PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
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You need a category called “Huh? Hilary cried? And she was in a diner?” [LOL!!! - PB]
Comment by h sofia — January 10, 2008 #
I live in New Hampshire, I am so glad this primary silliness has finally left my State.
The conversations around here about the Hillary crying incident inspired me to write a song.
Sung to the tune of “Were you there when they crucified my Lord”
“Were you there when the Hillary had a cry
Oh were you there when the Hillary had a cry
ooohh sometimes it causes the polls to tremble tremble
all because the Hillary Clinton had a cry.”
Comment by God_guurrlll — January 11, 2008 #
I seriously think that the sexist reaction to the crying is what brought Hillary back into the lead.
I think people are very aware of the race issues in this campaign, and the gender ones have been mostly ignored. But the flipping out over the crying made people remember that Hillary has also faced expectations.
Comment by Chalicechick — January 11, 2008 #
While I really could care less about Hillary crying (because I’m all for Barrack), I do have to admit that it sure pointed out to me more clearly the sexist/gender issues that are present with Americans (particulary men).
First of all, everyone describes her as being “robotic.” (Which I have to admit is probably a bit true — I find her disingenuine myself.) However, it makes me think about how guys sometimes make comments about some women being “ice boxes” or “frigid as a freezer” whenever they show characteristics that are more male than female. Which leads me to the conclusion that male characteristics for a man are viewed as “good” and “masculine” by our society; whenver a woman exhibits these same sort of characteristics, she’s classified as “frigid” and “severe” and “robotic.”
Now it seems to me that she’s stuck in a bind as far as politics go. To survive politics, you need to be of an unwavering, strong character. It’s a male dominated field and so you have to play like a man to get anywhere. Plus, your voters want to see someone with strong convictions and protective — “masculine” — type qualities. One of the biggest arguments always that I hear spewed from male’s mounths for why we cant have a female president is because of a fear that she would “cry” or could not handle a situation such as war with the tactical understanding of a male. I also hear those brash, stupid comments like, “Well, once a month, she’d be really bitchy and blow everyone up.”
What I’m trying to say here is that she is dealing with a no-win scenario. If she acts too masculine — which is what is needed to secure voters’ confidence — she is described as “frigid” and “robotic.” If she shows emotion and cries, everyone — particularly men — cry, “Oh, see, there she goes. This is why we can’t have a woman in office.”
Of course, her crying probably appeals a little to some of the female population. Though, it doesnt work for me because I feel like she was pandering to the audience to try to counterbalance that “robotic” image.
Still… I really think I understand this struggle between being yourself and dealing with the consequences of how society expects you to behave based on your gender. It’s gotta be REALLY hard dealing with that in a male-dominated career. I bet a lot of women in engineering jobs or other male-dominated professions have had to deal with this as well. Is the ministry still male-dominated?
Comment by Mars Girl — January 11, 2008 #
Women cry. Men cry. And when anyone does it in public, the whole country gets weird about.
And THAT’S weird.
Comment by Kelly — January 11, 2008 #
I agree with Mars Girl that Hillary is in a no-win, double-bind kind of situation.
However, I also think she “cried” (sort of, but not really), on purpose. I suspect it’s part of her new campaign strategy to appear more human and likeable. When I saw the video, it just smacked of manipulation. I’m not proud of this, but I can honestly say I’ve done that, and this moment looked exactly like one of my less-than-stellar cry-for-points moments. Maybe that’s just my take…
I’m willing to concede that she’s also just exhausted and feeling a little beat up. I’ve wanted to cry this week myself for similar reasons–my own coping mechanisms are low on fuel because of exhaustion. I get that.
Either way, I’m with Barack.
Comment by Teri — January 11, 2008 #
My spouse and I like to think we’ve developed decent “authenticity” meters after our combined years in ministry. Both of us heard the event before seeing the video and thought it sounded pretty real. And we’re pretty much for Obama or Edwards at this point.
I also agree with Kelly about people getting wierd about crying. And with John Stewart who, upon showing the video of Hillary at the diner on his Daily Show, said something like, “that’s the meltdown?! I hope no one sees me when I get a flu shot.”
Comment by jinnis — January 11, 2008 #
I admit that it gave her a touch of authenticity she had been severely lacking and had she shown it far earlier she would not have lost her status as front runner. A status, I might add, was generated before anyone cast a single vote.
Her campaign has been so staff-driven thus far that none of us really knows WHO she really is. Calculated? No. It just looked to me like she was really tired.
Comment by Comrade Kevin — January 11, 2008 #