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Does Gender Matter?
On last night's show, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright raised an important point about gender, as it relates to the campaign for president. "Different adjectives," she noted, "are used to describe exactly the same characteristics in a man and a woman. A man is passionate, a woman is emotional. A man is bold, a woman is aggressive." These perceptions, she believes, would be a challenge to Clinton's nomination.
The fallout from Clinton's supposed "crying" at a recent debate in New Hampshire only underscores this point. The fact that the outburst might have swung the state in Hillary's favor notwithstanding, it was a mountain made from a molehill.
Two days before Albright's comments aired, Gloria Steinem, author and pioneering feminist published an editorial in the New York Times with a similar viewpoint.
"The woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father—in this race-conscious country, she is considered black—she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.
"Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?"
It is a good point, and one we are apt to forget in this supposedly colorblind, gender-blind society of ours. It is a proud day for our country indeed when an African American and a woman are front-runners for the presidential nomination, but it should also serve to remind us of the biases that still exist.