blogger profile

Sara Conrad

Editor, skirt! Jacksonville

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I love thinking and talking about feminism and writing for skirt!. I went to the University of Iowa and I'll put up a good fight about spelling. ...

READ MORE

She was right when she said...

“Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, a good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-dressed, well-groomed and unaggressive.”
~ Marya Mannes

(Published in Roseanne R. Hartwell’s May newsletter)

So true!

Hillary Clinton’s trials have proved this; some people (and usually women, actually) say they won’t vote for Hillary because she stayed with her husband after his highly publicized affair. I don’t see what that has to do with anything. That’s her damn decision. Maybe she was thinking about Chelsea’s feelings, or trying to keep the family together. I think that’s pretty courageous, actually. And it shows that she makes decisions (at least this one) after taking others’ feelings into consideration. Character points!

But back to my original point--Hillary is not only judged on leadership, she’s judged on how “good” of a wife she is, how great of a mother she is, her haircut, and her manners Now, let’s just stop and think about all the bad husbands we’ve elected. Let’s think of how many guys we’ve elected that chew with their mouths open.

The standards that women have to live up to are much higher than those of men--in the public eye and outside of it. Unfortunately, I think Hillary Clinton and Britney Spears, two very different women, are currently experiencing the worst of American expectations of women. It stresses me out just thinking about how many times they have to ask themeselves in a day: I hope that came out right. And I hope I looked okay while I said it.

I’m not sure many men even experience the latter thought. But you better bet that some of the public are thinking the following, which many women know and adapt their thinking for: maybe I would respect what she said more if she were a better mother (or wife, or better looking, or wore longer skirts, etc.)

I mean, did people really find it fun to bash Britney because she almost dropped her children, or because she gained weight? Plus, isn’t she still talented as a performer? (Her singing ability is certainly debatable, but you have to admit that the woman can dance and knows how to sell tickets and CDs.)

It’s an elementary playground out there. Let the bullying begin.