In My Opinion Caroline Porter

Hillary energizes Neanderthals

Already there is a new doll along side Barbie - the Nutbusting Doll, resembling presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The same Neanderthals who have always been threatened by powerful and intelligent women are at it again. These are the goofs whose masculinity is directly dependent upon feeling superior to women – and as Ann Landers used to say, you’d think they would wake up and smell the coffee. What women are finally figuring out is that as women we are as strong and maybe stronger than men, without all the trappings of their genitalia. Let’s face it, that’s why we are the gender to give birth, carry babies, grocery bags, laundry baskets and vacuum cleaners up and down stairs, cook, shop, clean house, organize the household, communicate with school, be active in church – and last but most important, the main caregiver and teacher of the children.

The modern woman is trying to do all that and work outside the home, too. As a former single mother with three children, I can tell you the easy part is to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast and go to work. It’s handy not to have to wash and iron the clothes, fix the breakfast, do dishes and prepare lunches for the kids, to say nothing of making sure they have on decent clothes and have done their homework.

The whole fight for civil rights for women has been peppered with people believing it would be the end of the world for women to be educated, financially independent, able to vote, compete in athletics, serve in public office and God help us, be president of the United States. It just happens that 51percent of this country’s population is women and only 15 percent of Congress. Now that’s not very democratic – is it? How embarrassing that many other democracies in the world, even some third world countries, have elected female leaders of their countries while we have not. A partial list includes Great Britain, Canada, Philippines, Argentina, Israel, Iceland, India, Germany, Panama, Peru, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Turkey and Nigeria.

I notice the publication of a survey that concludes that Democratic Party leaders are afraid for Hillary to be the party nominee in November. That’s no surprise. Research shows that political party leaders like to promote people in their own image, and most of them are men. Besides, having been active in a political party for the last 36 years, I’ve observed that most leaders talk mainly to each other. They don’t know and often don’t care what the general population thinks.

And as for Hillary being polarizing? That’s just a scare tactic. Maybe if John Kerry had been a bit more “polarizing” he would have won. Of course, all I heard about him was how people hated his wife. Well, her sins were she was outspoken, independently wealthy, intelligent, and actually swore at a reporter. I say – good for her. I thought she was the most interesting presidential candidate spouse I’d ever seen.

Another myth is that women won’t vote for Hillary. Of the five female United States Senatorial candidates and two governors who won election in 2004, they won with the support of 53 to 68 percent women voters. The sixth female senator was the only Republican and she was elected by 57 percent male voters. So the issue was not the gender of the candidates, but the gender gap between men and women in their choice of political party affiliation. Women overwhelmingly vote for Democratic candidates because they are likely to be pro-choice, interested in social, educational and women’s issues and feel government has a role in solving those problems (Susan Carroll, 2006, “Voting Choices, Meet you at the Gender Gap.”).

So if you see those dolls and hear complaints about Hillary because she is a woman – just consider the source.

Caroline Porter is a freelance writer and political activist who can be reached at caroline.porter@insightbb.com.

8/30/07