I have said it before and now I will say it again: women can be just as idiotic as men. Disappointment for those people, especially females, who assumed that women in high places, whether, corporate, political or whatever, would answer to a higher professional and ethical standard, is the real order of the day. Women are human beings, just like their male counterparts and thus, are subject to the same ambitions and temptations. During this silly season of the midterm elections, gender equality vis-a-vis stupidity and questionable practices is all too apparent.
These two articles summarize this observation, the first by Ruth Marcus and the second by Kathleen Parker. Both appeared in the Washington Post on October 20, 2010:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Marcus writes about female candidates challenging their male opponents to "man up." Can you imagine a male politician demanding that of his female opponent? All hell would break loose. Tea Party candidates Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle have used that phrase as well. Why, oh why, would they tout their opponents to "man up" when so many male politicians are duplicitous and dirty? Not exactly an admirable aspiration. I especially like Parker’s piece on "mean" girls. Read them and then never make predictions and generalizations about the sexes. They usually will not hold up to reality. Gender is a non sequitur in the determination of character.
Additionally, here are some facts, unbelievable as they may be, that have come to my attention that prove that some women nabobs are just as stupid and mean-spirited as males. Sarah Palin has announced the schedule of her Tea Party Express Tour, a cross-country pre-election blitz of fifteen stops. Would you believe, and I kid you not, her stop in Delaware to stump for Christine O’Donnell is on Halloween? How witchy supernatural.
Can you believe the stupidity of Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence, in requesting an apology from Anita Hill for her accusations against Thomas so many years ago when he went through the vetting process for a seat on that highest bench? The dubious intention of this request notwithstanding, is this woman out of her mind? Is it possible that this spouse of the most reticent Justice is so out of tune with reality that she does not see the inappropriateness of her actions, not to mention sticking her nose in where it has no place to be. Is there something organic wrong with her brain? Is her ultra-conservatism, her devotion to an extreme religious ethic, overtaking her capacity for reason, not to mention consideration for her husband’s privacy?
The degradation of superlative educational credentials by the GOP and Tea Party speaks more to their own sense of inadequacy. The women of these parties are no different from the unenlightened men. While putting down the "elitist" education of President Obama, Sarah Palin isn’t exactly bragging about the five colleges she attended in order to get her degree. Also, Christine O’Donnell, while saying in one breath how out of touch well-educated public servants (read "Democrats" and our current Chief of State) are, she downright lies about her own school record in order to provide herself with elitist educational bona fides:
http://theweek.com/...
In a recent interview, she ever-so-proudly touted her graduate "fellowship" from Claremont Institute in constitutional government. As Anderson Cooper points out, Claremont Institute is not a university, but rather a conservative think tank and the "fellowship" to which O’Donnell proudly lays claim took a mere seven days to earn (the pertinent comments appear at approximately 2:50 in the video).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Chrissie is just as deceitful and hypocritical as the worst male politico. No gender differences there.
Overall, a person is a person is a person, regardless of his/her gender, and will sink or swim as a human being based on their convictions, compassion and character. Just by virtue of being a female does not automatically guarantee a person a higher standard of being. I am a true believer that women should have equal opportunity and equal rewards. I readily admit that, a couple of decades ago, I was one of those naive believers that held that women, given an equal chance at life, would be heads and tails way above men in their pursuit of sense and sensibility. What a kick in the tush that theory turned out to be. Unfortunately, the "kinder, gentler" sex can be just as silly as their macho counterpart.
On the flip side, remember that there are decent men holding sway in the public arena and, as a corollary of that, there are competent, caring women as well. We just need to find them.