Feministing’s Ann responds to Ryan Lizza’s idiocy.
This cardboard-cutout view of gender means there’s no way for female politicians to prove their “toughness” on a surface level, because that’s a trait society is only comfortable associating with men. If you’re a dude, you prove you’re a “red-blooded American” by quarterbacking a football team, you prove you’re “tough” with a tour in Iraq, you prove you’re a no-nonsense by sporting a flat-top buzz cut. If you’re a woman, you certainly can’t do those things and still be considered electable. (Well, maybe Iraq is OK. But you’ll have to talk a lot about how you missed your kids while you were away.) Your can’t prove “toughness” by talking about reproductive rights (those women who raise money for Emily’s List? Total pussies) or about better health care policy. Nope, you need a gun, a dick and some balls to show you’ve got what it takes.
Ryan Lizza’s article was so bad it is hard to choose from all the smackdowns it elicited. But Ann got right to the heart of it.