Hillary Clinton, live image capture, you tube
Hillary Clinton was recently chosen America’s most admired woman for an unprecedented 21st year, yet the boundless admiration she inspires is matched by irrational revulsion. The chasm between positive and negative made it critical that we examine what her presence meant on the world stage as she vied to become our first woman President, yet too many looked away: “We’re past all that, we don’t need feminism anymore.” How wrong they were. Beyond agenda-driven sexist media bias, the ultimate obstruction to Hillary’s breaking the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” was the refusal of certain white males (62% to be exact) to overcome their insecurity.
More irrational Hillary-hate was just evidenced by MSNBC contributor and #privilegedwhitemale Josh Barro, who has a penchant for trashing both Hillary and daughter Chelsea. He tweets:
Well, Josh, I suppose that Hillary Clinton could have just stayed home and baked cookies & had teas. Is that what you would have preferred? pic.twitter.com/xIigVhakGT
— ♀️ (@bitchyologist) March 27, 2017
Hillary Clinton was the most accomplished, prepared presidential candidate in a generation. Despite Russian interference in our election, daily bashing by media and a partisan FBI Director, she still won the popular vote by 2.9 million and garnered more votes than any white male in history. It is unfathomable that such a woman should daily be told to STFU by the likes of Barro. What male candidate doing half as well ever received this disrespect? It is as though Hillary, and by extension all women, must now be put down – hard – for even trying. Woman: know your place!
During Clinton’s successful tenure as Secretary of State, Esquire’s Tom Junod wrote of Hillary’s “unforgivable competence.” To whom was Hillary’s competence unforgivable? Someone jealous of seeing her succeed? Is that why journalists like Bob Woodward complained of her “shouting”? Was it Hillary’s volume he disliked, or female power? Competence is sorely missing now as evidenced by Trump’s routine Twitter meltdowns. [As an aside, I’d never received more hateful, irrational comments from men than when I wrote a piece last year entitled: Hillary Not Shouting Boys, She’s In Charge. Their comments made my argument for me and sadly, distracted from so many men who support empowered women.]
Having covered Clinton for 20 years, Mr. Junod discussed the phenomenon of male Hillary-hate, declaring that it is “deeply, deeply sexual.” But how can it be when those who “hate” her make her out to be so undesirable? According to Junod, Hillary is “an attractive woman with a full and appealing laugh,” yet she is painted as a “mean nun.”
Further, it is as if no one can feel anything good about her without reflexively adding a negative. Why? Even while Junod reminded us that Hillary’s had long been a “trailblazer” and was the first woman with a shot at “real power,” he tempered his compliment by insisting “she is not a transcendent figure,” telegraphing competitiveness with, or fear, of the encroaching female. Clinton’s tireless work to empower women here and around the world presented us with a unique opportunity to grow societies’ economies and help the peace process, since it is proven fact that when a society’s women are involved, peace has a better chance of being achieved, and of lasting. What could have been more transcendent?
Junod, Barro and others must see “transcendence” as the purview of the male, automatically diminishing the female. While Junod gives no reason for the “deeply sexual” roots of Hillary hate, he gets the reason right: Power. Sex is power. In that light, the “mean nun” descriptor makes more sense.
By the way, Josh Barro’s Twitter bio reads: a man at night and a man in the morning.
No comment.
Since some men use sexual dominance as a way to maintain power over women, perhaps their “deeply sexual” hatred of Clinton is about their not wanting her to have power over them. If so, then such a man can’t acknowledge Hillary’s positive qualities, accomplishments or stature. If he admitted to her “unforgiveable competence” and yes, likeability, then in his insecure view, he would be diminished.
In that same vein, a reporter praised Hillary’s 2016 policy prescriptions for reining in Wall St. but comforted himself by concluding that she is “not brilliant.” So, she has achieved more than most men or women do in ten lifetimes by being “average”? What would his admitting to her brilliance have cost him?
Hillary has been called “plodding” – again to make her seem frowsy and dull. When she ran for President in 2008, pundits, particularly on MSNBC, called her “bitch,” “witch” and “she devil.” She was defined by her pantsuits and derided in the New York Times for her “cackle.”
The name-calling, along with big media’s choice of every unflattering photo of her, was and is designed to objectify, to make you uncomfortable with the Hillary label before you’ve had a chance to see the real woman or her qualifications.
In my travels covering Hillary over the past 9 years, the visceral “Hillary hate” had no logical explanation. She is a shadow projection – or as she has said, “a Rorschach test for America” – for any trait one feared in someone else or didn’t like about themselves.
This helps explain our obsession with objectifying women by breaking them down into body parts. Tits and ass – or a cackle – are easier to dismiss than an entire person. A woman’s appearance can be used to ridicule her via demeaning imagery: Hillary’s head sticking out of a toilet. Hillary nutcracker dolls. Hillary toilet paper. Remember SPY’s magazine cover with Hillary’s skirt blown up revealing male briefs with the outline of a penis underneath? A woman’s sexuality can be used as a weapon to demean and humiliate: “If I can screw it, I can own it.”
The name calling and objectification seek to render unnecessary any investigation into the facts of Hillary’s record. Since our culture places so much emphasis on beauty, to “ugli-fy” a woman or to make her a “mean nun” is to deny her sexuality altogether, and therefore, her power. And if a woman is neither a sexual being nor a “mean nun,” then she’s the mommy.
Clinton is a tough cookie and a professional politician, but the degree to which she was and is criticized, the need to have her be all things to all people indicates that on some level we relate to her as the archetypal mother. That association can unleash powerful feelings which defy logic. We expect mommy to make it all better. Obviously, no one person can. So she fails because she can’t be perfect. Can that be the reason for the ridiculous double standards Hillary, and other women, are forced to endure? These are expectations with which we would never burden any male politician. “Boys will be boys” – but a woman? Goldilocks’ porridge will always be too hot or too cold for some.
This brings us to the third leg of irrational Hillary-hate: Her unfathomable endurance and energy.
MSNBC (and Donald Trump) called Hillary “low energy”; code for old and tired. Ask Rep. Trey Gowdy’s Benghazi “Investigative” committee what they thought after Clinton’s bravura 11-hour endurance test via their hostile grilling of her. She emerged fresh as a daisy. Gowdy, covered in flop sweat, looked like he needed a shower, a burger and a good nap – not necessarily in that order.
As Esquire’s Junod has acknowledged “That woman is made of iron.” Maybe that’s a frustration too – there is a need to see her break. Isn’t that what women are supposed to do?
Hillary Clinton, in all her glorious imperfections, will not be pigeonholed. Looking at her record as a champion of education, of children with disabilities, first responders and veterans, she remains as caring as she is tenacious. But lazy reporters remain content with “combative” stereotypes that distract from her achievements. I’ve known a few “haters” who changed their tune upon being in the same room with her when they discovered the caricature of her was but click-bait driven media fiction.
We have all heard someone say, “I have no problem electing a woman, just not that woman!” A closer look at how we judge powerful women shows that is neither a realistic nor truthful statement. Any woman reaching as high as Hillary did, who’s been around as long as Hillary has, would have gotten what Hillary got.
As to those who complain she is “corrupt,” Republicans have been making accusations and hauling her before “committees” for 25 years yet came up with nothing. So she’s either very smart, they’re not, or there was never any there there. See shameful FBI Director Comey’s coup de grace letter 11 days before the election alluding to an FBI investigation that didn’t exist.
It also is worth asking how voters could have listened to the fiery shouts of a 75-year-old white male with no foreign policy experience; who spent nearly 30 years in Congress amassing few accomplishments and fewer endorsements, whose plans were short on detail and chosen him over a Secretary of State and Senator with proven mettle, specific policies and substantive achievements unless they were desperate for an excuse not to put a woman in charge.
If someone prefers another politician’s positions, that is one thing. But “hatred” for someone who has spent a lifetime working on behalf of others is not logical.
If after looking at Hillary Clinton’s record, there is “hatred” beyond honest policy disagreement, that person has ingested someone else’s agenda. If any of it feels like something they’d want to yell at mommy, a female boss, a girl who got a better grade or turned them down for a date, an ex-lover or a spouse, they’re angry at the wrong lady.
93 Comments
The one thing Hillary Clinton failed at was proving she had any cardio prowess. Yet right after the election, Hillary Clinton was “discovered” hiking in the woods near where she lives. I recall an Los Angeles Newscaster, upon reporting the story, actually seeming bummed out as she asked, “Why didn’t we see this side of Hillary Clinton during the campaign?”
I sometimes wonder if it was just bad timing, perhaps her health did improve, but not until election day.
There is just no logical reason for Hillary Clinton to not show the world she can do 30 minutes on an elliptical, let alone do 30 minutes on an elliptical and give an interview at the same time. I really think she would have won over a few million more voters if they just could have seen her being physically fit and active.
While Golfing is not considered pure cardio, it does involve a lot of walking (assuming one is not using a golf cart to go from hole to hole).
George Bush Jr. told Jimmy Kimmel that he scheduled one hour every day for exercise. Would Hillary Clinton have done the same?
Nonsense. More double standards. Trump is a heart attack waiting to happen. Everybody and their grandmother with any sense knew Hillary has the strength and endurance of a race horse. Why are you deflecting from my writing with something like this?
I was just trying to point out that the primarily male female bashers used Hillary Clintons momentary bobble at the cafe, and her pneumonia against her. She probably continued to work so hard that she never fully recovered until the race was over.
I am suggesting that Hillary Clinton can lay to rest issues of her health for a 2020 run if people actually see her doing something of a cardio nature.
As you well know everything Hillary does is subject to a double standard. She could have marched around in a Superman cape and leapt tall buildings in a single bound and that still would not have been enough. We’ve got some serious problems in this country of a sexist nature that have still not been properly addressed. They are not addressed because corporate owned media and her opposition refuse to do so. Ergo, we get buckets of revisionist history.
White male malevolence is nothing new! It appears you’ve, conveniently, left out your outrage over White females who found trump preferable over Clinton! Again not terribly surprising…White females have been the great assistors in the aforementioned “malevolence;” the consequences continue to mount!
Why is it so tough to accept that this is one article focused on one particular group. I have certainly addressed women and Hillary in other writing.
What do the following presidential candidates have in common? Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr., Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, Mit Romney, Hillary Clinton. All either only served one term as president, or were not elected at all. Another thing these candidates share, no public identity involving their being physically fit.
Well what about Trump? Trump’s campaign managed to play up his constant campaigning and only sleeping four hours a day as a form of physical fitness, that Trump was basically one guy fighting against three Clinton’s, the Obama’s, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
One of the most powerful stories of the past 50 years just emerged about the first female Boston Marathoner. http://kathrineswitzer.com/about-kathrine/1967-boston-marathon-the-real-story/
How did Hillary Clinton miss this story during her campaign? Sure Katherine Switzer had not yet run in the Boston Marathon, but the original story is basically the Rosa Parks story of Female Sports. Hillary Clinton probably missed the story because she has no entre’ into the world of physical fitness, which is kind of ironic for someone who has championed health care for so long.
Promulgating the idea that Hillary Clinton is perfect is what is keeping her down politically.
I’m coming to it late but I thought your article was brilliant. And I have to laugh at anyone questioning Hill’s energy or stamina. Benghazi grilling for 11 hours anyone? And especially after the American Meatloaf’s performance on his first trip abroad. Gasping for breath at the podium, riding in a golf cart alone when the G7 leaders walked together, etc. Not to mention the boorish behavior in diplomatic settings. I know I would not be embarrassed to be an American if she were in her rightful place as president.
Much appreciated, Nora.
Your “why couldn’t Hillary Clinton prove she could do 30 mins on an elliptical” is a a glaringly hypocritical statement. Did I miss Donald Trumps 30 mins on an elliptical video?!,… no b/c there wasn’t one, nor his full health record, (which Clinton did release.And to be clear if I had a dollar for every 70 yr old man who can ride a golf car and swing a club every 5- 10 mins, yet can’t pass a stress test, well I’d have a pile of cash. Your false equivalency is transparently misogynistic,
Trump was able to use his “Me against three Clintons, The Obama’s campaigning on her hehalf, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren campaigning on Hillary Clinton’s behalf” meme, along with his only sleeping four hours a night, as a form of physical toughness.
Plus, Hillary Clinton took time off to fund raise and I saw the media and Trump jab at her over that as well.
Just because I believe Hillary Clinton has a flaw in her view of life does not mean I don’t support her or think she is not presidential material.
I agree with Anita, and Frances.
DailyPUMA: Hillary spoke often about her exercise routine. She walked, swam and did yoga. Your comment is utter nonsense and just proves the ridiculousness of the “Hillary Hatred” by both men and women.
I responded to your comment, but it apparently was deleted even though it would have helped explain the situation.
Dear PUMA: you seem to have forgotten (more likely never knew) Gerald Ford was probably, objectively, our most-fit and skilled athlete as a President. He was the center for the U of Michigan wolverines… When all football players played both ways. He was an athletics and fitness spokesman for the Army before running for office … He played golf so much he was mocked for it, and lived well into his 90s. Your fitness narrative is deeply flawed, and anti-factual.
Please tell me what combination of google words or phrases, or words and phrases I need to type so that I basically see a majority of images showing Hillary Clinton exercising. Once you come up with the Google words or phrases, all I have to do is click on the google “images” tab to see them.
As a healthcare professional, let me just say, riding in a golf cart and swinging a club every five minutes does not equal healthy, esp when you never really released your health records, your weight yo yoes and up down a lot, and you are con distantly overweight to one extreme or another , have terrible skin color (despite the orange tan to attempt to hide it), the bulgy neck veins , the ragey type A up and down personality, the intermittent sleep pattern. your explanation is one of the more transparent sexist excuses proffered and it is simple ridiculous . Oh and from an actuary view, by the numbers, an overweight 70 yr old man is statistically more likely to have a severe health crisis in the next four years than a 69 yr old women of normal weight for her age
#BackwardsInHeelsWearingKevlar
This is such a ridiculous response that it shouldn’t merit a comment. Yet since you foolishly believe it, take a look at Trump. He’s overweight, out of shape and a likely candidate for a heart attack. You merely prove the point of the author.
Once more, Trump was able to use the me against the entire democrat party meme during the campaign. There were three Clintons, the Obamas, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
Trump had Trump. Trump also made it known that he only slept 4 hours a day. These two issues were enough to convince a significant amount of voters that even if he was not physically fit, he was physically active.
Hillary Clinton was also potshotted by the media and Trump whenever she took time off from campaigning to fund raise. I’m just stating what happened.
If only she had……
You can fill in the blank with literally anything, and absolutely none if it would have gotten her in office.
It’s actually, really insulting for you to suggest something so ridiculous,and does nothing but prove the author’s point.
Literally any excuse could have been the “reason”,but all would be the same tired, blame shifting copout for men’s refusal to be held accountable.
The article touches on the dichotomy of the whore/virgin or Mawould-whore complex in that women are seen and judged on being one or the other. It is so ingrained into our culture, and so oppressive and pervasive that even women buy into it.
As long as these are the only two choices presented in terms of societal views, it would make sense that some women would vote against themselves, so to speak. There is a certain amount of safety and security provided by men, for the women who remain compliant in to the system. Bucking the system for some would be too much of cognitive dissonance to fathom. Who would want to come to the realization that the men they love, actually hate them.
If only she…..would act right, men would love her.
Terrible the things we tell ourselves, thinking they keep us “safe”.
Really? You have got to be kidding. Your comments about Hillary’s fitness are laughable. I wasn’t even going to bother to make a comment, but. This is so ridulous….
I hope this is sarcasm…otherwise, just SILLY!
I read a variety of your comments to this passage, and I have to say, you have proven the author’s point very well. The good old double standard is live and well. Who cares about Hillary Clinton’s exercise routine, whether she is seen hiking through the woods, or if she is doing yoga? I was concerned with policy, and if she had the qualifications and indeed could do the job of president. I was convinced she could based on her domestic and foreign policy experience. However, I see nothing of this type of discussion in any of your posts. You just validated Anita Finlay’s point in this passage.
Agreed. Hillary has proven her stamina and fortitude so many times over many years. Even her detractors have often noted she is “made of iron.” Those who bought into Trump’s BS “lack of stamina” meme were LOOKING for any reason not to vote for her. They would have rejected her over a hangnail. To say otherwise is nonsense.
Russia hacked the election. They made up false claims about her. Russia wanted the man with the orange in office. Hillary is a brilliant and intelligent woman. We would be much better off if Hillary had won.Trump is a loser.
Thank you for this article Anita. This is a good dissection of those whiny Bernie Bros.and their girlfriends who helped to put the Orange nightmare in the White House.
And Trump had to have a golf cart to make it the 700 feet that the rest of the G-7 members walked on their own, yet you’re upset that Hillary wasn’t shown on an elliptical?
What does her being on an elliptical have ANYTHING to do with her being President?
The misogyny of Bernie and his followers is worse than that of those on the extreme right. If I had a penny for every time I was called a Shill by one of them, I’d be a rich woman. Bernie himself called her unqualified, a warmonger, blamed her for Iraq and Isis (even though he voted FOR funding Weapons for Bush’s wars and of course the Vermont made 3 Trillion dollar Stealth Bomber. And let’s not forget his famous quote, “It’s not enough to say, I’m a woman, vote for me.” He created cult that was little more than an anti Hillary Hate Group. The base of the GOP changes little in number, and it is constant, yet under 50%. But the smear campaign waged against Democrats by the far left and Sanders was sufficient to throw the election to Trump. This will NEVER be forgiven.
I’ve been on the receiving end of BernieBro attacks so I know the level. I also cannot pretend Bernie didn’t egg this on out of ego, because, sadly, he did.
If you use smear terms like “far left”, then you’re not a Democrat. You belong in the Republican party.
Hillary was the only one who threw the election. Her shills and paid trolls told the base of the Democratic Party – the so-called “far left” – to go to hell. They didn’t need our vote, so the story went. Hillary had this covered with her “firewall” of blacks and women, and anyone who didn’t agree with that was told to go vote for Trump. Well, many people took that advice and did, and why shouldn’t they, since Hillary didn’t offer them an alternative? That is what will never be forgiven.
Shills & paid trolls? High-larious. I, for one, have never received a dime for my Hillary advocacy. Why are you so threatened by anyone writing positively on her behalf? Diane, me or anyone? If you come here to lie, you will be banned. Her campaign was progressive and one of outreach. Perhaps you are the paid troll. How would we know?
Hear Hear Anita!! You are bang on!! It is so hard to filter what ppl say that “seems” fair and genuine then they muck it up with some lame ass comment that smacks of sexism or female jealousy?
I do not understand how any woman could not grasp that in this past 40 or more years there is ONE woman that worked harder than ANY man in politics, yes, including Bill!!!
I’m a young Canadian at 62, Who for half my life wanted to be born 50 yrs from whatever age I was because I was so tired of the snails pace the world moves with men playing back and forth with our lives! Feeding us some progressive growth and then alt rightwingnuts take over and roll back to 50s era shit!
I cannot believe this is happening in America today when finally you had the chance to see the 21st Century get of to a real (corrected) start with an eye on the future and “gender neutral” rights to forge ahead in a positive light on every front able to SEE the worldview from a strong woman’s eyes for the betterment of all and world peace finally with a REAL WORLD LEADER IN HILLARY!!!
I have witnessed, as everyone has, her determination to do good in the face of adversity and yes INSECURE MALE MISOGYNY AT ITS WORST AND IT IS NOT A GOOD SIGN THAT WE FIND THE MOST POWERFUL ARE THE BIGGEST COWARDS AND THE SMALL MINDED SCARED LITTLE BOYS WITH EGOS BIGGER THAN YOU KNOW WHAT, AFRAID AND CRYING OUT LIKE LITTLE GIRLS WHEN FACED WITH A REAL INTELLUGENT AND HIGHLY COMPETENT, “TRUSTEORTHY” WOMAN OPPONENT !!!
THEY.JUST.CAN’T..HANDLE.THE.TRUTH!!!
WOMEN REALLY DO RULE THE WORLD!!!
MEN USE EACH OTHER AND WEAK WOMEN TO CONVINCE THEMSELVES OTHERWISE!!
THEY (EGOMANIAC MISOGYNOUS MALES) ARE AFRAID!!! VERY AFRAID!! AND THEY SHOULD BE!!!
THIS US ELECTION HAS SHOWN THE RAMPANT GENDER BIAS THROUGHOUT THE ADMINISTRATION RIGHT ON INTO THE HIGHEST POSTS! COMEY BOY EVEN ADMITTED HE WAS BULLIED INTO REVEALING LAME ASS EMAILS CAUSE “THE BOYS HATE HILLARY”
HOW FREUDIAN IS THAT!!???
Thanks very much, Jocelyn.
Tad Devine, from the Sanders Camp, was associated with Roger Stone, Paul Manafort & Carter Paige, who all worked together in Eastern Europe a decade ago as paid political consultants.
You may have been attacked by Russian bots. DailyPUMA wrote one defense of Hillary Clinton on a Sanders reddit page and immediately got 22 negatives. The negatives meant DailyPUMA was basically under probation by reddit. Sixty Minutes had a piece on Russian Bots one week ago (March 25, 2017) It’s worth checking out.
What a GREAT piece of work. Thank you, Aniita Finlay, for this much needed article.
Thank you kindly, Rosalita.
Thank you for writing this. Misogyny runs deeper then most of us are comfortable admitting.
You’re most welcome, Nissa.I wish such a piece wasn’t necessary!
She was actually a flawed candidate. Her and her cronies shenanigans drove me out of the party. Can we stop making her a martyr now. The election was hers to loose.
Flawed? Talk about regurgitating canned talking points. She has a great record of real service, real accomplishments, and had a great platform. Why don’t you look at 2008 and see how badly she was treated by the Democratic party. She was no favorite of the establishment. Do some research please.
If we were to look at experience, accomplishments, proven track records of Trump, Clinton, Sanders and whoever else, on a spreadsheet as data, without names…
Which column do you think would be the highest probability?
Thanks for expressing a thought I have had so eloquently!
Thank you so much for your comment. What a great way to prove the point.
With wall street payments, Iraq War booster, flip flops, TPP, fracking, fake accents, blatant racism, yes I think I know who would win. Time to face up to the incompetent sociopath you supported. You gave us Trump so I understand your desperation to continue to spread this false narrative.
Jared — your post is so full of falsehoods, I don’t know where to start. Take your commentary elsewhere. Proper discussion is one thing, insults are another. You are not welcome here.
Jared Simpson, you are complete jackarse. Wow.
No one has ever made such a great suggestion. A simple spreadsheet with no names would show that despite the canonization of Sanders by his unrealistically idealistic devotees, he’s been a modern day Mark Hatfield. A party less iconoclast with little support from either party, offering minimally significant legislation and not always on the progressive side when crucial votes are needed. He’s a gadfly at best and his lack of loyalty to the Democratic Party or its core membership is proof that he has no intention of moderating his agenda to pursue the reclamation of our democracy through a united front. Its his and his infantile dreamer’s way or the highway, consequences be damned.
His recent abandonment of the emerging rainbow coalition that will be critical to having any chance of regaining our Democracy in favor of the same old, white, working class males who haven’t voted for the correct side of things since the 50’s is telling.
I’m as worried about his potential ties to or affinity for Russia as I am Jill Stein or Trump for that matter.
Do you know why Hillary Clinton was a “flawed” candidate? Because in exchange for Barack Obama’s support, Hillary Clinton was put in the position of not being able to say anything even remotely critical of Obama policies. Sanders used this “flaw” to purposely promise the moon to his supporters and look like a “maverick” while doing it. Sanders was a con artist who fed everyone the “I’m as poor as you routine, and even have credit card debt” meme. Sanders his his wealth in his wife’s name.
It’s really unfortunate that Hillary Clinton lost Michigan to Sanders because that would have given her a sweep of five contests and ended Sander’s campaign, or at least the faux viability of it. Something was amiss with the voter counting machines in Detroit as the problem seemed to resurface in the election as well.
Laura, you left the party because Hillary was flawed? No one is without any flaws, but explain to me who you found in another party who was less flawed. Please don’t tell me it was Mr.Trump. His list of flaws is endless.
This was the best article on Hillary I have encountered so far. I was never a political person, it immediately irritated me, though I was moved when Barack Obama won, not for being black, but for being such a phenomenal speaker and an inspiring leader. Yes, it may be even true that he is even a better speaker than Hillary, but the day of the Eleven-Hour Benghazi Trial was the day that I awoke to Hillary’s phenomenal resilience. I began to politicize myself because of her. While Bernie linited himself during the primaries to only attack her and wall streeters (same thing to him), she offered detailed roadmaps of a true change. There won’t be any other like her so soon. It takes the heart of a woman, perhaps; but not just any woman.
Cynthia, I appreciate your thoughtful comment and couldn’t agree more. Thanks for visiting.
Still playing the woman card? How’s that working out for ya?
This is why you lost. Hillary was a terrible candidate, and that’s really all there is to it. It wasn’t misogyny, it wasn’t the Russians, and it wasn’t James Comey. You were warned that she would lose to Trump, but you ignored us.
By the way, almost the same percentage of white females voted against Hillary as did white males. The arrogance of the Clinton campaign to assume they already had the female vote was part of their undoing. Again, they were warned about this, but they refused to listen.
Hillary alone is to blame for Trump. She had nothing to offer people, except for the fact that she wasn’t Donald Trump. That isn’t good enough.
She lost because too many die hard Bernie fans voted for Jill Stein. Congratulations- Jill was a shill for Putin.
Good point, Sonia.
As per usual, a falsehood and/or exaggeration to mask the sexism being expressed will suffice.
Where did you learn mathematics? I thought us guys were so much better at math and analytical processes than women?
Facts, statistics and accuracy count when we’re making arguments to buttress our agenda. A 12% gap between white men and women voting against Clinton is not nearly the same percentage as you put it.
57% compared to 69% isn’t even close. In our deeply divided body politic, a 12% is enormous.
I think the fact that so many white people in a position to make a resoundingly clear more choice to reject sexism and misogyny and put our best foot forward but wouldn’t is the most compelling evidence that sexism is still alive and well in America and we have a lot to learn about its still corrosive effects on our stability as a society.
The fact that someone would come and trot out the same old “Still playing the -fill in affected identity group- argument is equally telling on how much work needs to be done.
Anita, thanks so much for your insight! I naively assumed those sexist attitudes were in the past, just as many of us hoped for a post racial America after Obama. Well, wrong on both counts!
I watched with horror as so many sexist comments and attitudes were normalized during the runup to the election. I agree that the bernie bros were huge offenders, largely because they should have known better. I also got really tired of the “flawed candidate” categorization. Eventually I concluded it translated to lack of penis.
More “poor me” from women! “I can’t be President because I am so downtrodden!”
This election was a “gimme” running against Trump, and the Dems picked the most disliked person in the country. It doesn’t matter why she was disliked (and it wasn’t just because she didn’t have a penis – the standard excuse given by women ad nauseum to cover any situation). Hillary IS very smart! She IS very capable! And because of that she realized the most money was to be made from the establishment and Wall St. She did not represent me or anybody else who is not a millionaire. I would have voted for Eliz Warren in a heartbeat (still will). And she was NOT the most “qualified” ever! Living in the White House for 8 years is not a qualification ( or maybe Laura Bush should have run)! GHW Bush had much better “qualifications” than Hillary ( Navy Pilot, House of Representative, Head of CIA, Vice Pres. I didn’t vote for him either). Clinton was no more a candidate of the people than GWB or MittRomney. People were looking for a change. Something anti-establishment that would care for and about them. What they got was Ms. Establishment. No surprise how things turned out. Quit whining about “being a woman”.
Nothing like the truth to make the trolls come out. You didn’t bother to read any of it, did you? Don’t come here and be rude or you will be banned.
I started out preferring Hillary Clinton, but willing to vote for Bernie Sanders if he won in the primary. Bernie had good ideas, albeit not original. Hillary has proven to be an indefatigable defender of women and children – and men. She would have been one of, if not the best, American Presidents ever.
Bernie Sanders’ followers were loud and bullying. They had soon had turned his ideas into unrelenting, uncompromising demands. They didn’t acknowledge that Bernie would have to represent all Americans. Jill Stein was worse.
Trump was just a bully, with insecure followers who never really listened to what Trump was saying. They thought Trump was talking about OTHER people. He would protect them against the bad Goldman Sachs people of Wall Street and those who took their jobs and houses.
The media demanded Hillary answer for Benghazi and emails and her husband’s infidelities, but never made Trump answer for ANYTHING. It was a contest between guns and apples.
The only thing I think Hillary’s campaign did wrong was to not secure the electoral college votes. That was the only clever maneuver the Trump campaign made.
Hillary Clinton, despite all of the negativity toward her, won nearly 3 million more votes. She should be president,
Now, tell me what happened to Congress?
I agree with your assessment, except there was no “securing” electoral college that she could have done in the face of Russian hacking and disinformation in those 4 conspicuously close contests. In any case, that is a whole other article!
I voted for Hillary in the general, but she was bad candidate. She was a bad candidate in 2008 and she was bad in 2016. She was simply the wrong candidate for the time. The fact that she didn’t beat Donald Trump in a electoral-college landslide proves it. The man had no earthly business running for president.
Look, when you see Hillary I guess you see a woman striving to break the glass ceiling. I get it. You need to recognize though, without immediately assuming I’m self-hating or “with the boys”, that when I see Hillary I see a power hungry family who act as though their ambition is not allowed to be denied. I see a person who believes that the money of wealthy donors elect politicians in this country, not the people.
Her hashtag #ImWithHer was centered on her, not the people!
We needed change even more in 2016 than we did in 2008 and with all her experience and education she ignored this fact. Her theme for the Democratic National Convention was “America Was Already Great”. It was so utterly tone deaf that as a registered Democrat, I was horribly embarrassed. It spat in the face of so so many people who are struggling economically, who are are racially profiled everyday, who are educated in a school that is horribly underfunded, who are addicted to drugs and unable to afford treatment, or who are incarcerated for selling a drug that is now legal in 5 states. We are far from great. She needed to acknowledge this and speak to these problems in a straight-forward, genuine way. But she didn’t.
Hillary can have the greatest resume in the world, but that does not entitle anyone to the presidency. In this election at this time in our history, she had to make strong arguments promoting sea-changing policies, like universal healthcare, student debt relief, ending the for-profit prison system, and a strong green energy initiative. She didn’t make these kind of arguments though. Why? Well, it’s not because strong arguments couldn’t be made. It was because she might have lost wealthy donors if she had. It really is too bad, because if she had made those arguments she would have gotten that landslide victory.
So she and her campaign failed. And please, don’t blame fellow voters for the failure of very powerful people and a massive political machine. They are never victims, except of their own arrogance. At the very least, if they would have listened to their volunteers on the ground in Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin, she would have eked out a victory and saved us all from Trump.
Hillary never behaved “entitled” and worked for every vote. Anyone who wants to ignore daily press bashing, Russian interference, Comey, GOP smear, Bernie smear and, evidenced by comments below, misogyny, is welcome to. But truth is truth. Press gave Trump 2 billion free airtime while trashing her to create their seldf fulfilling prophecy. She still won 3 million more votes than he. Not sure why me writing positively about her is so threatening. Interesting that no negative comment addresses the article. For the purpose of argument, doesn’t matter what kind of candidate she was. Guess it’s easier to prove my point by continuing to denigrate her.
Hilary lost because of the country’s antiquated electoral system, established to give more voice to slave-owning states, and now having the effect of giving different Americans more or less of a voice depending on geography. Why that isn’t considered a crime of disenfranchisement, I don’t know. The damage has been done, more flagrantly and more seriously than before when Florida and the Supreme Court gave GW Bush the presidency.
Sixty Minutes did an expose a week ago on Russian bots that instantly give targeted anti Clinton articles a thousand or more shares, making the article look like it was legit.
There was a Herclean effort by many forces, many of which seem to go back to Russia, those forces convinced Comey to come up with a second letter that was completely unnecessary. That letter was the fulcrum that got Sheldon Andelson to ante up his 25 million dollar last minute attack ads and led to a furious wave of fake articles.
A Judge later found that there was no viable reason for the second search warrant and seizure, and therefore no need for Comey’s second letter.
I am continually amazed that those responding negatively refused to address the truth of this article.
Shouldn’t we get behind Liz Warren and Tulsi Gabbard to teach the insecure women fearers a lesson? We won’t give up.
Warren yes. Gabardine no. Agenda matters.
Why? Are they “safe” enough and sufficiently white in order to appeal to the apparently self-loathing, tough to please white working classes of both genders?
Not likely.
As feminists and either liberals or progressives we have to acknowledge that the white working classes, suburban/exurban demographic hasn’t been with us since the McCarthy Era when deep Cold War indoctrination was employed heavily to divide the nation against anything that smacked of socialism or communism. On its heels, the nationalistic and overtly racially divisive conditioning during the Civil Rights and Viet Nam War eras cemented the “us versus them” left/right divide that we see heavily exploited today.
The effects of all of that on long running voting habits is thoroughly consistent with the numbers tracked ever since.
I don’t know why we can’t even see leaders like Barbara Lee, or Sheila Jackson Lee as credible or suitable for higher office, but I guess race is as equally disqualifying as gender is.
Would you please explore and explain the hate of white females? I love this woman and am surrounded by white females who by the way like to believe they are strong women, who hate her. I can’t quite vocalize the reason for their hate.
Yes, I have in the past and i will again. Thank you so much for asking.
I totally agree with your article about Hilary. I just want you to know that there are a few of us who think this way and yes it is maddening. I have so much respect for Hilary who could withstand all of the hatred directed at her and not cumble.
Thank you for commenting, Frances. Her ability to stand up in the face of this constant onslaught is inspiring, even mystifying!
I agree that Hillary was subjected to a great deal of sexist BS and double standards, from the right and the left, during the campaign. And I have always chalked the level of vitriol directed at her up to sexism. But she lost the electoral vote not just because white men didn’t vote for her; SCROTUS also won white women by 53%. If you break that down by college educated vs. non-college educated, Hillary still only won 51% of white, college educated women, and lost by a huge margin among white, non-college educated women – garnering only 34% of their vote. This isn’t a new trend; Bush, McCain and Romney all won 53 to 56% of white women. Which isn’t to say that sexism isn’t a factor here. For an interesting read on this: http://forward.com/sisterhood/353945/so-um-about-the-white-female-vote/
What a crock!
I did not vote for Hillary based on issues.
Everyone I know voted for Trump for the same reason.
Are you telling me that a country that just voted a black man into the White House TWICE refused to vote for Hillary because she’s a woman?
Beyond ridiculous.
Sometimes I’m amazed that Hillary lost.
The media is very biased to the Left and it showed.
There are a lot more Democrats registered to vote.
Plenty of voter fraud helped her.
She cheated in the debates.
With all that… how could she lose?
Because she’s a horrible person and wrong on the issues.
Simple as that.
Wow. You just repeated every piece of nonsense from Sanders Trump playbook.
After the worst press coverage in history, Russian interference and GOP smear, she got more votes than any white man in history. Want proof of this country’s continued misogyny, read comments above.
I’m 6 years younger than Hillary and have never been an employer as she has been or experienced a social calendar as packed as hers, so I wonder how much of her detractor’s compounded “Killery” statistics are a function of age. I made a list of people connected to me during my life who have died from mishaps, suicide, violence or from unconfirmed “heart attacks.” My average is 3 such deaths a year:
A first-grade classmate was murdered by his parents.
One of my first cousins was murdered by an unknown person.
One of my first cousins bled to death from a freak accident involving a bottle opener.
A friend from my scout troop committed suicide.
A girl in same high school drama production as me committed suicide.
My high school best friend’s mother committed suicide.
A high school friend recently committed suicide.
My high school boyfriend drowned in a river.
A close high school friend’s father drowned following a presumed heart attack.
My high school English teacher died in class of heart attack.
The father of one of my friends was killed in a private plane crash.
A close friend of my father committed suicide by flying his plane into the ground.
I was a flight attendant. I deplaned at O’Hare and the same plane I’d just flown on crashed on its next takeoff. ( I didn’t factor these 271 deaths into my lifetime average.)
A flight attendant from my airline base was murdered.
A friend from college recently died from being hit by a car while bicycling.
The husband of a woman who babysat our son was killed in a car accident.
Then how do explain me, a
College educated woman, detesting her? And, based on some of the comments guess Dems will now try to take away voting rights of non-
College educated women. Keep thinking and acting the way you are, it was anger towards people like you and your arrogance and condescending attitude that drove a lot of people to vote for Trump.
You are responding to something not even stated in my article. I’ve done a great deal of research on the topic over the years, including writing a book on the subject. I am neither arrogant nor condescending. In both writing about and teaching on the subject, I witnessed that the virulent “hate” for Hillary often dissipated, even evaporated, upon the hater learning more about her and her record. But obviously, no one gets 99% of the vote.
Your name calling is not necessary nor is it welcome, as you are a guest here.
In my experience, arrogance is attributed to any woman who presents sound arguments.
It’s the only comeback.
Amen and amen.
I voted for Hillary. Without doubt or reservation
I voted for Hillary Clinton and also contributed to her campaign.
Excellent article. I was astounded by the election results and attribute it mainly to Comey giving undecideds a lame reason to vote Trump; shamed silence of Trump supporters to pollsters; and deluded Berners with massive resentments either protest voting for Jill, voting Trump to “hasten the revolution,” or not voting at all in their jejune rage. But one thing underlies all, for women but more for men: an inability to be comfortable with a woman in the highest office in the land and arguably the most powerful leadership position in the world. Yes, it’s a woman thing, called misogyny, and yes, it even trumps racism. Yes, Obama was elected and reelected, but that doesn’t equal female equality. I’m sure there’s been lots of research on this. The most common reason I heard for people not voting for her (mostly men) was that they “just couldn’t bring” themselves to do it. When pressed, the usual suspects came forth: emails, Benghazi, corruption, Bill back in White House. But there was no “there there”. This is the hurdle. Yes, a woman with less baggage (who will also be less qualified but no worries there since Trump dropped bar to floor) such as Warren may triumph. But the comfort factor must be overcome, which is difficult in a society in which women have so far to go even compared to many other nations. Which is why we lag in this area as badly as in other areas such as health care and education. Yes it is because she is a woman. Duh. No one, man or woman, young or old, liberal or conservative, will admit that, understandably. So it can’t be “proven.” But that’s why she didn’t win in a landslide. And she didn’t win in the Electoral College, i.e., a few rural swing states. But she got a helluva lot more votes.
Agree, Carolyn. Thank you for commenting.
[…] We are here because of the #WhiteMaleEgo. Those on both sides of the aisle and in the Press who used a woman as a punching bag had an obligation to their country and to all of us to tell the truth about the authoritarian, […]
Thank you for a very relevant article. I continue to believe HC was the best candidate in many ways for the office of president. I liked that she was a woman, but I didn’t vote for her because of that. I voted for the PLATFORM of the democrats. Many voters based their choice on extraneous issues-gender, education, religion, etc. That is truly unfortunate!
Yes! And the corporate media worked at every turn to reinforce the false “untrustworthy” meme that has haunted women for thousands of years — literally.
Yes, all the this. So very, very true, and I was actually just having this argument with someone last night. Actually, I’ve had it with a lot of people since the election. Women are held to a completely different standards. I’ve been told by men that I’m “intimidating” and I’m no Hillary Clinton. Just because I have a college degree and a real estate license, like tons of other women and men. There’s something where they have to somehow feel superior and it doesn’t help when women let their own jealousies get the better of them so they end up hating Hillary for zero reason also. It’s really kind of sad. Just like single dads are heroes but single moms (which I am) are somehow pathetic losers who can’t keep a man and our kids are suffering. Hillary was a victim of misogyny, plain and simple.
True. Until we challenge and overcome these double standards and false frames, nothing will ever change. Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Thank you Anita Finlay. This was an unbelievable, beautifully, and artfully written article. I throughly enjoyed every word that gave explanation speaking truth to why the most prepared candidate in history lost to the most unprepared candidate ever to run for President of the United States. Hillary knew governing was complicated and wasn’t Putin’s puppet (AKA Putin’s bitch). They say she was a flawed candidate? She was imperfect…..but she wasn’t the deadly enemy.
Thank you for your kind comment. By the way, I reject the “Flawed candidate” premise the media and her enemies pushed. What man is called “flawed” or “strident” for that matter? This is part of the revisionist frame they demand we accept. I refuse.
Yes! And thank you for writing this. I feel that our country missed a great opportunity for the very reasons you stated. And the backlash has set us back 50 years.
Thanks, Ellen. Agreed.