Rotten Little Girls

Sure, I have my doubts when I look at her personal life.  While I have to admit that I totally admire Bill Clinton (I think to the point of having a crush on him), let’s just get it out of the way that he is a cheating womanizer.  I would like to say I would respect Hillary more if she dumped the guy, maybe hired a hot younger campaign assistant who became her boyfriend (sort of like Demi and Ashton), or if she aged gracefully without a partner by her side – but who am I to comment?  I, and many women, have stayed with cheating men, and it is not a clear-cut issue.  I don’t advocate adultery, but I also don’t advocate sticking your nose into people’s personal lives.  When she did feel compelled to explain, Hillary stated that she stayed married because of love: “No one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does…even after all these years, he is still the most interesting, energizing and fully alive person I have ever met.”  Cliche or not, I don’t care who it is – Clinton, Spitzer, Edwards – the women who have married these men can make their own decisions regardless of society’s opinions of the wrongdoers.

Not only that, but people have been critical of Hillary and Bill’s marriage for long before any cheating came to light.  Opponents claim she is a power-hungry bitch just using marriage to gain a political stronghold.  I am personally impressed by the relationship between these two professional people, especially looking at how their daughter Chelsea turned out (here’s Jenna and others of the Bush clan for comparison).  Never mind that they have dated since college, when Bill gave up his plans to join Hillary when she was interning in California, and Hillary stayed at Yale an extra year so she could graduate with Bill.  She did decline his early proposals – explaining that she “harbored doubts about marriage, concerned that her separate identity would be lost and that her accomplishments would be viewed in the light of someone else’s – and that seems like a responsible move that many young women could learn from.  I mean let’s face it, after the marriage, Hillary ended up supporting her husband through her high-paying job as a lawyer, a job she eventually gave up to work on his political campaigns.  After years of keeping her own last name, which reportedly made her mother cry, she started using the name Clinton in order to appease Arkansas voters (for more about last names in marriage, read this post).

No matter what insults you do have for her, there is no doubt that she is intelligent.  A graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School, she has twice been named one of the top 100 lawyers in America.  Her work as First Lady was a lot more work than she got credit for; it wasn’t all about drinking tea and planning parties.  If anything, I agree with Elizabeth Wurtzel‘s commentary in her book “Bitch” that the biggest flaw in Hillary’s career is that she did all this damn work without demanding a cent.  She worked for her husband’s cause – for instance, she developed the idea for a universal health plan that has been both applauded and bashed – and she did it all for free.  Simply because she was the First Lady…his wife.  Even Bill Clinton referred to presidential ticket as a “two for the price of one” deal because of the woman he would be toting with him to the White House.

Because she does have experience.  I think that is what people fear in a woman like Hillary Clinton.  She has been involved in politics since the age of thirteen, when she studied electoral fraud against Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.  When I was thirteen, I was sitting in front of the mirror picking food out of my braces.  She continued to be active in politics, but was also the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree and to have her own professional career up to the time of her husband’s election.  It was quite obvious that she was involved in public policy, a fact that many people deemed “inappropriate.”  She is labeled a ballbuster, a feminazi, and a bitch – but one of my close friends likes to point out that in reality she seems like a “dude in a skirt.”  Sure, she criticizes women like Tammy Wynette for staying home and baking cookies.  Because baking cookies isn’t going to get you respect.  But guess what?  Apparently neither is having intelligence, independence, or strong opinions.  I don’t think Hillary Clinton could be a good president, not because of her ideas, but because she just has too much going against her.  The most popularly sold books about the woman have titles like, “Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House”, “Hillary’s Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton’s Ruthless Agenda to Take the White House”, and “Can She Be Stopped? : Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless…”.  When she ran for Senate in 2000, organizations with names like “Save Our Senate” and the “Emergency Committee to Stop Hillary Rodham Clinton” were established – does anyone else think these titles and names are akin to something 14-year-old boys would come up with because they are afraid of the girls getting into the clubhouse?  And she got reelected in spite of all this…but then again, so did George Bush (both of them!).

In spite of all her “ball-busting” opinions, Hillary is just a dude with a skirt.  She is trying to conform to the role of a politician so that she can play with the big boys.  I wish it could go another way, but can you picture someone overflowing with Jennifer Lopez-esque femininity running the White House?  Still, as much as she tries, Hillary can’t escape her womanhood.  She has been the subject of many misogynistic comments, and the Internet is rampant with sites that sexually degrade her (just try looking up some groups on Facebook).  It’s sad, but the way our country is today, I can’t see a woman or a black man being elected to office, no matter their qualifications.  As much as I support Joe Biden, sometimes I feel his best asset in this race is his status as a white male.