OPINION: Sexism thrives in US election
By Mark Scheinbaum
MIAMI—(July 30, 2016)—MY INBOX proclaimed today that Hillary Clinton’s white pants suit is the “power dress” of suffragettes and women activities for generations. The pundits also point out a Clinton presidential victory will place women at the helm of three great political and economic forces in the world—the USA, Germany and the United Kingdom.
One is reminded of a full page series of advertisement in the Wall Street Journal and perhaps other publications many years ago, when the jaundice of language and innuendo was placed side-by-side for all managers to read. Man vs. Woman. For example faced with a horrible emergency a man was “strident, forceful, determined, and powerful.” In the same circumstance the woman executive was “hysterical, winging, stubborn, and pushy.”
Thus the unspoken political campaign of Trump vs. Clinton probably still resonates in many male and even female minds along these lines:
Overseeing companies that go bankrupt on four or five occasions shows a man’s resiliency and ability to use the rules of the legal game to the fullest. Capitalism is at its best when a failed venture allows someone to rebound for another try for success.
Given a rare chance to be the CEO of a major corporation, but failing to achieve success, the female executive is sometimes pushed by household or child-rearing responsibilities, too much emotion, and on top of this there are her “monthlies” or even menopause which cause wild mood swings which cloud her ability to succeed.
With money and power and media contacts we envy that man with the two foreign beauties taken as trophy wives, not to mention the young showgirl he married in between. The entire world of beauty and style and glitz is his oyster and he shows pizzazz and star power, and as he himself says, “who wants to hear sob stories from people about their past?” They want to hear about millionaires and aspire to be just like this guy.
Well educated, steadfast in public service and dealing with life in the public “fishbowl” the woman whose spouse is perhaps the MOST high-profile person in the world is a serial “cabron” who leaves a trail of mistresses strewn along his career. Yet the woman who continues to be a dedicated mom, public figure, and absorbs the stress and humiliation of supporting or at least tolerating the philanderer in her home is just “another enabler.” She is the caricature of a white trash trailer park wife from an Ozark state who shuts up to keep a roof over her head and food on the table. Yes, Tammy, just let her stand by her man and shut up. That is her place.
Who could deny that man on the stage a nice round of applause when while addressing the crowd and being heckled he suggests that if he could get down from the lectern he would punch the heckler in the face? The new incarnation of Ralph Kramden, the more volatile the temper, the more macho he is to his pals. “To the moon Alice! I’m gonna send ya to the Moon!” shouted with closed fist and red face is the perfect image for the Tough Guy. We know he is just joking when he suggests others punch the puss of those who annoy him, or is he? No matter, boys will be boys, and influential boys for whom a-social (as opposed to anti-social) behavior applies are exempt from societal norms.
Late at night in a room in the White House or the Pentagon, probably with nine boxes of half-eaten pizza on the tables, a woman who is constitutionally THIRD in line for the presidency partially covers her mouth with a gasp, and is transfixed at voice and video transmissions of American special ops troopers risking their lives. She basically is about to commit team murder. Pretty it up all you want, she is part of a policy team which is about to kill the guy held responsible for slaughtering more than 3,000 Americans. It is her job to be there. It is her job to make the kind of decision no judge or governor or president or general should ever have to make. She is not a make believe anything. But of course, she is just a political appointee given the job to shut up the President’s opposition in his party, and she really is just there for a photo opportunity. She is marginalized because—well, why would anyone care about a woman planning a murder. Margaret Thatcher, Gold Meir, Indira Ghandi, Joan of Arc—they had nothing to do with us.
Best of all is love for the guy who sticks it to 4,000+ contractors, subcontractors, and workers. “You always overcharge, try to squeeze me because of my name. Sure I signed the contract because that is what got you and your overpriced-over-estimating thieves to show up and do the job. Now it’s done, this is the number I think the job is really worth. Take it or leave it? What? Are you kidding? Yeah. Sure. Hell yes, go ahead and ‘sue me~!’ I love that crap. I have lawyers up the kazoo. Who do you have? Your cousin Phil in Trenton? Good luck, see you in Court.” What is more American than sticking it to people who try to rip you off?
The guy is a business pro. He is the kind of guy I want on my side, not against me. Listen, America, say what you want but no one can expect this guy to keep track of every single contract on every apartment house or hotel, on every landscaping project or golf course. He is a busy, busy CEO. He does the best he can but sometimes he screws up and that is why we have the courts. There is no problem here.
A woman heading up any corporation, agency, or ministry has enough problems being the chief executive officer over perhaps ten or 200,000 workers. There are the speeches and the hearings and the ribbon cuttings and the budget sessions. But there is a woman whose job included being the super coordinator of an entity which according to recent numbers involved 192 separate equal partners called “countries.” Diplomatic relations is serious business. But when one part of the world, and one country “desk”—say, er Libya in North Africa has a problem with its fire extinguishers, computer links, building security, or even a riot outside the embassy, why isn’t the woman briefed on every employee and every subcontractor in the embassy?
Oh, but, OK, it wasn’t really the embassy, it was a spin-off temporary consulate and office in a rebel controlled zone hundreds of miles from the embassy, in the middle of the night. What kind of horrible manager is not right on top of this situation to avoid later lawsuits, recriminations, and charges of cover-up? She is not allowed to screw up because the woman is not supposed to have one, or two or 4,000 chances to try again because, actually, she should never have been put that job in the first place. She must be covering up all sorts of things.
You can fill in your own scenarios. Basically there is one standard for men: brave and forceful and women: scatterbrained and shrewish. At your next football or baseball game look around at the crowd reaction when a foul-mouth drunken guy curses out the ref or the umpire. Folks roll their eyes and laugh. Then look around if a woman does the same thing. People cover their kids’ ears and cluck their tongues in disgust.
Mark Scheinbaum is a political scientist and former UPI correspondent who is managing director of Shearson Financial LLC in Boca Raton, FL. His opinions are his own and not those of his firm.
