Sen. Hillary Clinton should realize that while people
certainly notice she’s a woman, Clinton gets more benefits from her gender
than not, as
her supporters would have you beleive. Early in the race, when it came to light
that she was “mis-remembering” details of a diplomatic trip abroad, she got
rode awhile, but the media was relatively quick to forgive her. Now she’s flippantly drawing an ugly line from the Robert
Kennedy assassination to fellow Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s race for the
White House, Yeah, of course she’s been be called out, but the outrage
won’t last. She isn’t required to answer for people that say stuff in churches where
she used to worship, not
like Obama is. Women have something men don’t have: the Chick Pass: The ability
(ne’ responsibility) to do/say crazy stuff and be forgiven. And even Obama
has given Clinton the Chick Pass. We are quicker to forgive women than men
who say something we perceive to be ill-timed, off-color or just plain wrong. Sexist? Probably. But it's a fact of life.
Think about how outrageous women can be—especially older
women—at family functions. They get to spill all the tea on everyone with
impunity. Men get shut down or kicked out for the same type of behavior. Woman
are allowed to be erratic, emotionally charged and unreasoned, and when/if she
apologizes, people will chalk her talk up as a “woman’s way.” Dad or grandpa
couldn’t get away with that. If Obama implied he was waiting for anyone to be
killed, he’d be immediately charged with issuing a terrorist threat and thrown
in jail. So would you or I. Clinton gets the Chick Pass.
People hardly remember Clinton’s deficient recall but we
can’t seem to forget Sen. John
McCain’s “Bomb-bomb I-ran,” Dan Quayle’s misspelling, or Howard Dean’s “I
Have a Scream” gaffe. Men can’t show emotions, and are weakened by any display
that betrays a placid, hardened façade. Women
have the luxury of changing their minds. Men in our patriarchal society, men
only have their word, and the weight we impart to the honor and integrity of
those words. Some would say she gets Chick Points for even running, because as
a recently
released study indicates, women
aren’t particularly interested in running for elected office.
It’s true that people
are saying lewd things about Clinton, her body, her cackle and her demeanor. Calling for her to go home and iron shirts. Politics
has been a boy’s game up to this point for good or ill, and these are the rules
of the playground. Hopefully, she’s changed the game.
She’s taken a hit or
two, but the Chick Pass has still done well for her.
