The look of women in politics

[Forkboy]

WHEN PEOPLE say there’s no real difference between the way men and women in public life approach the issues, I am reminded of a pop quiz my seventh-grade biology teacher thought up, which I flunked. The quiz was simple: match the parts of the human body to the parts of a car. So the lungs were matched with the carburetor, the spark plugs were the nervous system, joints were like shock absorbers - or something. I am sure I still have it wrong.

The point is that almost all of the 13-year-old boys in the class aced the test and the girls - even ones who knew the functions of the human body cold - failed. Most of us had never looked under the hood of a car. We had a different reference for understanding the material, which the teacher (male, of course) never considered. With the exception of a press conference and rally Martha Coakley held to tout the endorsement of prominent women back in September, the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic US Senate primary rarely mentioned her unique frame of reference. She didn’t have to; her voice and appearance instantly marked her as different, and her campaign feared over-emphasizing gender might alienate moderates.
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Or is there is a deeper, more interesting question to engage, the one Sonia Sotomayor determinedly dodged throughout her confirmation hearing to the US Supreme Court earlier this year: Do women judge or prioritize matters of public policy differently than men?

Women at Coakley’s victory rally Tuesday night certainly think so. “Men take too many risks, they’re too aggressive, there’s not enough concern about families,’’ said Joyce Paul of Medford. With Coakley, she said, “I hope we won’t go to war so easily. I want to go to peace, and education.’’

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/11/the_look_of_women_in_politics/

[napi21]

1. I think in both genders their opions depend on their past

experiences. Someone who was raised on a farm is going to see things differently than I would because I was raised in a small town just outside of Pgh. I got a job in downtown Pgh. after graduation, and I learned the city quite well. I had no problem going there any time of the day or night. My FIL wouldn't think of going downtown at night because he thought he'd be mugged, or killed!

I worked with a girl who talked about what she did when she heard shots outside her home. "Hit the floor! and wait for quiet." I couldn't even imagine that!

I don't think it's gender as much as it is life experiences.

[anonymous171]

2. Interesting. More women = Maybe less Wars, conflicts over stupid shit

Although feminine-style political moderation is not always good, as seen with Neville Chamberlain and his appeasement "strategy." Sometimes you do really have to take a stand.

[mayya]

3. Female heads of state are typically masculine

Interesting that you mention Chamberlain having a feminine style. That had never occured to me.

All the female heads of state that come to my mind have been masculine in a strong way. But not in a bad way. More like tough broads. I would probably choose any of them over the likes of Chamberlain.

[Captain Hilts]

9. By the time women become heads of state, they're socialized to be...heads of state. nt

[Quantess]

4. My dad, the mountain goat of humans, said that I should let my brothers change the oil in my car.

I once asked if I could learn how to change the oil. He said no. However, he thought it was a good idea for me to know how to drive stick shift. So my dad taught me how to drive a manual transmission vehicle.

Even today one of the best compliments for a female professional is to be called “tough".

So? Define "tough".

Women are pretty "tough" in many ways.
Obviously women aren't designed to go around beating people across the heads. We don't rape or pillage, at least not in any widespread historical measures. We don't knock heads, like you see in The Sopranos.

"Tough" means something different for a woman than it does to a man, hopefully.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Tough, for me, means strong.

Able to bear things...hold up under stress...

:shrug:

[Quantess]

6. Exactly! "Tough" means you can stand up to the pressures of life.

Not that I'm so great at at that. But I try, I do.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Every time a woman is 'complimented' by saying she has 'balls', women are diminished.

We no longer 'compliment' blacks by saying they're 'white', why do we continue to do this to women?

[Captain Hilts]

7. By the time you reach a leadership position, you're socialized differently. For example...

Eleanor Roosevelt would have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.

[niyad]

10. she would? is there any citation for that statement about the woman who helped form the UN--and

helped write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?