1 post from January 2008

Look, I am NOT a Hillary Clinton supporter, it has always been my intention to only vote for her should she get the Dem. nomination. But I have to add my voice to this fray about her supposed emotionalism and say "What?!" That poor woman is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. Maintain a stoic exterior and get accused of being a cold bitch. Show the slightest hint of emotion and all hell breaks loose. She shows anger, which in a man is totally acceptable, and she's unstable. She shows the barest hint of frustration or exhaustion or whatever (her voice cracked but she didn't cry) and she's just a big ol' weepy girl who isn't tough enough to be president. Tough? Tough?!!!!! That lady is many things and tough tops the list.

But that is no surprise to me, after all she IS a woman. And not to be sexist, but women have to be tougher than men. We put up with more crap in our everyday lives, we have to be all things to all people, and physical pain comes with the territory. Oh, and a goodly portion of men think we have no business having thoughts, opinions, and rights of our own.

Every woman in my family has endured hardships and/or pain that would put any man down. Not to make light of any physical pain my male family members have endured, but  my mother walked and worked for years with knees destroyed by arthritis before she finally had them replaced. I asked her how she tolerated it and all she said was that she had a high pain tolerance. My grandmother was widowed young and raised two children all by herself with very little help. They were poor but she would've considered outside help (but not family help) charity that should be used the truly helpless. She resented her lot in life and grew bitter, but she endured and fulfilled her obligations to the best of her abilities. My cousin is going through a divorce after a long, seemingly stable marriage because her husband cheated on her. She refuses to be ashamed and is busy with the task of getting on with her life, including working after many year of being a SAHM. My husband teases me about my low pain threshold, but the pain in my hips doesn't stop me from walking my oldest to school or cleaning the house or helping to clear the fallen limbs from our recent ice storm. I hurt all the time and I soldier through it and I try my damnedest not to complain. I love the men in my family, don't get me wrong, but it has always been the women that have kept the family strong.

Hillary Clinton is a strong woman, maybe that reminds some men (but of course not all) of how weak they are in comparison. Maybe all the Religious Wrong's insistence on the subservience of women traces back to their intimate knowledge of their own weakness. If you can't control yourself, at least you can control your women. Yeah, right. No woman can be controlled without her express permission. They are only letting the men think they are in control. Hillary reminds them of that. Not only is she the power behind the throne, she's sitting in it and not even bothering to pretend she's subservient. If a woman stands a decent shot at being President, who will get their dinner? Who will iron their shirts? Who will allow them to stay in eternal infancy if Mommy goes to work?

Well, to all the scared little boys masquerading as real men, Mean Ol' Mommy's come to town and guess what? She wears the Daddy pants. Tough on that, baby.