Election year sexism against Hillary Clinton brought me closer to my mother

[workinclasszero]

Election year sexism against Hillary Clinton brought me closer to my mother

Laura Bogart Monday 18 April 2016 12.07 EDT

For years I thought of my mother as a pathetic figure who had turned her back on feminism – until I saw the scorn heaped upon Clinton and realized my mom was a victim of her time

But I wasn’t ready for the Republican frontrunner to crack wise about “blood coming out” of a woman reporter’s orifices, and gain in popularity. And I certainly wasn’t ready to see lefties I respected arguing that anyone who’d served as a senator for eight years, and as secretary of state for four years, could somehow be “unqualified” to be president.

Seeing journalists chide Clinton for “shouting too much” when her male opponents on both sides would give Foghorn Leghorn a run for his money makes me understand why someone like my mother might be too afraid to step out of the kitchen, and into a bolder life.

This understanding crystallized during the debates: fingers pointed, repeatedly, toward Clinton’s face; the curt way she’s called “the secretary”; the booing and the constant talking over her – and the fact that she has to stand there, calmly, and take it, lest she be “too shrill” – makes me ache with rage.

I remember the boss who told me to “be more positive” (AKA “smile more”) during a job performance review (the rest of my work “exceeded standards”) and the ex-boyfriend who said, in a not-kind way, that I “want too much in life”. I felt a sudden, inchoate longing for my mother.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/hillary-clinton-sexism-brought-me-closer-to-my-mother

[ismnotwasm]

1. Omg yes.

My Mom is a fucking hero to me, considering where she came from and the shit she put up with.

[workinclasszero]

2. Mine too

May God rest her soul

[ismnotwasm]

3. Mine is still around

We weren't close when I was younger, and I am very grateful for the time I have with her now

[workinclasszero]

4. Thats great

I'm glad its better for you both now.

[spooky3]

8. I miss my mom.

[SunSeeker]

5. I wish my mom had lived long enough to see Hillary win.

[Cha]

10. Me, too.. my Mom and your Mom, SunSeeker. I wish my Mom would

have lived to experience Obama's Presidency, too.

[fleabiscuit]

6. Excellent post as usual zero. K&R

[Thinkingabout]

7. A lot of snarky remarks we had to let run off of our backs, just the way it was. I arrived in the

workplace while the "evolving" was happening, but many before me was not able to get better jobs simply because they were women.

[Cha]

9. Ah yes, @ demdebates when her opponent showed himself..

This understanding crystallized during the debates: fingers pointed, repeatedly, toward Clinton’s face; the curt way she’s called “the secretary”; the booing and the constant talking over her – and the fact that she has to stand there, calmly, and take it, lest she be “too shrill” – makes me ache with rage.

Reminds me of when we were told by Skinner to be more nice and we wouldn't get Hides by the majority here on DU. Yeah, that worked out so well. "Power corrupts" that's not an adage for nothing.

Thank you for this, workin'~