Women and Power

Maureen Dowd has been excellent on this topic lately.

Rather than fall into the sexist trap of saying that we are not ready for a woman president, or accusing people who don't support Hillary Clinton of sexism, Dowd is giving Clinton exactly what she deserves. Solid opinion of her actions as a person that take into account that Clinton cannot and should not pass as a man.

Women are different than men. I have worked enough construction sites to know for certain that I do not think like a man and will never be perceived as one. But I have also worked in male-dominated fields to know that it doesn't really matter that I don't think like a man, and that I don't want to think like a man. That this does not impair me unless I don't admit it.

Being a woman surrounded by men and speaking a (in my case blue-collar and primarily symbolic) language of power has taught me a little about the nuances Clinton is facing. I empathize with her position and the choices she's been making. Last night's debate reminded me of my twenties and all the effort I wasted trying to get people to think that I am much taller, bigger, meaner and stronger than I actually am. I never found power there. I only ever found any power, any self-respect or any real voice to what I am doing when I accepted that I am a tiny blond thing with a pretty face and much more interest in grace than in heft.

The key to power is understanding that you already have it. Clinton simply doesn't get that. It's harder to see that fact when you're a woman, but it's still completely true. She's asking and proving herself, and she's changing herself to suit what she thinks people want to see and what she thinks she has to prove.

Which is too bad. At this point, I know that I don't trust Hillary Clinton, even though I really wanted to. I shouldn't trust her. She often demonstrates that she cares more about what other people think than her own principles. Is this shape-shifting a function of being truly diabolical or of simply being unsure?

Comments

[Elizabeth Briel]

Absolutely agree. For years I looked forward to 2008 - I'd planned to vote for her the entire time, if she decided to run this year.

Now - though distant from the race, don't live in the US anymore and don't have a TV - from what I've read and considered from those candidates, I've decided not to vote for someone who was a role model for me during the entirety of my 20s.

Don't know what it is exactly. Perhaps after living in Asia & Europe for awhile, my view of american feminism has changed into something more complex than the assumptions I'd held for years, but I suspect some of it also has to do with her main rival.

There's just something in what I read in his words that makes me think: "this is the direction I'd like my country to go in" - even though I don't know if I'll live there again.

PS: Is there a way to subscribe to your blog? Thanks.

[Pretty Lady]

Hear, hear. I learned that I couldn't 'pass' as 'one of the guys,' no matter how hard I tried, by the time I was twenty or twenty-one. It says a lot for Hillary's strength of will that she's still trying, but not much for her level of wisdom or honesty.

[Carla]

She has a lousy public persona. She doesn't mask her political maneuvres very well. She's really quite awkward as a politician.

I don't want to deal with the anti-Clinton BS again. I want to 'feel hopeful' via O'Bama. I want change.

I just deleted my blog's contents. It felt good, but nothing is different exept my mood.

I know Hillary can do the job well. I believe she will make wise and considered decisions. O'Bama may or may not do so. I want O'Bama because I want to feel good again.

How is this different from the sentiment which fueled George W. Bush's election?

[Pretty Lady]

How is this different from the sentiment which fueled George W. Bush's election?

What's with the bizarre spelling of Obama's name? He's not Irish.

First of all, Obama's background is in community organizing and constitutional law. He actually does listen to people, and actually does organize at a grassroots level. One of the reasons his campaign is doing so spectacularly well is that huge amounts of money are coming in through very small Internet donations, rather than the traditional big donors that other politicians such as Clinton rely upon.

Second of all, just because Obama has the sense to use facile rhetoric in a Presidential campaign doesn't mean he's an idiot. I've read one of his books, and he's eminently capable of 'wise and considered' decision-making. In fact, the way he's run this campaign itself shows us that he's capable of effective strategic organizing and long-range planning; better than Clinton, as it happens.

I don't trust Hillary because she needs enemies. She functions from an ego-will perspective. She has to Beat those Bad People; those Bad People are, as she has proven time and again, anybody who disagrees with her or who gets in her way. She will continue to lead this way because it's the only way she knows.

The 'hope' that Obama offers is that our public discourse will, maybe, perhaps, someday, start to transcend this whole messy, futile ego-will politics into something greater. I'm signed up for that.

[Carla]

Obama, not sure why I gave it the Irish twist.

Obama is not Bush, but our hope for a new direction, or transcendence from ego-will politics, is very similar to a prior voting block's hope for integrity and decency.

Obama is not Bush, so maybe hope, and a tranformative new direction can happen with him in power.

I'm torn between start-over hope and pragmatic mucking through it.

[Pretty Lady]

I don't think it's a choice between the two. Obama has shown himself eminently capable of pragmatism, as his handling of his campaign shows.

What saddens me is that fighting too many nasty battles can really scar a person, to the point where they can't see the potential for healing and building bridges any longer. I worry that this has happened in my own life to a certain extent, and I see it in Hillary.

Obama projects a certain innocence, which is different from naivete; he constantly seeks avenues of communication, even with people he doesn't agree with. Hillary projects a tunnel vision that comes of hardened cynicism. That cynicism might have been honestly and honorably earned, but it doesn't help to solve the problems of the future, being irreparably shadowed by the past.

[Olympia]

"I only ever found any power, any self-respect or any real voice to what I am doing when I accepted that I am a tiny blond thing with a pretty face and much more interest in grace than in heft."

This sentence rocks in so many ways. Love it! Being who you really are is the best lesson in self-confidence ever. Hope you are well, Deborah.
Oly

[chatroom]

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[MBT Online]

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