Sexism

[UPDATE: I thought of a perfect counter example to the "A man wouldn't have had to go through this" argument: Bobby Jindal. He went through this to a lesser extent when he was simple on the McCain list of possibles. I recall one report in which it was claimed that he once performed an exorcism on a girlfriend without her consent, because he felt she was in the grip of evil forces. Didn't put much stock into it, but it's a perfect example of similar tactics used against a man. --Liam]

Anyone who knows me knows that philosophically, I'm a feminist, except that I don't use the term because as with so many human endeavors, the term has been hijacked by a small group of extremists to mean something uglier than "men and women have equal value and should have equal rights and equal pay".

Nevertheless, I am getting really sick of the sexism in politics, but it's not where the common meme says it is.

The sexism I'm talking about is the subtle and not-so-subtle use of a woman's gender to convey special priviledges and protections in an arena where they are not needed.

(By the way, I'm not averse to special protections where they are needed, as we've seen before. I understand that sexism, like other biases, can be so ingrained in a society that for a while special protections are needed in order to wipe it out. This is not one such example.)

The latest example is a quote from Dick Morris talking with Sean Hannity, talking about how those attacking Sarah Palin are sexist, and as proof he trots out the same dirt-digging and mud-slinging that goes on with EVERY new candidate and asserts that "if this were a man, none of this would be brought up".

It's ludicrous. In this age of the internet and conspiracy theories and mud slinging, there's nothing I've seen so far about Sarah Palin that would not also have been said had McCain picked a relatively inexperienced ex frat boy governor instead of a relatively inexperienced ex beauty queen governor.

The same charges were brought up by the Clinton campaign, and it's insane. The sexism isn't in how Palin (or Clinton) was treated by and large, it's in trying to use their gender and charges of sexism to shield themselves from the normal process. The normal process is dirty and ugly, and it could stand to be changed, but nevertheless, it is the normal process. Live with it.

Liam.