This brief editorial piece responds to Gloria Steinem's New York Times editorial on the role of gender in the race between Senators Obama and Clinton.
On January 8th, an editorial by Gloria Steinem ran in the New York Times titled “Women Are Never Front-Runners.” She asked her readers to imagine a woman with the same credentials as Senator Barack Obama, making the point that no bi-racial woman with just a brief tenure in the Senate could possibly be considered a presidential hopeful.
Steinem called our attention to the gender politics that are at play-yet largely unacknowledged-in this election. As she aptly wrote, “there is still no "right" way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.” Indeed, Senator Clinton is either vilified as a witch, or (more recently) scorned as a crybaby.
As a young woman beginning her professional life, I thank Senator Clinton for her campaign. To me, it is her candidacy that is about Hope. I hope that our country is great enough to transcend this paralyzing sexism, so that we can elect a candidate who is both exceptionally well qualified and who is also a woman. And I thank Steinem for keeping us honest; she brought to national attention the reality that Senator Obama “is seen as unifying by his race while [Senator Clinton] is seen as divisive by her sex.” It's time to move beyond this double standard.
