Women...second class citizens?!

I read Anna Quindlen's recent editorial in Newsweek magazine early last week and can't seem to get it out of my mind. While I have never considered myself a feminist, I think that all women should read this article and consider the implications.

One of the most eye-opening and troubling parts of the article was Quindlen's reference to an incident that happened in New Hampshire:

"Consider the guys who yelled "Iron my shirts!" at a Clinton event in New Hampshire. The point wasn't the yahoos with the Neanderthal mantra; it was that their jeers got little coverage. If someone at an Obama rally had called out a similar remark based on racial bigotry—"Shine my shoes," perhaps—not only would it have been a story, it would have run on page one."

While the content upset me, the fact that I had not even heard about this happening bothered me most. When I mentioned the article and the comment at lunch, the first reaction from the men at the table was to laugh; their giggles were quickly stifled upon seeing my reaction. No one on my lunch shift had heard about the jeers that were shouted at Senator Clinton. The fact that this was not considered news-worthy information and that people's first reaction is to laugh really makes me think about where women stand in society.

Society tells young women that they can be anything and do anything and yet we brush misogynistic rhetoric aside as if it were nothing, even giggle at it as if it were a funny joke. Many a father, grandfather, and uncle have been wrapped around the finger of a little girl; yet, they allow the women those little girls will some day emulate to be treated so disrespectfully.

I cannot wrap up my thoughts on this topic any better than the way in which Quindlen chose (although I will highlight a few key phrases):

"Exemplary husband, perfect kids, no negatives—I guess you could argue that the double standard guarantees that female candidates are stellar since they are required to be all things to all people. It was a woman politician, the mayor of Ottawa, who is responsible for one of the most notable quotes about this: 'Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult.' It may be an era of change, but Charlotte Whitton's 1963 comment still rings true. I've just always thought she was a little too sanguine about the math."