I heard a statement yesterday that I hadn’t heard in a long time, and certainly didn’t expect to hear after an election that included women as contenders for president and vice president, in a state where women were just elected as senator and governor. The statement questioned—no, advised—women who complain of painful menstrual cramps to suck it up if they want to believe they can aspire to the presidency.
The notion that women’s competence is compromised because of her biology is the very root of sexism.
If men were the ones who went through a bloody, painful episode on a monthly basis for their 40 or so most productive years, you can be sure that they would view this as a badge of courage, not a mark of inferiority. They would compete to claim who had the most painful periods, the worst premenstrual migraines, soaked through the most tampons in a day. Women’s lack of this experience would be turned against us: “Women can never be president, because they don’t have the strength that comes from having to endure hours or even days of pain every month. They are not in touch with their mortality because they don’t confront the reality of their own blood pouring from their bodies on a regular basis. How can we trust a woman to rise to a difficult challenge, when she’s never plowed through the work day, getting her work done and maintaining her composure while in double-over-in-pain agony?”
86% of violent crimes are committed by men. Why have I never heard a man speculating that the male hormonal profile makes them unfit for a peaceful world?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Roger Green // Nov 9, 2008 at 8:33 pm
The male hormonal profile makes them unfit for a peaceful world.
2 creth95 // Nov 10, 2008 at 2:08 am
Cuz men are asshole sons of bitches and need their nuts ripped out at the roots. By my teeth.
Sorry. My hormones made me say that. Welp, guess I’ll never be president!
3 Tiana // Nov 10, 2008 at 2:08 pm
You didn’t even mention the sore breasts!
But let’s all realize the crux of the male argument must fall somewhere in the realm of “emotional instability”. I’d like to see a politician cry when things are tense. Wait… I did! And her popularity went up! But she didn’t get to run for president either. She just got to run for the run for president.
Being pregnant excludes me from ever running for candidacy. I think of my pending delivery and the analogy that passing a gall stone is as close to labor and delivery for men just doesn’t quite cut it for me. Gall stone = Baby? It’s logic like that that frightens me regardless of political party.
4 Ana // Nov 5, 2009 at 6:40 pm
It’s always a complicated argument when it comes to women being unfit to be this or that because THEY get periods and have babies while men don’t. It isn’t restricted to politics. The long-assumed notion that women are weak and men are strong has long since grown out of fashion. Women ARE stronger than men, even though all humans have their strengths and weaknesses.
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