How do you not consider this sexist?

[not_too_L8]

Congresswoman Jackie Speier said

"Nothing makes me more proud than to announce my endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President," said Speier. "As a woman, a lawmaker and a mother, I understand what electing Hillary will mean for this country. She will not only bring an extraordinary grasp of the issues to the White House, but also a uniquely feminine skill set - consensus building, negotiation, and patience - that will serve our nation well. As President, Hillary will set an example for how to run a country with diplomacy and restraint."

snips/
"As a woman, a lawmaker and a mother,
and
but also a uniquely feminine skill set

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. "uiquely feminine skill set"

Funny, but in this campaign all the consensus building and patience I've seen is from the Obama campaign.

[Whisp]

10. like voting for cluster bombs? that VERY uniquely feminine.

sure.
:(
Hillary is one of the boys, just smells better - that's about the only difference.
how she is trying to suck some positive for herself for being a woman is just disgraceful.

she's an asshole.

[slampoet]

18. Actually, Hillary doesn't smell better either.

I don't want to go there other than to say that she really should have an image consultant who takes all five senses into account. Maybe she has an image person who smokes or is older or lost their smell by a nose job or zinc deficiency.


I heard five separate complains about her scent choices from her appearances in Rhode Island.

[Whisp]

23. Evening in Paris? from the wayback machine.

that's the kind of sent that reminds me of how medieval aristocracy 'bathed' - they just perfumed their stinky bodies.

heh. dunno why your post reminded me of that.

[Bake]

11. Yeah, Obama's supporters do such a great job of that here.

And Obama himself is doing such a bang-up job of uniting the party.

:sarcasm:

Bake

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. Which is running the attack ads

and which is winning the majority of the votes and delegates?

[Kurovski]

2. It's more a poor argument than sexist, IMO.

It's a bit vague.

[RubyDuby in GA]

3. I'm a woman and I'm offended that she thinks that just b/c I am female and a mother, I have to

support Hillary.

Does Congresswoman Speier tell her black constituents that they have to support Obama? What about her black female constituents? What are they supposed to do?

[Skidmore]

6. And I'm also offended that this woman thinks Hillary

has those skill sets. Consensus builder? My hiney.

[jobycom]

4. Not sexist, but dumb. I have no problem with her feeling a sense of pride

in Clinton's campaign, but when she goes to the "uniquely feminine skill set" card, she loses me. Too much like the comedians with "the difference between men and women" routines. I judge her qualities on the qualities I see, not on some artificial gender construct.

[anonymous171]

5. Sounds more like "identity politics" to me.

Still, not a very good reason to endorse anyone. IMHO

[earthside]

7. "Take That Jimmy Carter!"

Not having a "uniquely feminine skill set" -- I wonder how he ever got that Nobel Peace Prize?

So, yes, it is sexist.

[NJmaverick]

8. It's blatantly sexist, but there is some sort of unwritten law

that says woman are excempt from the no sexism rule.

[kwenu]

9. Apparently, sexism is only a female affectation of the mind and men are wholly immune from it.

[bunnies]

13. Yes. And only men are sexist.

:eyes:

[bunnies]

12. consensus building, negotiation, and patience are a "uniquely feminine skill set" ?!

Indeedy. No man on the planet possesses these skills.

Yes. Its sexist.

[TooBigaTent]

14. disclaimer - I support neither HC nor BO in this family feud. That being said,

there are characteristics that social scientists have historically identified as masculine and feminine. E.g., males are competitive and females are cooperative. This has been the easy, and sexist, way to pigeon-hole personality traits. In America today, these stereotypes do not hold as strongly as they used to. I certainly do not think that traits such as cooperation are UNIQUELY feminine, but that gender still appears to exhibit it more than males do.

What we all (of a certain advanced age) hoped would be a side-effect of the increase of women into public life (business, government, etc.) was to be the embracing of a "new" way to think about issues and act upon those thoughts. The reality is that, maybe because of the nature of the institutions we (males) have created, the hoped-for positive effect of the stereotyped female personality has not really come to pass. Business executives, whether male or female, are just as dishonest and cut-throat. Politicians of both genders are equally ego-driven and power-hungry.

We have not been saved by the women. Maybe we need to look at the institutions themselves to achieve real progress.

But maybe we need to turn control over to the women for a while since we men have fucked up so much for so long. They certainly cannot do any worse than we have.

[redqueen]

16. By ignoring the sexism?

:shrug:

[slackmaster]

17. Voting for someone because of gender is just as bad as voting against someone for gender

Same applies to race, age, national origin, sexual orientation, etc.

[Egalia]

20. um, voting for men because..

they are the only people in the race IS voting for someone just because of gender. Just because they are 'the best man for the job' is what we've always done. Wouldn't want to CHANGE that!

[slackmaster]

21. You've got that one backwards and upside-down

If your only choices in a race are all men, then abstaining because there isn't a woman to vote for would be sexist.

[Bensthename]

19. No biggy, she is just saying out loud what a lot of women are thinking about that glass ceiling.

Maybe if she were a superdelegate giving her reason for her vote, that may be a little different.

fyi I am a male Obama supporter.

[ampad]

22. So there is no difference

in the way men and women handle situations? I don't really see this as sexist. This country has been run by men for years so the fact that having a woman in charge would be unique. I think if you were to take out women and replace it with African American people would be throwing a damn fit. It would be all over cable news and some Hillary supporters would hit the wall with fake outrage. At least Jackie was honest about why she is supporting Hillary but I still say there is a double standard in this country. It seems it is more acceptable to vote based on gender and looked down upon more to vote based on race. I just wish that Democrats (the smart party) would vote based on the issues instead of identity.

[not_too_L8]

24. Update

And what if we changed some words in this quote, how would people react?

"Nothing makes me more proud than to announce my endorsement of X for President," "As a / an (________ American), a lawmaker and (______), I understand what electing X will mean for this country. X will not only bring an extraordinary grasp of the issues to the White House, but also a uniquely (perspective) skill set - consensus building, negotiation, and patience - that will serve our nation well. As President, X will set an example for how to run a country with diplomacy and restraint."