General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Can we stop slut-shaming and attacking the looks of women that we disagree with? [View all]progree
(10,907 posts)I think Clinton's ratings improved not because of his Monica-thing -- everyone I know saw that as a character flaw -- but as a result of the RepubliCONS over-doing it with the rhetoric, the hypocrisy, and the impeachment stuff. The economy also helped -- kicking into ultra-high gear around that time (the Goldilocks economy -- not too hot, not too cold, Dow Jones doubling and redoubling, damn near every pundit saying recessions were a thing of the past that the Fed has learned to control, yada).
I don't agree that male politicians aren't shamed. But I'd agree that a female politician doing the same things would get a lot more criticism.
There have been female politicians that have had adulterous affairs, I remember about 2 or 3 back around the late 1990s or so. I'd have trouble finding notes that old -- I did keep track for awhile. Maybe I could do the Google.
On control and oppression -- Yes, I don't doubt there is a glass ceiling. They can't jog or walk safely in some areas that I can (I think about that just about every time I jog. Similarly about minorities -- in some areas you'd have idiots calling 911). There is a pay equity issue, and on and on. I wouldn't want to be a female.
And I don't doubt that, as a male, if I was juggling say 3 girlfriends, it wouldn't get my neighbors a-clucking as much as if my single female neighbor had different boyfriends coming and going. (We live in townhouses, so the whole row can see who is coming and going).
I used to feel out - of - control in one key area -- if I had sex, I had no control of the outcome. Even if we both solemnly agreed in writing that I don't want kids, and that she will use a reliable birth control method, and if all that fails and she becomes pregnant then she agrees to have an abortion -- still, it is entirely up to her whether she continues that pregnancy and whether I'm on the hook for 18 years of child support. (As I grew older and less "sensitive" down there, condoms didn't work . Would have loved having a workable male birth control option).
But all that is in my past. Oh, oh well. Age has its compensations.
Then there's paternity fraud... "State tells Detroit man: Pay for child that isn't yours or go to jail!" http://www.democraticunderground.com/10581303