I'm sitting here listening to some Elton John on the radio. I sure do hate that guy. Love his music, just hate the individual. What really set me off about Elton John was his "Americans are misogynistic" remark at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser not too long ago.
It's frustrating. Simply because the female candidate is losing the election, we all whip out the "sexism" card. Clinton even went on to say that the media is sexist, as if there's some sort of conspiracy afoot. Months ago, I predicted that when Barack Obama lost the nomination, people would be quick to cry foul, to blame racism in America for his loss. Now the opposite of that's happening, and I don't buy any of it.
Here's my core issue with all of this: we're treating these two fine candidates, a black man and a white woman, in terms of race and gender (or in McCain's case, in terms of age). Why do so many people see Hillary as a woman running for president, rather than a person running for president, who, by the way, just happens to be a woman? Same for Obama: he's not a black man running for president, he's a person running for president who happens to be black.
I think that if you voted for Hillary because she's a woman, or you voted for Barack because he's black, then you are just as guilty of the sexism/racism for which you're blaming America.
How about this: in all upcoming elections, we make the candidates wear bags over their heads and disguise their voices, only revealing their race/gender/identity after they win. That way, people are actually voting issues, not race, gender, or age. Of course I'm joking, but is this really that radical an idea?
I wish we were evolved enough to not see things in terms of gender and race. Alas, unfortunately, we are not. But that's the America for you- not necessarily just the media. That's how a vast majority of citizens see things. It's all very depressing, but it's easier if you look at comically, like I do. This election is SO PERFECT in terms of bringing to life steretypes. The democratic nominee is a man of mixed race who was raised by a single mother but still managed to obtain a college degree and work on community projects? The republican nominee is an old white war hero? How can you not laugh at that? It's like living in a cartoon world.
It could be more than just the fact that Hillary's trailing that led Elton John to say that. There's also the fact that we've never had a female president. Women in the workforce make far less than men, and far too often its for the same work. Watch television for a while. Also pretty misogynistic. Listen to the music that becomes popular here. Pretty misogynistic. Our culture is suffused with misogyny. I think he was perfectly justified and that it was an accurate assessment of American culture. Yes, it was a generalization, but how do generalizations come to be?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I still wouldn't go as far as "misogynistic." Not a significant number of Americans actually hate women just for being women (I'm not saying inequality doesn't exist, just not on a misogynistic level.) The other thing that got me heated over Elton's remarks was that Britain, or anywhere else in the world, couldn't be much better than the US in terms of gender equality. I wonder what country is “officially” considered to have the most equal society? I know New Zealand was the first to grant women's suffrage...
All societal inequality aside, and despite the fact that no president has thus far been a women, voting for a candidate based solely on gender is still sexist, right? The first female president needs to be the right woman, that is, the right president, for America.
Though, in my opinion, if half of the American population is comprised of women, shouldn't half of all Presidents have been women? So I'll reiterate: yes, we need diversity in the presidency, but that in itself does not constitute a legitimate and well-rounded reason to vote for someone.