Comments on: The Hillary Spillover Effect in the Workplace

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:01:42 +0000

*big sigh* I am a recovering attorney and spent over a decade in the corporate world. I’ve seen young women, with freshly minted degrees, misreading the sexism above them and mishandling their opportunities with stunning ignorance. Even the smart ones. I’ve seen too many rushing to become Mrs Someone Else with nary a thought to the notion they might keep their own name.

Conversely, I’ve seen so many men and women who steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the huge sexist elephant in the room. I’ve read both the Glass Hammer and the NY Mag articles and comments.

I wanted to share this clip as a little encouragement.

If the link doesn’t work try this.
It’s Kerry Washington reading Sojourner Truth and it’s beautiful and sadly relevant.

-Jacqueline

By: rundeep

rundeep — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:14:16 +0000

Oh don’t be so defensive, Juj. Of course she’s earned it. It’s a comment on a blog post and not checked for every single nuance. Next time, I’ll blue book.
Full disclosure: I admit I still really don’t like her. That didn’t used to be the case. But the more strident her defenders become, the less I like her. The more I’m criticized as being a traitor to my gender for not liking her, the more strident I become. Perhaps such is the nature of political discourse.

By: Juj

Juj — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:01:45 +0000

Rundeep, why do you refer to Senator Clinton as Mrs. Clinton, but you don’t refer to either Senators Obama or McCain as Mr.Obama or McCain? Has she not earned the same title?

By: rundeep

rundeep — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:54:07 +0000

DBX, you have a great point. The “Whatever you say Hillary” comment is poisonous and unforgiveable and I should have noted that in my comment.

It is interesting that we seem, after all this time, to still have difficulty communicating on these issues. Legitimate criticism of a woman candidate can sound to some ears like misogyny, while there are those people who like to mask misogyny as legitimate criticism. I concede that both exist. Regrettably.

By: DBX

DBX — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:37:28 +0000

Here’s the problem, rundeep. When the fact that Hillary Clinton is a candidate of questionable experience and integrity starts to spill over into office politics, we have serious trouble in the workplace. When male executives start to brush off female colleagues with “Whatever you say, Hlllary,” you have a hostile work environment. You’re signaling that sexism is OK. You’re telling that female colleague that she too is full of Hillary Clinton’s faults. You also create a more primitive culture in which people of both genders vote for, or hire, or form committees with, people who are “like them” as opposed to people who are actually best for the elected office/senior manager position/committee role.

It may be too late in this campaign for us to get to debating serious points, such as admitting that 14 years of union-busting corporate law and the six years of ceremonial First Lady role after the end of the co-presidency probably should not count toward Hillary Clinton’s “35 years of experience” in public service. But please, please, please do not go anywhere near distilling it to derogatory sexist epithets or guilt-by-association. It’s poisonous.

By: Erin Abrams

Erin Abrams — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:24:21 +0000

check out this article in New York magazine this week on exactly this topic — Hillary’s run and its implications on fourth wave feminism — a very interesting read. But The Glass Hammer brought it to you first. http://nymag.com/news/features/46011/

By: Hillary supporter

Hillary supporter — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:41:47 +0000

Politics- its a funny game. you gotta get elected to change the world so who cares if she says she is a pro-life gun owner, we all know thats just to appease certain people until she gets in.
Its not how you play the game its whether you win or lose.
who care if Obama is black but worry as he is in fact green – seriously Hillary and McCain are closer than you think. she is just less senile and may live long enough to do a full term. republicans be happy, democrats wise up – hillary is the best option and who cares that she hasnt got a p***s.

By: rundeep

rundeep — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:04:14 +0000

Oh puhleeze. Mrs. Clinton is a formidable candidate with an excellent pedigree. She has, however, sought to be the candidate of “experience” which experience, apart from her years in the Senate, seems comprised largely of having been First Lady of Arkansas and then the United States. She is as guilty as any politician of wanting to have her cake and eat it, yet any criticism of her personal attributes (and yes, her personality is at issue, just as are those of Senators McCain and Obama) is treated as anti-feminist. When Bill Clinton was accused of being a womanizer, was that sexist? When he was accused of being a liar, was that sexist? When John McCain is referred to as old and grumpy is that ageist, or sexist or both? When people claim that Obama is inexperienced, are they alleging he’s just too young, or that because of his deep roots in the African-American community he doesn’t know “the right kind of people” to run the country, thereby being both ageist and racist? I don’t think so.

The fact is the estimable Mrs. Clinton seems prepared to say anything to win. As of this writing, she has declared that life may begin at conception, that she supports gun owners and is a devout Christian. That is, to put it mildly, a big difference from where she used to be. In other words, she is not credible. The repeated assertions of being under fire when instead on a peace mission do not exactly compel a contrary finding. Mind you, I believe she is hardly unique among politicians for these characteristics, but nor do I think she is being unfairly tagged for them. Accordingly, statements questioning her sincerity and her experience are absolutely fair game. Purely sexist comments of course are inappropriate, but you haven’t quoted any here and more troubling, you’ve lumped them in with the fair points. Maybe that should be as troubling to us as anything.