Today in my European History class, the topic of women in politics came up, as we were discussing an upcoming lecture by a controversial female conservative speaker. One student brought up an extremely frightening statement that he had overheard, noting that people were referring to her as a feminist guest speaker, which she clearly and deliberately is NOT. The discussion then moved to the fact that JMU in the past has hosted several conservative female lecturers that have been exceptionally “out of touch” with the goals and purpose of the feminist movement. While I find myself rather frustrated with women silencing/ inhibiting the rights of their fellow ladies, I find myself agreeing with a statement another male student made in class about conservative female politicians taking most of the heat as the “stupid” or “idiot” candidates.
My personal views concerning their political beliefs certainly differs, but as examples kept coming up in class conversation, the more I found myself becoming irritated that once again, women were demeaned just a little further. Sarah Palin was the first example given, and while it’s certainly understandable that she made some rather foolish remarks during the course of her career, she takes the blame for the entire failure of McCain’s campaign. She is the person we laugh our tails off on Saturday Night Live as Tina Fey mocks everything about her, from her physical appearance, “now I’m going to wave, and do my fancy pageant walk” to her Alaskan accent that viewers have come to associate with a lack of intelligence. I fully admit to being one of those viewers that found Tina positively hilarious, and welcomed the jokes and criticisms Palin brought about. The same can be said for Michelle Bachman who was mentioned as another example of a lunatic lady in a position of power that in no way deserved that seat. Again, I strongly disagreed with the principles Bachman proposed, but I also feel the same way about many of the other male candidates. Rick Santorum for one was mentioned as a politician in the same category as his fellow right wing feminine comrades. Santorum has made plenty of dumb remarks, proposed plenty of nonsensical ideas, but is he immediately termed an idiot? No. He’s listened to for much longer, given undeserved attention and opportunity that women in his position are denied. Let’s just consider for a moment how insane the guy is….
“There are no Palestinians. All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis. There are no Palestinians. This is Israeli land.” -Rick Santorum
“There are people who were gay and lived the gay lifestyle and aren’t anymore. I don’t know if that’s the similar situation or that’s the case for anyone that’s black. It’s a behavioral issue as opposed to a color of the skin issue, and that’s the diff for serving in the military.”
“I think we should send a very clear message that if you are scientist from Russia or North Korea or from Iran, and you are going to work on a nuclear program to develop a nuclear bomb for Iran, you are not safe.”
So I ask this, is it fair? Is it fair to deem women imbeciles before considering their male opposition that can undoubtedly be classified in the exact category? Is it okay that we discredit women on the basis of looks and sexuality, to further insult their intellectual capacity, while failing to acknowledge the absence of this form of attack on the male candidate? Will we ever be able to see a woman as a politician first and foremost, the way we do with men? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
I agree with a lot of what are you saying here, but I also think it depends on who you talk to. I think you’re probably right that most people will target a women candidate first, but “news” shows like the Daily Show poke just as much fun at these male morons just as much as the women. I agree that there is more of a biased against women in politics, definitely, but I think women get targeted more because it’s almost novelty. Women in publicized campaigns is relatively new, therefore just as when there is a ethnic candidate like Obama his citizenship is constantly in question, ect. What I think is really sad, is that the women we have as youth to look up to are terrible examples of what a female politician is. I personally don’t really like Hilary Clinton, but she’s a smart women. If we had more like her, I think the tables might at least begin to even themselves out
LikeLike
I feel like the problem isn’t so much a lack of smart female politicians, but, like kaycorbs44 was saying, the media coverage and treatment of these women. While women do make up a depressingly small percentage of politicians, they are out there and a lot of the do excellent work. Senator Olympia Snow is a wonderful example, as well as her fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins. They were some of the few Republicans who came out against the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Collins has also consistently been endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, and is a member of Republicans for Choice. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is yet another well-spoken, intelligent female representative. So I don’t think it’s a problem of shitty examples, but a continuation of the Madonna/Whore complex into politics (Hillary is the “nagging bitch” while Palin is the “ditzy slut”).
LikeLike