"First you struggle to get into the establishment and then you get dismissed as too establishment."

[Zenlitened]

Columnist Ellen Goodman, writing in The Boston Globe:

... When Hillary Clinton first entered the race, the story line had a pink border. Those same headlines asked and asked and asked: "Is the Country Ready for a Woman President?" The buzz about the former first lady was about being the first woman.

It's pretty stunning that in less than a year, the question has morphed from whether a woman is "electable" to whether she's "stoppable." It's even more remarkable that Hillary is now seen less as the woman candidate than the establishment candidate.

I began noticing the de-gendering - forgive the word - of Hillary Clinton last March. About then, the right wing's favorite "radical feminist socialist" was becoming the left wing's "politics as usual." Now, as the High Risk Season opens, she's framed less for making history than for perpetuating a dynasty. After a millennium as political outsiders, how is it possible that the serious female contender is cast - and even castigated - as the insider? As Hillary would say, "Hello?"

(snip)

This is an emblem of our era. We've gone straight from pre-feminism to post-feminism without stopping along the way to experience the real thing. A woman in politics was once automatically seen as a change agent, but too much of an outsider to entrust with the Oval Office. We've still never had a woman president. But now, the case against Hillary is that she's too much of an insider?

Hillary Clinton: politics as usual. Or maybe life as usual. First you struggle to get into the establishment and then you get dismissed as too establishment. There's got to be a touch of irony in this seasonal affective disorder. If, that is, any woman still dares to cackle.

Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/05/the_high_risk_season/

[Zenlitened]

1. Shameless self-kick.

I like and respect Ellen Goodman a lot, and I think she raises some interesting questions here. Questions of gender and race that it seems we're going to have to grapple with if either Clinton or Obama get the Dem nomination.

[hedgehog]

2. I don't know - was feminism all about being just another one of the guys

or about changing society to accommodate another point of view?

[Sparkly]

3. What's the primary other point of view

if it isn't about widening the options for women?

[DeepModem Mom]

4. This is an interesting piece -- thanks for posting! nt