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Conversation | 05/21/2008 8:35 am

Percentage of Voters Say They Would Never Vote for a Woman, Regardless of Qualifications

© AP

Editor’s Note: Featuring Kathleen Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, a professor of communications and the former dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

LESLEY: Well, what about sexism? Yeah, let’s talk about the second “ism.”

LIZ: Can I say something?

LESLEY: Please.

Click here to read Part One: At a Table in So-Called Liberal NYC, Woman Announces: I’ll Never Vote for a Black Man for President.

Click here to read Part Three: Who Says Older Ages Equal Serious Health Problems?

LIZ: I want to preface my remarks now by saying I’ve always been a really lousy feminist and Gloria Steinem once said that I was the worst because, she said, “Liz, you want to be the only Jew in the club.” And so I got the message then. I tried to repent. But now sexism is coming late to this discussion. I think it’s probably too late. And I think the sexists mostly all say they just don’t like Hillary. But they don’t have anything against women in office. I think if you look at the statistics, 13 percent of voters say they would never vote for a woman no matter how qualified she was. And our friend Cynthia McFadden spoke this weekend at Bryn Mawr and she said the world economic forum in Davos assessed gender equality in 93 percent of the world population, and the United States dropped from 23rd on the list in 2006 to 31st in 2007. So only 13 percent of Congress is female. Women make 77 cents for every dollar men make. I just think sexism is really alive in this world. And The New York Times had a wonderful piece in the magazine Sunday, by Peggy Orenstein, discussing this.

LESLEY: You know what’s really interesting to me? That this bubbles up at a time when Hillary Clinton won virtually half the primary votes, from lots and lots of white men, who essentially were saying they could see her as a commander-in-chief. She raised a whole lot of money; people said women would never be able to raise a whole lot of money. I mean, there is some kind of disconnect here.

LIZ: Yeah. Well, I think these discussions are too late to be of any use to her. But it all leads back to us being reminded that black men were given the right to vote in America 50 years before women received it. So nothing much has changed.

KATHLEEN: But it’s got to be possible in this kind of discussion to say that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was not the campaign that could have been waged on her behalf — there are failures in the campaign. There were failures in its assumptions about how to deal with the caucuses. One can’t say that Clinton’s candidacy faltered because of sexism; one can say that — gender and race out of the equation — tactically the Obama campaign ran a much better campaign. It figured out how to get the advantage of higher numbers of delegates in caucus states. It figured out how to go to those districts that had essentially more votes; more capacity to produce delegate strength. And it concentrated there, while the Clinton campaign was off in those areas — that had less capacity to generate the delegates — with the same amount of effort. And the Obama campaign figured out how to raise money. So, I think that sex and race are at play this year and I think that they are playing in ways that are both obvious and subtle. But, there are also all the other dynamics that come into play when campaigns do well and do poorly, regardless of race and gender.

To another point on this subject, the amount of sexism on the Internet is just appalling. And that young people will put their own names and their own identities up on space on the Internet, such as Facebook, attached to demeaning comments about women in general and Hillary Clinton in particular. And then when someone comes onto the site to object, that person will be subject to what we would call ad staminem rather than ad hominem. We should find attacks that are vulgar in the extreme disturbing, regardless of whether or not we are Hillary Clinton supporters.


LESLEY: So the idea that racism is a taboo, but sexism is fine, is alive and well on the Internet?

KATHLEEN: I believe that sexism is alive and well on the Internet. And the productive piece is that recently, after Tina Fey’s segment on "Saturday Night Live," a couple of groups have emerged to try to fight what they see as misogyny on the Internet and misogyny in mainstream broadcast.

LESLEY: And when you say on "Saturday Night Live," what misogynist —

KATHLEEN: Tina Fey. When Tina Fey went on with the segment that concludes that “bitch” is the new black, a site emerges on the web that basically plays out of that segment and produces commentary about it. And a second site emerges as well which basically takes on the concept that these sorts of attacks in broadcast and on the web, against Hillary Clinton but on misogynistic grounds, are inappropriate.

269 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

JJ GB
I think that was my point. The Bible, the Koran and many other religious books were written by MEN commanding how women should think and act. Women have accepted those pronouncements for centuries and in my opinion, for way too long. Women are equal to men and have all the rights and priviledges accorded to men. Intolerance and predjudices have ruled the human race for far too long. It’s time to think of humans without considering color or gender.
By JJ GB on 05/21/2008 7:06 pm
Mugsy Peabody
JJ GB — yep, yep, yep….
By Mugsy Peabody on 05/21/2008 11:58 pm
bob mirabile
first the ‘men ’ who re wrote the ‘word’ killed off lilth because she was ‘adams equal’ created at the same time as adam not from his rib and not subordinate , then if you read the Apochrypha you find many of the great women who were ‘cut out’. then mary magdalene who was made into a whore… my dad always said keeping women down was becasue the men were scared of their power and i think it continues today….
By bob mirabile on 05/22/2008 12:55 pm
Dr. Mark Klein
Gimme a break. Women are doing just fine. Using a totally spurious prejudice argument they’ve come to dominate college and professional school enrollments, destroy ther families at will while walking away with the family assets and the children, and receive unjusified preferential treatment in the workplace. The cultural hostility to women simply reflects the intense resentment to the selfishness of women demanding it all at the expense of others feminism engendered.
By Dr. Mark Klein on 05/21/2008 9:56 am
Maurine H
For anyone who believes that sexism is not alive and well in America today, just read Dr. Klein’s ludicrous statement above.
By Maurine H on 05/21/2008 10:02 am
Frannie Em
Maurine Dr. Klein - well actually my reaction is roflmao because he is so unbelievable. His posts are revealing - he seems sad and angry - he needs to go to a men’s site and get that worked out. It’s like “did he really say that?” I am still lauging.
By Frannie Em on 05/21/2008 12:36 pm
T S
Yikes! What kinda female folk have you been hanging out with, Dr. Klein. You forgot to mention that women seem to have cornered the market on chocolate.
By T S on 05/21/2008 10:13 am
Ms. Dee
Hi Mark, At the risk of being ostracized by the other women on this site, I want to say that I understand your perspective on the cultural impact of the American feminist strategy to create gender equality in American politics and the work place. In several posts you have spoken about your own experience, which I believe informs your perspective. I would only ask that you consider the experience of others. One of the reasons I love Candice Bergen is she was playing Murphy Brown during the years that I was being Murphy Brown. Not that I was ever as together as Murphy Brown, or as successful. I was more like Erin Brockovich, except I never focused on anything quite as profound as the monumental feat she accomplished. I was just another single mom. Not because I walked out on my husbands, but because the men I trusted walked out on me. Many women entered the workplace during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, not out of some out-sized ambition to become the next Kate Hepburn, but simply to feed our children. And I, for one, was grateful for every inch of credibility the feminists gave me…which didn’t amount to much in the city where I lived. I still call it the “patriarchal den on ineqity.” Today, there are women working alongside their faithful, hard-working spouses to make ends meet. And it is unconsciounable that they are still being discriminated against on the basis of their gender. I realize there are many worthy men who have litereally been broken by the inordinate alimony and child support payments demanded of them by the courts. And I do believe that these inequities must also be addressed. But I’m not the only woman who pounded the pavement, alone, looking for respectable work at an equitable wage. And I think their plight is also worthy of your consideration.
By Ms. Dee on 05/21/2008 11:17 am
Bella Mia
Ms. Dee Thank you for being respectful of Dr. Klein’s position. As a soon-to be counselor I’ve come to appreciate that most people have very logical rationales for believing the things they do. We can disagree strongly with them - but they have justifications for their beliefs, just like we do for ours. My own mother bought the extreme feminist position of the ‘70’s hook, line and sinker and abandoned her family. Now she admits that it was a big mistake, and that her family wasn’t the source of her feelings of oppression. She now can see that she could have had a more balanced, less damaging and narcissistic approach. I think politics is challenging for women because it requires so much self-promotion - and a ridiculous amount of personal sacrifice and scrutiny. Humility means staying teachable - and too often the bloated egos in Congress are not humble nor teachable. But
By Bella Mia on 05/21/2008 1:47 pm
Marjorie C.
You, my dear doctor, are a jerk and a half.
By Marjorie C. on 05/21/2008 12:02 pm
Diana T
Balderdash!
By Diana T on 05/21/2008 12:06 pm
Diana T
Mark, you always sound so bitter. So, you had to support your kids all by yourself as I remember. Well, so did I with a helluvalot less $$ than you. So, don’t give us that crap that it is all our fault that we decided to take control of our lives and depend on ourselves for our wellbeing, however we turned out. I am proud of the job I struggled with to raise my kids, who are now lovely at 44 & 45 yrs. of age. At least, I learned to have compassion for those less fortunate than me…
By Diana T on 05/21/2008 12:12 pm
Ms. Dee
Another word to add to Mary Evans’ list. Balderdash Fiddlesticks Nincumpoop
By Ms. Dee on 05/21/2008 6:58 pm
Margo Porter
Sweetie, you’re living proof that “cultural hostility to women” was in full bloom long before the alleged “domination, destruction, and selfishness” that you talk about in your fictional world. Dr Klein you do romanticize the “dark and evil elixir” of feminine power and its dangers. To hear you tell it, by virtue of my gender I’m one hell of a badass! Seriously, give ME a break!
By Margo Porter on 05/21/2008 4:32 pm
cat  lord
Girls! Watch out for DR.MARK KLEIN, he needs attention and he is out there to get you!!!!!
By cat lord on 05/21/2008 5:50 pm