I can't imagine anyone of any gender being interested in that (the thing on the right).
Posted on 01/08/2013 6:14:12 AM PST by Kaslin
As the son of a woman, the husband of a woman and the father of daughters and granddaughters, I celebrate the record number of females who are now United States senators. However, I do see some differences in the way these and other women are treated, depending on their party, policies and beliefs.
Diane Sawyer broadcast a celebratory report last week on ABC's "World News Tonight" on which she gushed about the "record number" of 20 female senators. Senator Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., also praised the Senate female population. Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she won't be satisfied until there are 50 female senators.
In the Senate, the ratio of female Democrats to Republicans is 16 to 4. Would media approval for these women be different if the ratio were reversed? Consider how conservative females are treated, most notably Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. During her presidential run, Bachmann was labeled a religious fanatic and anti-woman for being pro-life. Her husband Marcus was criticized because of his Christian counseling clinic that some allege focuses on converting gays to heterosexuality, a charge he vehemently denies.
The media mostly ignore other Republican women, like Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico -- at least for now.
"We're less on testosterone," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told Sawyer. "We don't have that need to always be confrontational. And I think we're problem solvers, and I think that's what this country needs." Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, agreed.
So testosterone is to blame for the fact that male senators are so combative and that Congress continues to founder? Imagine a male suggesting that estrogen hampers women from performing well at their jobs. You don't have to imagine. Some men have said that and worse, to their shame, and society and ultimately history itself was right to denounce them.
But after all the talk about female bonding and how women and men have different approaches to solving problems, what does that mean? Does it mean that a Democratic female senator who is pro-choice on abortion and favors same-sex marriage, bigger roles for government, more spending and higher taxes will be able to find common ground with a Republican female senator who takes the opposite positions? I doubt it.
This double standard seems not only to apply to gender, but also to race. Consider the disparaging things said about Tim Scott, the new senator from South Carolina, a replacement for the retired Jim DeMint. Scott is black, but his race does not endear him to liberals. He probably won't be embraced by the NAACP, whose president accused him of not believing in civil rights, having received an "F" on the NAACP's civil rights scorecard, which judges legislators on their votes on "civil rights" issues. In fact, Scott is just as much an example of the advancement of civil rights for blacks as those female senators are examples of progress for women.
In the end, it isn't about gender or race, but ideology. When they speak of "women's issues," for example, the left seems to think that all women think alike, or should. The same for African Americans and civil rights. I think the right correctly sees content of character and ideas as superior to gender and skin color.
In the interview with Diane Sawyer, Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said that by nature women are "less confrontational." Really? McCaskill must never have met the leaders of the women's movement whose disciples are among her colleagues. The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., is no shrinking violet.
I'm not betting on estrogen besting testosterone to "get things done," forge compromise and diffuse confrontation, especially given the history of some very uncompromising female leaders like Cleopatra, Catherine the Great, underground railroad "conductor" Harriet Tubman, the late Bella Abzug, D-NY., or British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In fact, these women exhibited more testicular fortitude than some men, which, in the case of the conservative Thatcher, likely had a lot to do with why her male colleagues dumped her as party leader.
Who cares what gender sells us down the river?
The women in the Democrat Party are mostly socialists and that includes Collins and Snowe, who are democrats in sheeps clothing.
The problem with congress is not to much testosterone, it’s the lack of it (especially from Republicans)
Who gives a rat's ass that they're male or female? I don't get it. Do you suggest that women will make different critical decisions than men? I don't care what gender they are. I'm so sick of celebrating the outside cover of the person rather than the inside contents. Enough already!
There are/were few female senators or representitives who made it there on their own.
Snowe....filled in for her dead husband
Margret Chase Smith filled in for her dead husband
and the beat goes on.
I am so tired of the Left’s sexism: women are better, more caring etc, than men. Lies.
I have worked on boards of women’s organizations, I have worked on the boards of men’s organizations. Boards with at least 1/2 to 3/4 male function rationally and reasonably.
I work with people who work in women-run organizations and believe me they are sick environments. The best run and most compassionate women’s organizations are the conservative religious ones.
Recently someone who worked in a leftist feminist organization told me how poorly she and her family were treated during by the organizaiton during a continuing family crisis. She was shocked.
You see, her husband works in a large, money-hungry capitalist, mean, man-dominated field and that company has been fully supportive to the family during the crisis.
Longest-serving lesbian in Congress.
GAG ME WITH A SPOON!!!!!
Congress needs to be swept out from top-to-bottom, with a few notable exceptions (Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Michell Bachmann e.g.).
The left excels at empty rhetoric.
And I completely agree with the poster who remarked that its the lack of testosterone in congress - and across the country - that's the problem.
The best manager I ever worked for was a woman. Her predecessor, also a woman, was the worst manager I ever worked for.
The best manager I ever worked for was a woman. Her predecessor, also a woman, was the worst manager I ever worked for.
__________________________
Women are no BETTER or no WORSE than men. I think this opinion that women are better kinder and more gentle in the work arena is just ridiculous.
O.K. You just made me re-read the US Constitution.
How are women even in our Federal Government? For office of the President, the male pronoun, “he”, is used repeatedly. I found it used at least once for members of Congress. I find no Amendment altering these descriptions.
It is clear enough to me. The Federal Government of the United States was a government designed BY MEN FOR MEN.
I am not saying this was an “enlightened” attitude, any more than the accomodation of slavery was, but it seems to be fact. Slavery was overturned with the 13th Amendment, but no changes are entered as to the specification of males serving in government.
This seems to be a case of the fact that it is always far easier for stupid people to break something, than it was for wise people to create it in the first place.
What kind of Government would women design, if they had the chance? Would there even be a Presidency? Would the idea of “checks-and-balances” work?
All women are not the same, nor are all men. Men and women, however, are most certainly NOT the same, nor are they interchangable. It seems, however, that we think they are, since we simply turn a blind eye to the specification of male governance in the Constitution without so much as even a footnote.
Re Olympia Snowe, this is what I found in Wikepedia
-- snip --
At the urging of family, friends, neighbors and local leaders, Snowe ran for her husband's Auburn-based seat in the Maine House of Representatives at the age of 26 and won. She was re-elected to the House in 1974, and, in 1976, won election to the Maine Senate, representing Androscoggin County. That same year, she was a delegate to both the state and national Republican conventions
-- snip --
Olympia Snowe Early Political Snowe
The way I read it Snowe's husband was not in the US Senate
Let’s revisit this in about 1000 years. After future historians have written their texts on what will come to be known as The Menopause Wars.
I can't imagine anyone of any gender being interested in that (the thing on the right).
Men make decisions based on fact and reason.
Women make decisions based on emotion.
I don’t see this new “equality” working in America’s favor.
Granted, there are exceptions to the above statements. The current GOP is evidence of that.
Yes, the same Lisa Murkowski who screwed her party and the voters of Alaska who had voted her out in the primary.
How dare you! This is MY seat!
A democrat with PMS what could go wrong?.
That is right, she started in the house ...and moved up to the Senate.
The definition of "man" from 1961 Merriam-Webster® "official" "New Collegiate Dictionary" which I hold right now in my paws is:
man (măn), n.; pl. MEN (mĕn) [AS. mann, man, monn, mon.] .1. A human being; esp., a male human being; -- now restricted to males except in general application; as, every man; few men. 2. The human race; mankind. 3. ... ... 12. ...
When I was young, I recall having possession of a Merriam-Webster in which the #1 and #2 definitions were reversed, eg., the primary definition of "man" was assumed to be "the human race." In addition, the "now restricted to males except..." passage was not present. Similarly, "he" and "his" specifically were stated as "neutral" in gender, rather than exclusively masculine. I wonder if I have that older dictionary around somewhere... The point is that the "primary definition" of "man" was once assumed to be much more general than the current "an adult male person"
When reading something written quite some time ago, it is very important to understand the language of the author(s) if you wish to accurately understand his intent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.