Fairy Tale
I am in New York right now. In today’s Daily News an editorial cartoon depicts Hillary staring into a mirror apparently asking “Who’s the fairest of them all?” And the mirror keeps answering back, “Barack.”
The campaign has divided women in ways I never would have expected. A good friend just sent me a petition, signed by thousands of women, who call themselves “feminists for peace and for Barack Obama!”
In what is starting to feel like a lonely corner, I still root for Hillary. And today’s editorial cartoon affirms my stance. So long as we depict women as evil queens—so long as we are swayed by inspiring talk from young, handsome men—then we are caught up in fairy tale worlds. True stories are seldom so clear cut. I know Hillary has her flaws, but so does Barack. Even so, hers get center stage and his remain protected and glossed over.
I wasn’t going to enter into politics in this forum. But now that I see my theme—“we tell ourselves stories”—playing itself out in the media, I thought it was time.
Add on: check out 2/25/08 Doonesbury. linktext
Comments
Thanks for writing, Jean. I love how you phrase that—“a roar of ‘lightweight.’” I’m curious to see how Wisconsin votes tomorrow and even more curious to see how Texas, Ohio, and Vermont vote on March 4.
Jan Feb 18, 05:18 pm
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Thank you for giving clarity to this latest, disturbing manifestation of the Prince Charming myth. If the tables were turned and the “inspirational” candidate was a woman and the “experienced” candidate a man, I bet she’d have been tossed out long ago with a roar of “lightweight”!
Jean L D Hey Feb 17, 07:27 pm