A new wrinkle in politics

Senator Hillary Clinton’s victory in New Hampshire was arguably (albeit only partially) a repudiation of sexist behavior.

I was steamed — but sadly, not surprised — when I saw this in the New York Times:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was about to deliver a line that has become a centerpiece of her campaign since her loss in Iowa.

“Everybody in this race is talking about change. But what does that mean?”

“Iron my shirt!” yelled a man, who stood up in the middle of a jammed and stuffy auditorium at a high school in Salem, N.H., and held up a yellow sign with the same text. He repeated it over and over.

Mrs. Clinton asked for the lights to be turned on, and the shirt man was removed along with another man who had stood up too. 

“Oh, the remnants of sexism are alive and well,” Mrs. Clinton said.

When everyone had settled down a bit, she said, ““As I think has just been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling.”

As a seated Senator and candidate for President of the United States, Hillary Clinton deserves respect, regardless of our political affiliation or differences.Those who diss or dismiss her because of her gender are sending a similarly sexist message to all women, everywhere.  

With all due respect, if that guy had pulled the same stunt on me, I would have wanted to plant his Adam’s apple under the soles of my stilettos. Iron your own shirt, buddy. In this election, we’ve got more pressing concerns than your mysogynist tricks.

I’m listening to Dirty Laundry, performed by The Eagles. Picture credit: Getty Images.  
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69 Comments

  2. those guys were Boston radio shock jocks – typical – not affiliated with any campaign as were some of the things I read yesterday.

    also, Dirty Laundry was done by Don Henley, not The Eagles ;o)

    • Doesn’t matter if they were shock jocks, athletic jocks, stock market analysts or couch potatoes…the message is unacceptable.

      The version of Dirty Laundry I linked to is performed by the Eagles on their Farewell (one of many, heh) Tour in Melbourne. I should have made that clearer — thanks! I saw them perform this song in OC and loved it, especially the dedication! 🙂

      • oh, i wasn’t excusing the behavior, just adding a little background.

        i guess i should have clicked the link. didn’t know the eagles did it on tour. good song.

        • I hope they get fired for their sexist behavior. Imus did for his racist remarks; I don’t see this as being any more acceptable.

          Glad you liked the song. Also, I was really, really impressed with Edwards’ speaking style and (more important) message last night. Huzzah, I’m glad he’s hanging in there for voters whose voices haven’t yet been heard.

      • Indeed. Just read Docstymie’s note… I almost was wondering if she’d planted them herself to boost her chance of a win, but I guess not.
        Looks like their little prank backfired.

          • YeahI’m just cynical about politicians generally, and I think most use all their assets to further their ends.
            This just happens to be one of her assets, strange though it is…
            But I’m glad it wasn’t that– because it speaks better of her.
            At least, I think I’m glad.
            *sigh*

  5. It steams me up, too, to see that people can still be so backwards. It’s been the furthest thing from my mind that Hillary is a woman and Obama is black– I’ve just been looking at the issues. At one point, someone brought up that they worried how foreign entities would feel dealing with them. At first, I thought, “It won’t matter,” but seeing how people in this supposedly civilized country are behaving, I guess I’m wrong.

  6. You said it!!!!

    I’m not very politial… I just recently posted that I have over the years told everyone I am voting for the ‘cute’ guy. (BTW That IS a joke.)

    Last night’s Daily Show showed some of the headlines about ‘Hilary’s crying’ and then they showed the actual video. Come on! At the end, they showed other men in office crying. Now that was crying!

    • Sadly, I have to agree with your point about sexism and racism. Also dangerous are those who vote without knowing the candidates, without first familiarizing themselves with the key issues. We must challenge each other to perform our due diligence, as equal participants in our democracy.

      Oops, sorry for getting all wonky. 🙂

  8. I am with you! It is all too clear in my family’s current situation that the remnants of sexism still exist.

    It may be turned around in our family (discrimination against a father) but it is discouragingly all too present.

  10. I guess I see an upside in that this sort of behavior just serves to make Hillary (and Obama if he encounters similarly backward behavior due to his race) look better. I mean, it just looks so… barbaric and stupid and backward and dumb. When people see shit like that, I hope their first reaction is embarrassment. Racism and sexism have flourished because, for the most part, they’ve been allowed to continue furtively and subtly. Put it right out there like that, and more people (I hope) will go, “WTF?”

    • Sadly, some people see this as validation for their own thinking. We have to spotlight their unseemly behavior for what it is, and with our words and votes, we have to shout/shut them down.

  12. I agree. While I’d never vote for her, she is one of our nation’s leaders and as such deserves respect and should be treated with dignity. That was very, very bad behavior on his part.
    Thanks for posting.

    • Thanks for standing in solidarity behind the idea of equal respect and mutual dignity. I believe we need to stand reject intolerance in all its shape-shifting forms.

  15. what an A-hole!!! what poise senator clinton had to answer such obnoxiousness with such fierce grace. i’d vote for her any day (and still love bill too)

    • I love that she showed grace and dignity when confronted by obnoxious ignorance. No matter how she does in the voting booth, I admire these traits in a candidate.

  16. A stiletto in the Adam’s apple. Good one, Melodye! Finally, a good reason to change out of my Birkenstocks.

    Yeah, the gross guy got our attention and I think he reminded us all of the struggles a woman even as powerful as Ms. Clinton is up against. We’ve come so far and yet, so not far at all.

    On a slightly different topic, I was reading the blog of an African American man who spoke about how thrilling it was to see Obama win in Iowa, yet seeing an African American in such command set off a Pavlovian response for the blogger and his friends. They immediately feared seeing yet another of their (our) great leaders being shot down. It was an interesting perspective. You can read it here: http://www.groupnewsblog.net/2008/01/pride-and-palpitations.html

    • HA! Birkenstocks don’t leave puncture wounds, but they leave a wider print. 🙂

      I admit that I’ve had the same concerns as the blogger you linked to…not just for Obama, but for all the front-runner candidates. I’m excited by the level of participation in this election, but I do worry…Candidates need to be careful, but they — all of us — have to say No More to fearmongering, right? Thanks for sharing the article with us.

  17. If I was American, I think for this reason alone, I would vote for Hillary. Women have been walked on for way too long. It’s time we get our due share.

  18. Right On Sister!

    This election is way too important to muddy up the issues with all the sexist and racist comments that will hit the airwaves, but that is just what the good ole Rove boys and right wingers want.

    • Sexism, racism, classism — and even religous affiliations — blind us to positions on essential issues and the qualifications of the candidates. We have to blow away the smokescreens so we can see who we’re really voting for and why!

  19. With all due respect, if that guy had pulled the same stunt on me, it’s likely he’d have found his Adam’s apple planted under the soles of my stilettos.
    Iron your own damn shirt, buddy. We women have more pressing matters to deal with than your dirty, mysogynist tricks.
    Amen!

    • I have an iron, but it’s stored at the top and back of a rarely-opened closet. Translation: I don’t iron, either. 🙂

      I hope his dad’s ashamed of him, too.

  21. Well Mel, I just got Bubba in here and he read your post. Now Bubba said he would have taken those two out behind the barn and taught them some manners. They would have offered and apology to Mrs. Clinton and all the women. Of course they would have had time to remove his size 12 boots from their back side.
    Bubba noticed a post here saying racism and sexism is what the Rove boys and the right wingers wanted. Now Bubba takes offense to that remark. Racism and sexism comes from the right, the left, the whites, the blacks, the Mexicans, the Asians, the men, the women, and the list goes on and on. Bubba will have a post on this subject in the next few days. He knows about that stuff first hand.
    Just wanted you to know Bubba and I are on your side. Keep up the good work.

    • I’m with you, Lorraine…I admire Clinton’s ability to handle the incident with grace and dignity.

      I wonder how some of the male candidates would have handled an equal and opposite attack based on their gender. (I’m not sure that’s even possible…and for the record, I wouldn’t want to see it happen.)

  25. I would have wanted to plant his Adam’s apple under the soles of my stilettos.

    Cheers for strong-minded ladies, and strong-minded ladies who both have an excellant way with words! Like us. 😉

  26. As a seated Senator and candidate for President of the United States, Hillary Clinton deserves our respect, regardless of our political affiliation or differences.

    This is a bit of a sticky wicket for me, to be perfectly honest. Now, up-front, let me just say that this idiot was way out of line and way over the top. That was ridiculous. But I have to admit that I wondered if this guy was a plant from the Clinton campaign, stuck in there to drum up support. It’s ot like it would be the first time the Clinton campaign was involved in something like that. Less than a month ago, a Clinton staffer was found to be planted in the audience to ask softball questions during a town hall meeting. So yeah, I did and still do wonder about that idiot.

    Anyway, I personally don’t adhere to the idea that simply because somebody is a seated Senator that I owe them my respect. There are plenty of seated Congressmen and Senators that don’t deserve my respect nor will they ever have it. Joe Lieberman, Dianne Feinstein, Mitch McConnell, Lindsay Graham, John Kyl… and the list goes on. I respect the office of Senator, but I don’t respect, nor do I feel I have to respect, some of those officeholders. Respect, to me, is earned and not simply given because of somebody’s title.

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