 |
 |
 |
INFLUENTIAL
BEDFELLOWS
The casting is finished and the stage lights dim. The two political parties are now taking their show on the road both hoping they will open at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave next year for a four year run.
All four candidates as expected are white guys in suits. They will flail at each other through the November elections in the time honored manner, enriching the coffers of the media. They will unstintingly "caress the erogenous zones of the body politic." Did anyone really think we'd see a woman among these four?
Not a bloody chance in hell! However we may try to convince ourselves otherwise, it is, and always has been a man's world. It still is since, as the Amazon Warrior, Terreis said, "It's a man's world not because it should be but because we let them have it." [from Hooves and Harlots episode of Xena Warrior Princess]
Much as we dislike most of his agenda, Pat's a politician who stated what many men and women believe: "Rail as they will about 'discrimination,' women are simply not endowed by nature with the same measures of single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism." -- Pat Buchanan, 11/22/83
Nearly 20 years later, he named a woman, Ezola Foster, for his Vice Presidential running mate in the Reform Party.
It's all out there for us to learn from. Here's a gem for you that explains why women go into sports, for example, provided for us by every woman's rush -- Limbaugh. Tennis player, Anna Kournikova, was in the news after the swimsuit issue of "SI" described her as "far more valuable for her appearance than her sports acumen." Rush clears the whole thing up for us: "Let me refresh your memory. Feminists -- well, Undeniable Truth of Life #24: Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. Got me in trouble when I wrote it, gets me in trouble every time I remind you of it. But it is being borne out as true even now on the women's professional tennis tour. They're upset with Anna Kournikova because she's good looking. Period."
After years of being excoriated for asking that our language become more inclusive, we still have the words chairMAN, MANkind, congressMAN etc as "generic" and unchanging. Yet the converse is seldom or ever true. We noted in today's newspaper the following information: "Matthew Perry, 28, lives in Burlington. If he weren't a man, he'd be called a meter maid. But he is, so he's known as a parking enforcement officer."
So, we have four white men in suits at the top of the ticket for the two major Parties, nothing very new about that. But what of the women they bring with them? Here we will see many differences; The Republicans introduced their wives; the Democrats, their partners.
Women do have influence on the man at the top of the ticket. An influence as old as discrimination itself. We are left with only the good auspices of presidential bedfellows in this world even though it still is of, and for, men. Therefore, we know that the Republican, if elected, will not have his sleep disturbed by a spouse concerned for the welfare and rights of women.
But we should also be aware that Tipper and Hadassah have walked the walk and talked the talk. Tipper has shared with us the stings and arrows of clinical depression and how she fought her way through it. Hadassah's story of unconscionable religious persecution is still unfolding.
The Democrat, if elected, will never be allowed to forget that women deserve and demand strong anti-gun laws, religious freedom, equal pay, reproductive rights and dependable medical and social security. If he wants to get any sleep at all, he WILL remember.
2000-033
Copyright 2000 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
|
|
|