Jesse Jackson, keep on crying

 

Sexism didn’t get much of rest in the afterglow of Obama’s election. Jacob Heilbrunn, contributor to Huffington Post, just could not make his point without adding ‘female’ to his discussion of Hillary Clinton. Then, in case people of good will weren’t offended enough, he added to the insult by claiming that Sarah Palin was someone in the same league as Clinton, apparently because they both have the same genitalia. Heilbrunn's article is just more of the same old women bashing. Unfortunately, so many who are patting themselves on the back for electing an African American don’t understand how adding the adjective ‘female’ is the exact same thing as adding the adjective ‘colored.’

As Obama supporters marched on to the stage two weeks ago for the President-elect’s first press conference, among the dozens of suits, only two were women. That is not representative of the number of powerful, competent women who worked to get him elected.

I hope that Obama does a better job of showing respect to women as he fills his cabinet positions. Women were more than half of the citizens who worked so hard to get him elected. If he doesn’t come through, if he doesn’t fill a significant number of cabinet positions with women, then he is just another bigot.

Heilbrunn's article is just another example of how sexism stains the promise of America. It is time to speak out against this petty prejudice. I have slender hope that President-elect Obama proves himself a better person. Will he judge his cabinet appointees by the content of the character rather than their gender?

Nancy Sherer

 

 


Copyright 1997 - 2008

SalmonRiverPublishing
All rights reserved