In the past few months, Kellyanne Conway has become a household name because of her political ties to the Trump administration. During her time in the political spotlight, Conway has been under fire for several problematic actions, the most recent of which she accused Obama of spying on Donald Trump through–you guessed it–the White House microwave.
In light of Conway’s recent microwave espionage debacle, I have noticed a specific pattern in the modern day political realm: a woman can only be a legitimate political force if she is perceived as a crazy half-wit, or if she is viewed as being a heartless shell of a woman.
It is not just Conway who backs up my hypothesis; many women who have tried to attain executive leadership positions have been labeled either as “bimbos” or “b**ches.”
When Sarah Palin was John McCain’s vice presidential running mate in 2008, she was very open in displaying her conservative Tea Party affiliations. While I personally do not agree with anything that Palin says, her criticisms were almost never aimed toward her outdated ideals, but rather toward her physical appearance and role as a mother. Instead of focusing on Palin’s political agenda, many news outlets focused on the irrelevant fact that her teenage daughter was pregnant out of wedlock. In response to the negative attention placed on Palin’s family, presidential candidate Barack Obama mirrored the feelings of average Americans when he stated, “I’ve heard some of the news on this [Bristol Palin’s pregnancy], so let me be as clear as possible. I have said before and I will repeat again: I think people’s families are off limits. And people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off of these kinds of stories.”
If Sarah Palin were a man, her child’s pregnancy most likely would not have been brought to the national forefront. Her role as an adequate parent would not have been questioned, because many people expect a mother to be the main influence in her daughter’s personal life; the father’s contributions as a parent are not questioned as heavily under these circumstances.
Additionally, Palin’s ideas were not under scrutiny when news anchors and contributors were busy objectifying her body. For example, in 2011, Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson tweeted, “Palin’s popularity falling in Iowa, but maintains lead to become supreme commander of Milfistan.” While Tucker Carlson has consistently acted as one of Fox News’s most popular condescending, know-it-all, Newbalance dad types, his sexist remarks towards Palin reinforce the idea that women’s ideas—whether good or bad—are never as important as their physical appearance.
While Sarah Palin was mocked for being a traditionally feminine mother, Hillary Clinton was chastised for being the exact opposite. Although Hillary Clinton is in fact a mother, she was never publicly viewed as being a nurturing maternal figure. In fact, she was often criticized for “shouting,” when her fellow male presidential candidates were just as equally loud. However, instead of being ridiculed, Hillary’s colleagues were labeled as being passionate. Clinton was also infamously called a “nasty woman” by rival presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Trump’s attempt at insulting Clinton shed light on a bigger issue: women who seek to attain power in the roles that have traditionally been dominated by men are always going to be viewed as being nasty b**ches. If a woman is driven and focused, others will believe that she is “cold” and “heartless.” However, if a man is driven and focused, he will inevitably be successful.
There is a distinct contrast between the way male and female politicians are perceived. It is time that America stop judging women politicians based on their maternal presence, physical attributes, and general demeanor. We must begin to hold women in the same regard as men; every politician deserves to be judged based off of her actions and ideas.
Comments are closed.