Wednesday, September 07, 2016

If There's One Thing I'm Not Known For, it is Sensitivity to Sexism

Really. If I had a penny for every fell look shot my way for saying something thoughtless or disrespectful or insensitive, I wouldn't be able to get around my house for all the pennies stacked up everywhere.

So when even I notice it, I suspect it's pretty bad.

Like when a dude writes an op-ed about former US Senator, former US Secretary of State, and current Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and:


  • Identifies her main opponent, Donald Trump, by his full name; then
  • Refers to her as merely "Hillary" seven times over the course of two full paragraphs; while
  • Also checking off the "dutiful wife" box; and
  • Doesn't mention any of her credentials or qualifications until a paragraph and a half in; and
  • Doesn't bother to mention her last name or prepend an honorific until the third paragraph.

It's not about supporting Clinton. I despise her and everything she stands for (the latter being pretty easy since the only thing Hillary Clinton stands for is the aggrandizement of Hillary Clinton).

It's about treating her as the serious threat to peace and freedom (and possibly existential threat to the human race) she is, rather than implicitly dismissing her as "the little woman."

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