THE FAILURES OF LAURA BUSH

We’re only days away from starting the happy new year that will see George and Laura Bush leave the White House. The failures of President Bush have been well-chronicled and continue to mount up. His wife, however, has gotten a pass.

For seven years she’s been the silent partner, serenely avoiding controversy by keeping her head down and her smile up. Her favorability in polls flattens that of her husband…READ THE REST AT WOMEN’S VOICE FOR CHANGE.

And read about Eleanor Roosevelt’s run for President in the new novel “Eleanor vs. Ike.” 

HILLARY’S ELEANOREAN MOMENTS

Shortly after becoming First Lady in 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt read a letter from Bertha Brodsky, one of thousands of heart-rending letters that were addressed to her during the Depression. Bertha talked about finding it hard to write because her back was crooked and she had to walk “bent sideways.” Eleanor sprang into action… READ THE REST AT HUFFINGTON POST.

Read about Eleanor Roosevelt’s run for the presidency in 1952 in the new book Eleanor vs. Ike! 

SEXIST LESSONS FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

It’s been a banner time for sexism on the presidential hustings. Just a month ago, we had the John McCain supporter in South Carolina asking her hero, “How do we beat the bitch?” in reference to Senator Hillary Clinton. Senator McCain laughed, showing his good-natured appreciation for comparing women to animals…READ THE REST AT HUFFINGTON POST.

And visit my website to read about Eleanor Roosevelt’s presidential campaign and more.

OUR BODIES, OURSELVES

Sometime in 1972, after I’d dropped out of college, hitchhiked around the world for a bit and landed in a low-wage job in Boston, I needed a doctor.I remember my problem was female-related, possibly for birth control, and I didn’t have much money. Someone told me to go over to a place called the Boston Women’s Health Collective…  Read the rest of this post at Women’s Voices for Change.

OPRAH’S OTHER FAVORITE CANDIDATE

In all the hoopla and hyper-analysis over the Oprah/Obama shows this weekend, there may be another political game being played just under all the noise. Oprah’s actions on behalf of Obama have the look of someone thinking about her own …READ THE REST AT HUFFINGTON POST

Visit my website and read about Eleanor vs. Ike, coming out in January.

HUNTERS’ AND GATHERERS’ LEADERSHIP

An op-ed I wrote in Newsday this week sparked a storm of protest and an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s radio show. Frankly, I had never listened to O’Reilly on radio. He has a woman side-kick named Lis (sounds like “lease”). She did the lead-in with O’Reilly and made the case for the ongoing discrimination against women as well as I could have. Then she left, and O’Reilly and I got to discuss the idea that maybe, just maybe, there’s a bias against women as leaders.

At one point, O’Reilly made my case, saying that an effeminate man wouldn’t get elected either. Exactly! So called “feminine traits” are those that are not associated with leadership. Leaders are valued for being dominant, aggressive, take-charge people, which in present day culture translates to men. Women (and “fey” men, as O’Reilly put it) are seen as having “take-care” traits, being indecisive and not problem-solvers. Few people would equate that set of traits with the leadership they would want in any sector from business to politics to the military.

But O’Reilly’s main point seemed to be a kind of biological determinism. To paraphrase, “Men are hunters, women are gatherers, it’s the hunter gatherer thing, we can’t change that,” he blustered. Hmmmm, actually my husband and son never hunt for much more than their keys and I and my daughter gather our laundry, but my husband washes it. But to move off the anecdotal, the only one who takes such an analysis seriously is Rob Becker whose one-man play “Defending the Cave-man” has made him a nice living.

Thankfully, we can buy meat and vegetables in stores these days. Men and women have moved on to slightly more sophisticated pursuits than hunting game and gathering berries. Like decoding our genetic make-up, curing cancer, innovating on the world wide web, running democratic governments based on constitutions that hold elections for leaders who, theoretically, can be men or women of any race or creed. I say theoretically, because as long as the O’Reilly’s of the world think we’re still stuck at the caveman level, women’s leadership will suffer. After all, who wants to vote for a woman as leader when you can drag her back to the cave by the hair and make her cook that meat you just killed?

OBAMA SHOULD KNOW BETTER

This week, Senator Barack Obama started an aggressive bid for women’s votes. His argument is that he’s a feminist, a believer that women should have equal rights and opportunities to those of men. So voting for him would give you, woman voter, the same advantage in your life as voting for a woman, namely his rival, Senator Hillary Clinton.

Nice try, but Obama’s words don’t support his argument. Instead they reveal that he doesn’t understand the forces that stand in the way of women fully realizing their potential in this country.

Obama is quoted in the Sunday New York Times as saying about Hillary, “I don’t think she wants to be treated differently….and I don’t think she has been treated differently than if she were a male candidate in this race.” The first part of his comment is certainly true, but the second thought betrays either a willfull misstatement of reality or a woeful ignorance of sexism in America.

There is a double standard for leadership and it is heavily weighted in favor of men. Research on business leadership reveals that the traits that are viewed as desirable in leaders: being decisive, having a take-charge approach, being a problem-solver, are associated with men. Women are considered superior at “take care” type traits like supporting and rewarding others, which are not associated with being strong leaders. These stereotypes have no basis in reality and are pernicious because people, evidently including Obama, don’t see or aren’t willing to acknowledge their existence. These deeply internalized feelings about others, despite lacking objective proof, seem real because they are often long-held and validated by the culture. In this way, stereotypes are perpetuated and continue to hold people back.

You’d think that Obama, as an African American, would be keenly aware of the effect of stereotypes on the opportunities of those in our society who have traditionally been out of power. Perhaps he’s trying for a post-modern view that sees a post-sexist, post- racist world. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet. And pretending we are won’t get us there. Instead, Obama, Clinton and Richardson should be taking the opportunity of the national stage to point out the stereotypes that have been obstacles in their paths, and that continue to undercut the promise of America for others like them.

Visit my website: www.robingerber.com