A woman got sick. The illness wasn’t a big deal, quite common actually, so she decided she would just push through it rather than broadcast it to the world. She got noticeably sicker, so then had to take a break: “Yes, I’m sick. I was diagnosed with a common illness a couple of days ago, and the doctor said I just needed a few days rest and medication, no big deal.” Everyone admits the illness itself wasn’t a big deal, but for some odd reason, they wanted her to make a big deal of it. In fact they demanded it, and when she didn’t, they concluded “she’s always trying to hide something.”
Sounds crazy, right?!?! Well, that just happened. The illogical narrative is so completely misogynistic, it’s hard to not scream. Yes, I said it, MISOGYNISTIC, because it is. Just like Trump supporters are a basket full of deplorables, and that’s a fact that needs to be said over and over.
The illogical narrative is that Clinton’s pneumonia wasn’t that serious, it wasn’t a big deal, but because she didn’t make a big deal out of it, that proves she was trying to hide it. Is your head spinning yet? And unfortunately it plays right into the RW line of attacks against HER for the better part of three decades. But Clinton’s “issues with trustworthiness,” or whatever, didn’t start with her. It’s always been this way for women. Our culture, our society, and those all over the world, at their primal base, have for thousands of years promoted the idea that women are not trustworthy.
Here we have a chance to change history. Not just to elect the first woman POTUS, but to change the culture of misogyny and subtle sexism that still exists in our culture today. But it’s hard to do when all you can talk about is her lying, her trying to hide something, her not being transparent enough. None of these statements are supported with facts or evidence, but they are easy to believe because our society is wired to think that way about women already. And guess what? Your kids can hear you, and you are damaging the way they see women too. So this sick cycle of double standards and sexism continues. Because when you call HER a liar, you don’t even see how you are advancing this bias against women; even against your own daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers.
This last issue of accusing her of trying to hide something that was no big deal because she didn’t make a big deal out of it got me thinking about how this prejudice against women — that they are always trying to hide something — got started. The foundation of this bigotry is what leads to women in some countries having to cover their face, by law, because they might try to seduce a man. “You can’t trust women.” It’s practically baked into the identity of the human species.
So I did a quick google search, and found this article on Huffington Post by feminist Soraya Chemaly:
“People Think Women Lie Because That's What We Teach Our Children”
Women’s credibility is questioned in the workplace, in courts, in legislatures, by law enforcement, in doctors’ offices and in our political system. People don’t trust women... not to be bosses, pilots, employees. Last year, a survey of managers in the United States revealed that they overwhelmingly don’t believe women who request flextime. Until relatively recently, in order to hedge against the idea that women lie, many U.S. police departments had “corroboration requirements“ for rape reports, unlike any other crime. Pakistan’s controversial Hudood Ordinance still requires a female rape victim to procure four male witnesses to her rape or risk prosecution for adultery. Bias is particularly pronounced when it comes to women’s bodies and who does what with them.
Well that explains a lot! This new attack on Hillary’s integrity surrounding her, God Forbid, discretion on an illness that WASN’T A BIG DEAL, had me so confused! How can people jump from a woman wanting to keep a treatable, very temporary, illness to herself into “she was trying to hide it”? Because:
Lessons about women’s untrustworthiness are in our words, pictures, art and memory. Women are overwhelmingly portrayed in media as flawed, supplemental, ornamental objects, or unattainably perfect.
I highlight “flawed” because how many times on this site have we heard “She’s not perfect, but I’ll vote for her anyways”? Too many times!!!! Do you speak like that in front of your daughters? I hope not! You’re talking about the most qualified and prepared person to ever run for POTUS in the history of our country, and, oh yeah, NOBODY IS PERFECT Captain Obvious!!!
So, what is the source of all this? Soraya Chemalys offers this:
The United States is among the most religious of developed countries. There’s a straight line between catchy, contemporary expressions of the distrust of women and (those) who shaped the Judeo-Christian canon, and who continue to shape children’s imaginations.
But it’s not just this. Look at the narrative of what just happened. How do you justify calling Hillary a liar in front of your daughters — or your sons, for that matter — because she chose to keep something about her body to herself? You can’t! It’s disgusting and wrong, and yes, incredibly sexist.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Is this the message you want to send? ...This seems wrong.”
Because it is.