony. The male Senators that grilled Sotomayor were very respectful and far from xenophobic, contrary to the ramblings of Maureen Dowd and others. Mike Huckabee, the small-town male equivalent of Palin, never said during the election that his "flyover country" background was BETTER than others', he merely reminded people that it exists.

If women haven't yet achieved the kind of success in this country that they aspire to, then evidence increasingly points to their judgmentalism as the culprit, and something they perhaps need to work on, IMHO.

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Last edited by HardTranceProd on Jul-15-2009 at 14:56

quote:

Originally posted by HardTranceProd not once have I seen any male politician, white or otherwise, be as judgmental as these two ladies.

Good grief.

Yeah, if Sotomayor says that one thing in public about wise Latinas, one can only imagine what other things may go through her head ... no doubt about it.

And Palin ... well, where do I start?

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quote:

Originally posted by HardTranceProd If women haven't yet achieved the kind of success in this country that they aspire to, then evidence increasingly points to their judgmentalism as the culprit, and something they perhaps need to work on, IMHO.

that's an incredibly stupid comment.

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