which I LOVE:
7) Because she’s a woman.
Yeah, I said that, too. And I think “because he’s a person of color” is a perfectly fine reason to vote for Obama, for the record. As I said in my bad reasons post, I don’t believe any woman would be better than any man—or any person of color would be better than any white person, for that matter. Condoleezza Rice is the simple answer to both of those assertions. But if this election has taught us anything, it’s that we are nowhere fucking near a post-feminist or post-racial society. The symbolic value of seeing someone other than a white man in the most powerful position in the country—and, arguably the world—would be tremendous.
Look at it this way. I’m 33. As far back as I can remember, I heard from my parents, my teachers, and even certain media outlets that girls can grow up to be anything they want to be, including president. That women deserve powerful, high-paying careers just as much as men. That there are no intrinsic differences between men and women in terms of intelligence or professional competence.
Problem is, as they say in creative writing classes, it’s much more powerful to show than to tell. People have told me that shit all my life, but I sure haven’t seen it. Women still make less than men, there are way fewer women CEOs, and way fewer women politicians. Women are still demonized as bad mothers if they prioritize their careers as highly as fathers do, and as bad people if they prioritize their careers over having children in the first place. A woman runs for president, and she’s rewarded with assholes screaming “Iron my shirt!”*, internet communities dedicated to telling her to get back in the kitchen, and pundits openly fearing for their testicles if she’s elected. This? Does not match up with what little girls are told about women’s potential in our wonderfully enlightened, “post-feminist” society. Which makes one suspect, strangely enough, that all that Free to Be You and Me stuff was a total crock.
So hell yes, when there’s a strong female candidate in the race, wanting to see a female president is a good reason to vote for her.
*Seriously, if someone comes in here and says, “That was a radio stunt!” I’m gonna scream. A) We know, and B) that actually makes it worse, not better, seeing as how it was arranged by media professionals who believed their whole audience would find it high-larious, not just a couple of random fucking bozos.
The whole post can be read here:
