Just found this tweet.
The Sexism in American Politics by @BarbraStreisand http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbra-streisand/sexism-american-politics_b_9548016.html … @Hillary2016 #feelthebern #wipolitics
The Sexism in American Politics
03/25/2016 02:48 pm ET | Updated 3 days ago
Why is it that today even a woman as impressive as Hillary Clinton is judged not by her merits and extensive resume alone, but held to a pernicious double standard?
Twenty-two years ago, I had the honor of introducing Hillary Clinton at a Humanitarian Award dinner, given by The Elie Wiesel Foundation. I said of her then and it holds true today, “There is no one in this country who would deny the competence, intellect, stamina, warmth and courage of Hillary Rodham Clinton... But the criticism of Hillary Clinton has again demonstrated that the strong, competent woman is still a threatening figure in our culture. ...A man who graduated high in his class at Yale Law School and made partnership in a top law firm would be celebrated. But a woman who accomplishes this is treated with suspicion... Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of the acclaimed biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, said of Hillary Clinton, ‘I don’t think there is a First Lady who has been treated as rudely and meanly except for Eleanor Roosevelt.’” Both of these women boldly risked the scorn of “those threatened by the image of a woman carrying the fight for social justice into the public arena.”
It seems that nothing much has changed. It’s been 24 years since I said in a speech for Women in Film, “Men and women are clearly measured by a different yardstick. And that makes me angry. Of course, I’m not supposed to be angry. A woman should be soft-spoken, agreeable, ladylike, understated. In other words, stifled. Language gives us an insight into the way women are viewed in a male-dominated society.
A man is commanding, a woman is demanding.
He’s assertive - she’s aggressive.
He strategizes - she manipulates.
A man is forceful - a woman is pushy.
He shows leadership - she’s controlling.
A man is a perfectionist - a woman’s a pain in the ass.”
It’s been decades since those speeches, but there is still outright sexism in much of the commentary on Secretary Clinton’s campaign. The Women’s Media Center and Media Matters have done wonderful work documenting the explicit - and more importantly since it’s often unseen - implicit sexism of the political and media punditry. After Hillary Clinton won five primaries on March 15th, Fox News’ Brit Hume tweeted, she’s shouting angrily in her victory speech... “What’s she mad at?” When MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough tweeted she should, “Smile. You just had a big night,” should we have been surprised? Hillary Clinton has a great smile and smiles often. So does Barack Obama. So does Bill Clinton. But no one would tell those two men to smile.
Hillary Clinton is dealing with our current reality rather than the delusions of reality TV. Karen Weaver, the new mayor Flint, Michigan said in dealing with the water crisis that Hillary Clinton “has actually been the only candidate, whether we’re talking Democratic or Republican, to reach out and talk with us about, ‘What can I do? What kind of help do you need?’” It’s one thing to talk about something and another thing to do it. Clinton gave Weaver a roadmap on how to get the results.................
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbra-streisand/sexism-american-politics_b_9548016.html
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