Sexism - stoked by the media
TIME FOR a history lesson. In 1964, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was the first woman to be placed into nomination at the Republican convention, a nomination that Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona had all but wrapped up.
They asked her why she didn't drop out of the GOP nomination fight when it was clear Goldwater had the nomination in his grasp, and she said, "I never had any intention of giving up until the final vote was cast. When I announced my candidacy, I was in to stay all the way. To do otherwise would have let down my supporters. . . I wasn't just running, I was breaking the ice for women running for the highest office in the land . . . I think I made a gain for women of the future."
How much has really changed in 44 years? When the history of the 2008 presidential campaign is written, we may find that Gloria Steinem was right. In a column in The
Fast forward six months and Steinem looks downright prescient. We didn't know then just how biased the media would be against Hillary Clinton, a woman running for president. But the "boys on the bus" (and a good number of women as well) have had a tough time with Clinton and criticized everything from her pantsuits to her laugh, things they would not excoriate a man for. What's worse, they get away with it . . . they use her as a punchline.
Privately, some leaders of the Democratic Party would probably acknowledge the sexism that still pervades society and politics but is not talked about. We can more easily discuss historic racism and congratulate ourselves on how far we have come than we can begin to acknowledge that sexism still thrives, especially in politics.
In many other countries around the world, women are at the helm as a matter of course, whether it's Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, or Angela Merkel. They look at us and wonder why we are so behind the times.
What we have seen in this campaign is that not only is there a race and gender divide but there is an age divide as well. Middle-aged and older women by and large support Clinton. But younger women are backing the "new kid on the block." It's almost as if they have amnesia. Of course they can't have amnesia because they weren't around for the struggles of their mothers and grandmothers to gain equal footing. And they take for granted that they can do what they want when they want.
All this sexism is being stoked by the media, which have admitted their errors even as they continue to repeat them almost daily in the coverage of the campaign. A recent "Saturday Night Live" spoof of the CNN debate and the media fawning over Barack Obama was a game changer and made the media sit up and take notice, if only for a brief moment.
That's why it really matters what happens from now until the Democratic convention in Denver in August. Despite the sharp elbows and strong arms that are pushing Clinton out, the race will end when the voting is over. And that hasn't happened yet, despite Time magazine's cover of Obama and the headline "And the Winner Is* - (really, we're pretty sure this time)."
In fact, after a win in West Virginia and Kentucky, Clinton will have won more states than Obama since March 5. And if you count the popular vote in Florida and Michigan, which has been certified and should be counted, she will be close or even slightly ahead in the popular vote. That may not suit the punditocracy, but it should certainly govern how the superdelegates and other politicians conduct themselves.
Let's remember Margaret Chase Smith's admonition from 40 years ago - 2008 is about more than today - it is about the road we are paving for our daughters and sons and the campaigns yet to come.
Michal Regunberg is a public relations consultant.
