General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat if Romney said "binders full of women's resumes"?
Would that make a difference? I'm sure that's what he meant to say, resumes or dossiers. He just mis-spoke.
So, in the context of the point he was probably trying to make, is it offensive to ask for and receive a binder full of women's resumes?
It almost seems like some sort of affirmative-action gesture, whether heartfelt or guided by polical agenda.
"binders full of women" is a punchline for many jokes now, but does it say anything about issues?
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)instead of an alien creature. Those aliens probably have binders with those little pockets to fit humans into like we have for special baseball cards, etc.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)so regardless, the whole story was another lie.
within two years his numbers had dropped on women employees. within the four years it was an all time low.
another lie of romney.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)But I also think even if he DID seek it out, it still leaves the following questions:
After all his years in the business world making connections and then campaigning for governer, why didn't he know any qualified women? Didn't he work with any?
Doesn't this mean that he was looking specifically for women to make himself look better, even if they weren't the BEST people for the job? Doesn't that smack of affirmative action, which the Republicans hate?
Either way, he's a sexist, out of touch, elitist asshole.
fleur-de-lisa
(14,628 posts)What offended me was the idea that you have to make a special effort to find qualified women. That is utter bullshit! That tells me that he doesn't think there are that many qualified women, so you pretty much have to do some digging to find us.
He is such an ASSHOLE ! ! !
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Combined with his inability to speak English his phraseology just tells you who the man really is.
pnwest
(3,266 posts)it. But he didnt. And it showed how people, especially women, are not people in his mind. Just commodities. Tools. Game pieces. Those resumes in that binder didn't represent people to him. Just sets of data, with "woman" being the primary search term used to produce that binder full of data.
TBF
(32,090 posts)pnwest
(3,266 posts)TBF
(32,090 posts)And remember that you are on a forum - people may respond when you speak.
pnwest
(3,266 posts)assume I did anything BUT?! Who ARE you? It's ok for YOU to declare MY response invalid?
Fuck. Off.
TBF
(32,090 posts)but I will not stoop to your freeper-like level.
Asking for a notebook of women's resumes is completely insulting - women should be considered with all other candidates in the first round. There should not be an afterthought of "oh - we need some women too - go get that notebook". If you can't understand that then you seriously need some diversity education. And if you are a woman yourself, you are part of the problem.
Since you don't like my phrasing, please read responses #12, 14 & 45 - they say the same thing but are from other folks so you may take it better. Or not ...
pnwest
(3,266 posts)any freeperism? You're just looking for an excuse to vent some righteous indignation today, and you're tiresome. I am saying romney is a narcissist who considers EVERYONE to be a commodity, women included. But I'M the asshole, becuase YOU didn't understand ME? Yeah, he totally considered hiring women to be an afterthought, not disputing that. But the OP asked if romney had included the word "resume", would the binder meme have taken off the way it did? No, I don't think so. THAT'S my opinion. Yes, everyone would still have been outraged that he needed to ask for binders full of women's resumes, and that the whole thing is a lie anyway. But the question was, would it have made a difference if he had use the word "resume". Yes. We'd still be talking about the larger issue, but the binder meme would not be what it was. And I am saying romney considers EVERYONE to be a tool. ALL-inclusive. Diverse enough for ya?
And the only phrasing of yours that I didn't like, was the "wrong answer" post, and your superior dismissiveness. Who ARE you?
God, talk about an attitude.
You finally concede the point, but have to do it with insults up, down, and sideways. Well, frankly, that is where I think you should shove your response.
pnwest
(3,266 posts)That is all.
Response to pnwest (Reply #53)
pnwest This message was self-deleted by its author.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)you are clear in what you said --and I agree.
fleur-de-lisa
(14,628 posts)and I agree with you!
pnwest
(3,266 posts)Viking12
(6,012 posts)Last edited Thu Oct 18, 2012, 02:16 PM - Edit history (1)
Romney acts as if there's a shortage of qualified women. The problem is not that there's a shortage of qualified professional women, there's a problem with Romney's good-old-BOYS style of business that prevented him from regularly interacting with qualified women. Add to that the "we made accommodations so the women could get home to cook dinner" nonsense and it's clear that Romney is an out of touch sexist
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)"If women want to participate in the workforce" (may not be verbatim, don't have time to look it up, quoting from memory) WTF is that supposed to mean. So many things you can read into that one. Like every woman in the workforce is there by choice as a hobby or something, instead of being there because they are ambitious and/or primary breadwinners, just like men.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)He didn't approach anyone about finding qualified women. THEY approached him. He's a loser no matter how he's drawn.
Jennicut
(25,415 posts)"Romneys account of that story is false, according to two women who led an effort in 2002 to recruit female candidates to high-level appointed positions in Massachusetts. MassGAP, a bipartisan coalition of womens groups dedicated to increasing the number of women appointed to top government jobs, approached Romney and his Democratic challenger Shannon OBrien before the 2002 gubernatorial election and pressured them to sign a pledge to appoint more women if elected."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/romney-binders-full-of-women_n_1974092.html
It was offensive to me as a woman because he did not take the question of women's equality in the workplace seriously. He talked about flex time to go home and make our husbands dinner and binders. Obama talked about equal pay for women. Romney is an idiot about women's issues but he is an idiot on every issue.
TBF
(32,090 posts)When you are a manager hiring for a job you think about those you know who might be a good fit (you network if you are competent so you know a lot of folks), and you also go over resumes. There are going to be plenty of men, women, minorities of all sorts applying for your job. You seek out qualified candidates and bring them in for interviews & try to find your best fit (someone who is positive, can do the job well based upon past experience - including academics and your behavioral interview, and will fit in with your current team).
If you're an asshole and your current team is only white male Mormons you probably haven't thought much about diversity in your life on any level and in that case I wouldn't hire you to wash my car much less put you in a hiring position. And you certainly have no business thinking you can run such a diverse country. THAT is what is wrong with his "binder of women" comment on substance - for Mitt hiring a woman is an afterthought.
On the Road
(20,783 posts)other than Romney trying to give himself more credit than he may have deserved.
His phrasing just seemed funny to a lot of people. At the time, I immediately said "binders full of women?" out loud. The person I was watching with said "Right, I know?" And at least three people on DU beat me to posing a comment. It was definitely spontaneous and shared by a good portion of the audience.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)of the general contempt for women's issues in the Repuke Party and Romney's crass pandering for the female vote at the eleventh hour.
That's a pretty important issue for millions of women.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,364 posts)from the actual issues. It seems like we (those of us who enjoy the jokes) are helping to trivialize the real issues. Unintentionally.
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)so "binders of women" is just a great example of it. Here are 5,000+ "reviews" int he last 24 hours that find this example of his attitude very relevant:
http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Durable-Binder-EZ-Turn-17032/product-reviews/B001B0CTMU/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
To top insulting 47% of Americans, Mitt insulted 51% of Americans.
TBF
(32,090 posts)for a binder of "women's resumes" - not realizing that women should be considered at all times - NOT AS SIMPLY AN AFTER THOUGHT.
Someone even told me to "fuck off" for suggesting so. What an enlightened crew on this site ...
99Forever
(14,524 posts).. was a lie, no, it makes no difference at all.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)mikeytherat
(6,829 posts)What if Mitt said binding women's feet or binders full of women's naked photos?
mikey_the_rat
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,364 posts)'cause he seems to talk in great heaping piles of scat.
Now, for some better scat:
mikeytherat
(6,829 posts)She sang with the Count Basie Orchestra. Great show.
mikey_the_rat
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)the search and lied about it. The story is offensive on its face. Why he didn't have a staff that already included women or knew of qualified women? The stench of tokenism (I got to hire so many women etc).
The biggest problem is that he answered a policy question with a personal story of how he looked for qualified women. Ledbetter is policy. If Romney ever became President, he will have only a limited number of slots to fill so he does not answer the question of the women who asked it. At best he can use the bully pulpit to say, "Hey hire qualified women. I did." Of course he has no record of doing this anyway.
porphyrian
(18,530 posts)FLyellowdog
(4,276 posts)yes it does. He is desperate to "prove" that he supports women and their contributions to our society and in trying to do so he used an example of just how dismissive he is concerning that very thing. His paradigm on the subject was abundantly clear in his "mispeak". I can not think of anyone else who would not have used the correct term of "binders filled with resumes from very capable women", especially if that person were trying to make a political point. He simply cannot help himself.
This man is such a megalomaniac that he scares the bajeezas out of me. Bush was dumb, but this man is dangerously off balance. Has anyone else noticed the hate and anger in his eyes when he tried to confront President Obama on the Rose Garden issue? This makes me wonder... why did his sons have to lie to him so often as teenagers that he brags about it? Were they so afraid of upsetting their dad due to his anger that they couldn't tell him the truth? I'd bet my luggage that the answer is yes.
tblue
(16,350 posts)So, no, there's plenty there to mock and criticize.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)The rambling answer he chose to give was nothing but hot air filled with condescension. It was obvious from his answer that he has no real regard for women in the workplace. The "If women are gonna be in the workplace" statement, the "gotta get home by 5 to make dinner" to the idea that he had to look outside his immediate sphere (whether that's what he actually did or not) tells you that this man does not regard women as equal. I mean, would any man on this board have to go out of his way to name competent women he knows to work with/for him? He tried using the excuse that the Ivy League schools he recruited from when he was at Bain just didn't have qualified female candidates. That's a bunch of bullshit. So yeah, the "whole binders full of women" pretty much sums up how he views females. As just another thing to be acquired.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)He didn't answer the question put to him though.
OldDem2012
(3,526 posts)...they were given to him.
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)as he says.
He is lying about his concern that there were no women on the list of qualified applicants.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)and we would be without several days worth of entertaining memes.
pokerfan
(27,677 posts)First, he was ducking the question, which was about equal pay, which he still hasn't answered. When asked the same question, Obama said he signed Lilly Ledbetter and Mittens says he once hired some women.
Second, he lied. He wasn't proactive at all, as noted upthread.
Third, it was incredibly condescending. If you're going to hire women, you have to be flexible so that they can get home in time to cook dinner. WTF is this, the fifties?
'Binders full of women' is just a shorthand way to remember the entire non answer.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)For a nice summary, read this: http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2012/oct/17/romney-binders-full-of-women?cat=world&type=article
GoCubsGo
(32,088 posts)The "binder of women" comment called attention to the fact that his story was complete bullshit. This "affirmative-action gesture" was not on his part. It was on the part of the non-partisan women's group that gave him those binders. He DID NOT ask for them. Would anybody still call him out on the underlying lie about the binders full of women's resumes if that alleged "misspeak" had not happened? I have no fucking idea. But, I have a feeling that those women would be just as pissed off about him lying about what happened had he not raised that red flag.
Response to JustABozoOnThisBus (Original post)
Post removed
chelsea0011
(10,115 posts)to say after the fact.
SDjack
(1,448 posts)were the result of searches by his staff for women unknown to Rmoney. His process was that of "Affirmative Action", which he finds objectionable. When Pres. Obama was filling jobs, he had a rolladex full of names of people to ask to apply, and many of those were women. Moving past "binders of women", did Rmoney also make "binders of non-whites"?
hughee99
(16,113 posts)but he said it in such an awkward way it was open to intentional misinterpretation. If Obama or Biden had phrased it the same way, no one here would have noticed it.
MatthewStLouis
(904 posts)discrimination in hiring for everyone else. He blabbed and blabbed about that one political gesture, while ducking out on any real solutions to the issue. Like all right wingers, he doesn't care. He thinks the benevolent bosses and corporate hiring managers will magically hire qualified women and always pay them the same wages as men without any prejudice. Haven't they always?
Pisces
(5,602 posts)I think Mitt suffers from speaking his mind at inopportune moments.
TBF
(32,090 posts)Zen Democrat
(5,901 posts)The binders were sent to him unsolicited. There was no "reaching out to women."
That man would tell a lie if the truth sounded better.
SalviaBlue
(2,918 posts)wickerwoman
(5,662 posts)Mitt Romney
a.) didn't know enough qualified women to fill his cabinet and
b.) expressed surprise that so many of such women existed that whole *binders* (imagine it!) could be filled with suitably qualified women's resumes
It's not that he misspoke. It's that he's a massive throwback.
Also, he didn't ask for the binder, it was given to him by a non-partisan organisation. And he doesn't believe in affirmative action.
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)The whole thing was a lie so it's a moot point.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)discussion of real issues and a politically educated citizenry, not demagogue-bait.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Care Acutely
(1,370 posts)No, not really.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Care Acutely
(1,370 posts)1) The question put to him was about = pay.
2) It wasn't a misstatement, because he didn't mean to state something else.
3) The whole rambling response it was included in amounted to: "Gosh, you gals and ladies sure have some nice ideas sometimes, but the problem is, you always have to run home and make dinner - and, you know, it's not my dinner, so we can't have that in real man business. And that's why you get paid less. OK?"
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)for women.
the fuss isn't about the question, it's about "binder full of women".
it's just bs. romney has a record to run on. how did he do on female appointments in MA? On women's issues? I don't know.
but i know all about "binder full of women", because half the democratic pundits have seen fit to write about that and make a big freudian whoop-de-do about it, v. his actual record.
Care Acutely
(1,370 posts)But go ahead and be obtuse. It doesn't matter. The meme is out of the bag.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)WhaTHellsgoingonhere
(5,252 posts)He didn't do any foot work. A women's organization -- something like MassGAP -- initiated and performed the research and lobbied on behalf of women.
Care Acutely
(1,370 posts)and moving on to his attitude towards women, his lack of support for equal pay for 1/2 of the population, and his sense of male entitlement.
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)"Binders full of women" however is rather a Freudian slip and may tell a much deeper, more irritating story whose time has long since come, and demands to be part of the national dialogue and resolved!
Someone on FB pointed out that the polygamous Mormons have something called a Book of Joy regarding selection of young brides. ...?
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)Simply because they were binders full of resumes.
The reason this is such an issue is because it plays into a narrative which already exists. It couldn't have this much life on it's own.
H2O Man
(73,605 posts)(Hint: they would be cats. Dogs don't have kittens. Cats do.)
RegieRocker
(4,226 posts)Is a one man issue. It's not what you say but how you say it. He is nuts. He is a liar and his followers are the biggest dupes of the century.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)So think again why it is offensive. A) a person who does this needs to rush around because they have glaring voids in their staffing B) he is lying about this, as already established C) if he'd said "Binders full of (fill in other minority group)" think of how that would sound.
cherish44
(2,566 posts)and many of those resumes are from women"... The fact that he's sorting applicants by gender at all is creepy and sexist.
Dash87
(3,220 posts)He just made that story up on the spot, knowing it could never be disproved.