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BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 01:33 PM Aug 2016

"The Era of 'The Bitch' Is Coming"

MICHELLE COTTLE, The Atlantic

If Hillary Clinton wins the White House in November, it will be a historic moment, the smashing of the preeminent glass ceiling in American public life. A mere 240 years after this nation’s founding, a woman will occupy its top office. America’s daughters will at last have living, breathing, pantsuit-wearing proof that they too can grow up to be president.

A Clinton victory also promises to usher in four-to-eight years of the kind of down-and-dirty public misogyny you might expect from a stag party at Roger Ailes’s house. . . .

Raw political sexism is already strutting its stuff. At Donald Trump’s coming-out party in Cleveland, vendors stood outside the Quicken Loans Arena hawking campaign buttons with whimsical messages, such as “Life’s a Bitch—don’t vote for one” and “KFC Hillary Special: Two fat thighs, two small breasts… left wing.” One popular T-shirt featured a grinning Trump piloting a Harley, grinning as Hillary tumbled off the bike so that you could read the back of Trump’s shirt: “IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THE BITCH FELL OFF.” . . .

It would be nice to think that this is all merely a heat-of-the-campaign thing—that if Hillary wins in November, the baser attacks will fade, and she will be treated with a smidge more respect. Fat chance. (Just ask Obama how that panned out for him.) “It will probably become even more overt the more power she attains because the more threatening she is,” predicted Farida Jalalzai, a political scientist at Oklahoma State University who focuses on gender. “People will have no problem vilifying her and saying the most misogynistic things imaginable.”

Just as Obama’s presidency helped bring unresolved issues about race into the mainstream political discussion, a Hillary presidency would likely do the same for issues like equal pay and child care. And while such discussions clearly need to be had, they pretty quickly can get heated. “Clinton will be walking a fine line,” said Leonie Huddy, a professor of political science at Stony Brook University. She will be a historic figure who brings a different perspective to the job. “But she is also going to be evaluated through the lens of, Is she just there for women? Maybe she will do something bad to men. There is a latent fear among men that their position in American society will decline further. So while there are a lot of guys on board for equalizing gender power, there are also quite a few who aren’t.”


http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/the-era-of-the-bitch-is-coming/496154/?utm_source=atlfb

This doesn't mean that failing to elect Clinton will save the country from sexism. Exposing and confronting social problems like gender and race inequality are essential to combatting them.
68 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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"The Era of 'The Bitch' Is Coming" (Original Post) BainsBane Aug 2016 OP
I've been gearing up for this ismnotwasm Aug 2016 #1
Plus 1000 JustAnotherGen Aug 2016 #2
a most excellent post. niyad Aug 2016 #4
Yes. I believe this kind of behavior helps us, though. Hortensis Aug 2016 #9
Yes, I agree BainsBane Aug 2016 #24
Something else the media deliberately downplay. Hortensis Aug 2016 #31
^ BlancheSplanchnik Aug 2016 #10
I totally agree, and I thank you for saying it! hamsterjill Aug 2016 #15
+++++ KMOD Aug 2016 #20
Yes! Glimmer of Hope Aug 2016 #40
Yeah, sigh... me too. It's DEFINITELY coming. calimary Aug 2016 #41
I lived through all that and you have absolutely nailed it! classof56 Aug 2016 #62
So Right! Only one small quibble about automobiles... maddiemom Aug 2016 #63
Point well taken, indeed! But the muscle cars back then weren't the ones we know now. calimary Aug 2016 #65
I had a friend back in the Sixties whose dad was a "Studebaker man." maddiemom Aug 2016 #68
Yes. Starry Messenger Aug 2016 #46
I'll add my voice to chorus praising this post. johnp3907 Aug 2016 #60
And there's no better way to confront them JustAnotherGen Aug 2016 #3
I'm with Tina Fey on this one. (Towards the end) TexasBushwhacker Aug 2016 #5
bitch is the new black..... getagrip_already Aug 2016 #13
Yep. Time to take the smear out of that word. GoCubsGo Aug 2016 #23
You beat me to this post! volstork Aug 2016 #30
Hell yes! Thanks for posting that clip, forgot how funny those two were on SNL together. Maru Kitteh Aug 2016 #36
Feel free to steal my gif stopwastingmymoney Aug 2016 #50
That was great! BainsBane Aug 2016 #57
here: niyad Aug 2016 #6
...like it's a bad thing evillemike2009 Aug 2016 #64
Welcome to DU, evillemike2009! calimary Aug 2016 #66
"AKC registered, darlin'" niyad Aug 2016 #67
So basically, what we've seen for 8 years with Obama but about women instead of African Americans apnu Aug 2016 #7
Yes, and unfortunately it isn't exclusive to the right. nt BainsBane Aug 2016 #25
I think you're right NewJeffCT Aug 2016 #29
Indeed. On the citizenship front apnu Aug 2016 #33
As if we don't live in it every single day. Brickbat Aug 2016 #8
Yep, anyone with a lick 'o sense sees this coming from a mile away. nt MrScorpio Aug 2016 #11
Interesting, isn't it? How when a woman might be elected president thucythucy Aug 2016 #12
And the answer to that unasked question, "Is he just there for men?" was generally, "yes." Squinch Aug 2016 #54
She should own it! Bitch is back! I hope Hillary is our Iron Lady to the RW like Thatcher was to FighttheFuture Aug 2016 #14
I hope she uses the power wisely, but I hope she USES the damn power. hamsterjill Aug 2016 #16
Wisdom tell me the sooner we get rid of the crazy clown republicans, the better for everyone! HRC, FighttheFuture Aug 2016 #18
Yes, I agree. hamsterjill Aug 2016 #19
The Notorious HRC BainsBane Aug 2016 #26
Great!!! I haven't seen this one yet.. still on DVR. Excellent. FighttheFuture Aug 2016 #34
wait retrowire Aug 2016 #17
The burden often lands on the mother. KMOD Aug 2016 #22
Responsibility for childcare falls to the mother in the vast majority of cases. Squinch Aug 2016 #55
And if anyone calls her a witch. just answer: Hermione Granger DinahMoeHum Aug 2016 #21
I expect it lillypaddle Aug 2016 #27
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact. Iggo Aug 2016 #28
Considering that Newt Gingriches' mother LoverOfLiberty Aug 2016 #32
I missed that BainsBane Aug 2016 #38
It cost Connie Chung her job LoverOfLiberty Aug 2016 #48
Thanks for posting that BainsBane Aug 2016 #49
Wasn't it Barbara Bush who whispered it? DanTex Aug 2016 #42
Newt's momma DawgHouse Aug 2016 #44
Thanks. I had it wrong all this time! DanTex Aug 2016 #45
Well, let's face it. You and I both know Babs said it too! DawgHouse Aug 2016 #47
>50% females in professional training Sybster1001 Aug 2016 #35
Now I'd they just had high level execs in their corner, instead of glass ceilings! bettyellen Aug 2016 #53
K & R, BB! Great read! Maru Kitteh Aug 2016 #37
BITCH is the new BLACK! TheDebbieDee Aug 2016 #39
Bitch is the new black...She has got this. Demsrule86 Aug 2016 #43
Great. That should set HRC up perfectly for re-election on the back of unprecedented female turnout! LeftRant Aug 2016 #51
K&R Gothmog Aug 2016 #52
By the same token, electing Trump will bring hostility to the mentally ill to the surface Shoonra Aug 2016 #56
I have to say BainsBane Aug 2016 #58
Alter the words as you'd like, but - raven mad Aug 2016 #59
. . . . niyad Aug 2016 #61

ismnotwasm

(41,921 posts)
1. I've been gearing up for this
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 01:45 PM
Aug 2016

The primaries were so contentious that the sheer symbolic power of the first woman president of the United States was often either ignored, belittled or dismissed.

A storm is coming--and it won't just be middle-class white women who represent it will be all women. Hillary has been reaching out to women all over the world for decades. There is no turning back from this, no going back--This- this first of bigotries, this first "othering". We will change the world.

A powerful time in human history, and I pity those who can't see it.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
9. Yes. I believe this kind of behavior helps us, though.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 02:37 PM
Aug 2016

Far more people are decent and accepting, and fully ready for a woman to become president, a disposition that allows them to keep their attention on what's important to them in their lives, as opposed to ranting anger against others. The media abets that by pretending this election does not involve an enormous advance for women.

But this kind of extreme nastiness breaks through the attention barrier from the dark side and creates both awareness that this battle of the "first of bigotries" is still on and an unmistakable realization that they are on the other side.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
31. Something else the media deliberately downplay.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:50 PM
Aug 2016

Consistently.

This is yet another in an unbroken string of elections in which the groupthink in the MSM is just plain wrong in a number of ways. Another big change I want is in that. Just like Republicans with the GOP, when will MSM viewers finally get tired of being grossly mislead, finally hit bottom and say "no more!"?

hamsterjill

(15,214 posts)
15. I totally agree, and I thank you for saying it!
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:02 PM
Aug 2016

Yes, a powerful time in human history. And it's about damn time!

calimary

(80,699 posts)
41. Yeah, sigh... me too. It's DEFINITELY coming.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 08:09 PM
Aug 2016

There will be a whole new world of people who refuse to accept this.

They're the same crowd that's wrongly believed, for the past seven-and-a-half years that "there's a Black guy in the Oval Office and he isn't the janitor!!!!"

This coming January, I expect that attitude to shift to "there's a woman in the Oval Office and she isn't the cleaning lady!"

This contingent needs to be forcibly yanked into the 21st Century which they seem grimly determined not to acknowledge or accept.

Some of them will NEVER accept that times have changed. I have a half-brother like that. He actually told me flat-out a couple of months ago that he sure likes the 50s and 60s better. Well, those days are GONE! They're OVER. LONG over. Evolution is a fact. And there's nothing so constant as change! And try as they might, they - and we - CANNOT turn time back. There is NO "Wayback Machine." All those science fiction shows (and there was WAY too much of it in all the "Star Trek" series) that go back in time - that's why it's called "science FICTION".

Besides, if it REALLY were to happen, those same people who think they want things back the way they were in the 50s and 60s HAD to marry the girl if they knocked her up.
HAD to make do with pistols and maybe an Al Capone-style machine gun instead of those cool slick carnivorous assault rifles and the specialized camo gear that are so widely available today.
And maybe they'd have to put up with a creaky old Studebaker rather than their hot new muscle car.
And few of those cars in civilian circulation back then went over 70 or 80 miles per hour.
And they wouldn't like the looks of their women in the bathing suits available back then.
And forget popping something in the microwave, right quick. There were NO microwave ovens. OR cell phones. OR computers. OR internet.
You wanted to research something? You had to go to the library and make sense of the Dewey Decimal System and go find the BOOK. Or look through the Encyclopedia Britannica the hard way - by leafing through page after page after page. No "search" button to click on, much less Google.
The phone? Land lines only, and probably a party line that you'd have to share with several neighbors. Good luck getting a call through - somebody else down the street would be monopolizing the line.
You went to the dentist to get a cavity filled? There'd be mercury in your filling because that's how they did it back then.
And - go out to a restaurant, and you'd gag your way through your meal which you could barely taste or enjoy because of the smokers at the next table who didn't have to take their cigarettes outside.
And forget about flying coast-to-coast in five hours. It'd take you all day and probably at least two or three plane changes. And if the weather was iffy, you simply stayed on the ground.
You MIGHT have a TV. Or, if you were lucky, your next-door neighbor did. But it'd be black & white and there'd be three channels to flip through. Which you'd probably have to do by getting up out of your chair to go over to the TV and manipulate the round channel-changer dial. Remotes weren't widely available back then.
And there wasn't an easy way to avoid military service. There was a draft back then.
Life expectancy was lower.
And most women's options for work were what used to be called "pink collar" jobs: maids, manicurists, secretaries. You could be a teacher or a nurse maybe, or a librarian, or MAYBE a stewardess if you were lucky and liked taking risks. Otherwise, opportunities were WAY fewer. You were called "a career gal" and you were often the subject of jokes, and seldom taken seriously. Your pay in ANY job was substantially less than a man's. And to gain any advancement, you were much more often expected to sleep with, or to have slept with, the boss. After all, how else does a gal with ambition get ahead?
Gays stayed in the closet and nobody talked about it, admitted to it, or tolerated it. And you were called things - in the open - that most of us except for many Trumpsters wouldn't utter in polite company.
And Blacks? Oh man, what THEY were called... And their best options for work were as waiters or porters or janitors or shoeshine men.

And more.

And they'd be fine. Until they couldn't get their Lactaid or their Pampers and had to wash all those cloth diapers in an old-fashioned washing machine, which more often than not didn't have a companion dryer. You hung those clothes out on the clothesline across the back yard. And your kitchen would likely NOT have a garbage disposal, so you'd have to wrap up all that garbage and take it out.

I'd LOVE to see some of 'em land back in the 50s and actually have to live in that era for more than a few hours. It's no "Back to the Future" two-and-a-half-hour romp with popcorn and a Coke on the side, guaranteed!

classof56

(5,376 posts)
62. I lived through all that and you have absolutely nailed it!
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 12:08 PM
Aug 2016

Copying your post for future reference, so thanks!

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
63. So Right! Only one small quibble about automobiles...
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 12:33 PM
Aug 2016

The really hot "muscle cars" came in during the latter Sixties. Some of those body styles, with usually fewer cubic inch engines, are being copied today. The old family sedan was probably a huge unwieldy beast, but was still (not for the best, safety-wise) usually much more powerful than today's "family car. " Back in the day, muscle cars were often the first to have seat belts, then shoulder harnesses. Cars have gotten much advanced in safety features and gas mileage---but cars of the Sixties were NOT "boring" in comparison to current automobiles, even those the major automakers have styled to copy them in recent years.

calimary

(80,699 posts)
65. Point well taken, indeed! But the muscle cars back then weren't the ones we know now.
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 04:25 PM
Aug 2016

"Muscle cars" is probably not the right way to describe what I was thinking, anyway. But you did remind me - there weren't seat belts in the cars back in the 50s and 60s (at least early 60s).

Studebakers, as I recall, were kinda boring back then. Certainly wasn't like one of those souped up machines we saw and loved in "American Graffiti"! And it was all about station wagons for households with kids. My mom had a red Rambler station wagon, and then a blue one afterwards. Those were REALLY boring!

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
68. I had a friend back in the Sixties whose dad was a "Studebaker man."
Fri Aug 19, 2016, 08:59 AM
Aug 2016

As I remember, the later Studebakers had some pretty advanced styling, appearance-wise. I don't know about handling and power, however. But the Rambler (my grandfather's car of choice)---now THERE was a boring car. I do remember that they had early reclining front seats (at least the passenger seats). A boyfriend who often drove his dad's Rambler startled me with this feature on one memorable occasion. I don't recall "Grandpap" ever using this feature, however.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
3. And there's no better way to confront them
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 01:55 PM
Aug 2016

Than a smart tough woman who by virtue of winning is all up in their grill!

This is gonna be beautiful!

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
5. I'm with Tina Fey on this one. (Towards the end)
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 02:01 PM
Aug 2016


"Bitches get stuff done!"

But seriously, do we really elect presidents on the basis of how "nice" they are? We want them to be tough negotiators, confident in their vision for America and strong enough to carry it out. If that translates to BITCH, then bring on the bitches.

GoCubsGo

(32,061 posts)
23. Yep. Time to take the smear out of that word.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:33 PM
Aug 2016

Turn it into a compliment. When someone calls me a "bitch", I just smile at them and say, "You're damn right I am!"

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
36. Hell yes! Thanks for posting that clip, forgot how funny those two were on SNL together.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 04:30 PM
Aug 2016

And yes - BRING ON THE BITCHES!

evillemike2009

(13 posts)
64. ...like it's a bad thing
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 12:57 PM
Aug 2016

I think that's it - embrace the characterization. Own it. And them.

"She's a ball breaker"
-- Well, yeah, but apparently you have nothing at risk, so why worry?

"She's a bitch"
-- Yeah, like driving a Shelby 428 - maybe you should stick with peddle cars for a while.
-- Gee, it's almost like she's a grownup woman - not that you'd know anything about that.

It just gets shitty if you can't make it fun.

calimary

(80,699 posts)
66. Welcome to DU, evillemike2009!
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 07:32 PM
Aug 2016

Excellent retorts! Mine is usually some version of "you're damn right!" or "And proud of it!" But I like yours better!

niyad

(112,435 posts)
67. "AKC registered, darlin'"
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 09:28 PM
Aug 2016

yeah, and your point is????"

"I am not A bitch, I am THE bitch, and, to you, I am MS. BITCH"

Being
In
Total
Control of
Herself

"and. . . . your opinion matters to me. . . . why????"

"that's my name, please don't wear it out"





apnu

(8,722 posts)
7. So basically, what we've seen for 8 years with Obama but about women instead of African Americans
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 02:24 PM
Aug 2016

I'm not surprised by this in the least.

The only people who refer to Hillary Clinton as "that bitch" and "that cunt" are the people who are threatened by people of color or women in power.

Misogynist, racist, or bigoted, doesn't matter, it is the same group of people. They are the folks who have lived with privilege their whole lives, who were raised with privilege and it penetrates every level of their lives so much they can't see it. They think the world lives as they do and can't fathom why people object to the unjust culture and communities we've built.

But all that's been changing for decades now. There's enough growth and voice today that their rose colored glasses are shattering and they're just now realizing America is changing and they are being left in the dust. To them this is a shock, to everybody else, we say: you're late to the party.

NewJeffCT

(56,827 posts)
29. I think you're right
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:44 PM
Aug 2016

I said that on here years ago - if Hillary had won in 2008, we'd have seen the Tea Party with signs that had the B word or the C word on them instead of the N word. Instead of Obama dressed in primitive African garb, we'd have gotten Clinton probably dressed in Nazi garb. Republican politicians would have gotten in trouble for forwarding emails that had those key words in them.

That said, I don't think anybody would have questioned her citizenship. But, I'm sure she'd have been subjected to far more fashion critiques and hairstyle criticisms than Obama (the only one I remember was him wearing the "mom" jeans?)

apnu

(8,722 posts)
33. Indeed. On the citizenship front
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 04:03 PM
Aug 2016

That's a thing solidly in the racist category. Hillary's whiteness will not be challenged. Everything else, and especially her gender, will.

thucythucy

(7,986 posts)
12. Interesting, isn't it? How when a woman might be elected president
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 02:47 PM
Aug 2016

all these men worry "maybe she'll do something bad to men," "Is she just there for women?"

But we've had men in the office from day one, and how many times have we heard anyone in the MSM say, "Maybe he'll do something bad for women?" or "Is he just there for men?"

It reminds me of a town where I used to live. Voters elected its first woman mayor in the late 1990s. After she served two successful terms, another woman ran to replace her, and all these men I knew were "worried" because, you know, "TWO women IN A ROW!" How unfair! How unrepresentative. Unlike the previous fifty or sixty mayors, who all just happened to be men. No problem with that, none at all...

How fragile these poor fellows must be. Or, perhaps I should say: how invested in their male privilege.

Squinch

(50,774 posts)
54. And the answer to that unasked question, "Is he just there for men?" was generally, "yes."
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 10:17 AM
Aug 2016

Rare exceptions, but mostly yes, those male politicians did not concern themselves overly much with women's issues.

 

FighttheFuture

(1,313 posts)
14. She should own it! Bitch is back! I hope Hillary is our Iron Lady to the RW like Thatcher was to
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 02:58 PM
Aug 2016

the liberal Labor party.

I do think she may harbor a deep anger, well understandable, to the right wingers for the hunting they did of her and her husband when Bill was President. A conspiracy she called it, and it was. I hope she really fucks up their chili, in a nice way, of course.


hamsterjill

(15,214 posts)
16. I hope she uses the power wisely, but I hope she USES the damn power.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:04 PM
Aug 2016

That is my one dislike of the Obama administration - the fact that in my opinion they didn't use the majorities in Congress when they had them.

 

FighttheFuture

(1,313 posts)
18. Wisdom tell me the sooner we get rid of the crazy clown republicans, the better for everyone! HRC,
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:15 PM
Aug 2016

don't hold back!!

As for Obama, he kept trying to strike bargains with them especially the first term+; splitting the baby. Still, if he was too pushy or forceful they would have exploded with the "angry black man meme". As it is they still try that but it rings pretty hollow with most people, especially with their Orangutan they let out of the cage. Now, he is much more "I don;t give a fuck" President, at least with respect to them.

hamsterjill

(15,214 posts)
19. Yes, I agree.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:22 PM
Aug 2016

I felt Obama was almost forced to "play nice" or face the "angry black man meme". I do realize that he had a very difficult tight rope to walk.

Hillary will most assuredly face the "angry older woman" meme, but I think she's already at a point where she doesn't give a fuck. If she wins, and I believe she will, I think she will kick some ass and let the haters sort it out. And I'll be right there behind her, enjoying every minute of it!

retrowire

(10,345 posts)
17. wait
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:07 PM
Aug 2016

"Just as Obama’s presidency helped bring unresolved issues about race into the mainstream political discussion, a Hillary presidency would likely do the same for issues like equal pay and child care."

Shouldn't they mean her presidency will do the same issues for sexism? I see equal pay as a sexism issue but how is childcare a sexism issue? Isn't that something both genders need help with right now?

 

KMOD

(7,906 posts)
22. The burden often lands on the mother.
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:33 PM
Aug 2016

In my first pregnancy, my husband and I reserved a daycare spot in his office complex. When the ultrasound showed I was carrying twins we reserved a second place. The cost of the childcare for two infants would have taken 75% of my paycheck. For me it wasn't worth spending 75% of my paycheck to have someone else care for my children. So I left my job and worked part time evenings instead.

lillypaddle

(9,580 posts)
27. I expect it
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:39 PM
Aug 2016

But it will make me so angry, and very very sad. Hillary, as Obama, deserves so much better.

LoverOfLiberty

(1,438 posts)
32. Considering that Newt Gingriches' mother
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 03:55 PM
Aug 2016

"whispered" it into Connie Chung's ear, I would say that it came a long time ago.

BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
38. I missed that
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 05:13 PM
Aug 2016

though I can't say I'm surprised. I've heard the insult a few times making phone calls for the campaign.

Shoonra

(518 posts)
56. By the same token, electing Trump will bring hostility to the mentally ill to the surface
Thu Aug 18, 2016, 10:34 AM
Aug 2016

Don't suppose that electing Donald Trump will mean that this country will suddenly show compassion and consideration for people with emotional or personality problems. Quite the contrary, with any snag or stumble in a Trump presidency, we will flashes of temper that will effectively set back the acceptance of people with mental illness for decades. Just as George W. Bush made us hard of heart to people with intellectual limitations, so a Trump presidency will encourage intolerance toward people with personality defects.

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