Let me start by saying Obama is not my favorite
President. It’s not a race thing and it’s
not because I think he’s the Anti-Christ or any of the other radical BS circulating
out there. I’ve just never been a
fan. I liked Bill Clinton and Ronald
Reagan and, yes, even George W. Bush; and even though I wasn’t alive at the
time, I love John F. Kennedy.
That being said, I have to throw a red flag on
something and come to his defense. The media is all over Obama
for a statement he made about Attorney General, Kamala Harris. He noted that she was attractive. Here is the White House transcript:
Twitter was blowing up with tweets about how “stupid” and “wrong”
it was for our President to note that a woman is attractive. Which got me thinking… If Obama had commented that a man was
attractive or the “best looking attorney general in the country” would it have had
the same backlash for the same reasons?
The answer is simple:
No.
Your right-wingers would have balked because they would have
said that, by a man commenting on the looks of another man, he was
underhandedly supporting homosexuality.
But would anyone have been outraged, calling the comment “sexist?” Doubtful.
Some people are arguing that “the degree to which women are judged by their appearance remains an
important hurdle to gender equality in the workforce.” Red
Flag! This hurdle applies to both
men and women, not just to women.
Statistically, attractive people are hired more than unattractive people
despite their gender. It’s a hurdle,
yes, but it is no longer a huge sexist hurdle.
“Women have a hard
time being judged purely on their merits.” Red Flag! Again, so do some men. This depends on who is doing the judging and
it is case specific. Everyone should be
judged purely on their merits, regardless of race, sex, religion or appearance…
but the operative word in this sentence is “should.” Idealism and reality are two very different
things.
“Discussing appearance
in the context of evaluating job performance is not a compliment. And for a president who has become a cultural
model for many of his supporters in so many other ways, the example he's
setting here is disgraceful.” Major Red Flag! Obama wasn’t discussing her appearance as an
evaluation of her job performance. She
already has the job and he noted previously that she’s damn good at her job. Nothing he said could even remotely be
labeled “disgraceful.”
C’mon, people! Now
you’re just looking for something to complain about. Since when is it not okay to comment on
someone who is attractive? His comment
wasn’t made during a job interview. His
comment was in no way demeaning to her as a woman or as a human being or to
women in general. It was a compliment
and should be taken simply as one. Obama
didn’t say, “she’s smokin’ hot” or use a demeaning phrase. He simply said she was good-looking…and guess
what? She IS!
It was also a great publicity tool for her. Two days ago no one knew who Kamala Harris
was…now, the world knows and we all think she’s pretty damn good-looking. Kudos to her!
I never thought I’d be defending Obama on anything, but this
is so ridiculous that I just had to speak up.
Ladies, if a man says you’re attractive, be grateful not
offended. Being attractive doesn’t mean
you’re not good at your job. Being
attractive doesn’t mean you’re not smart.
It simply means someone finds your appearance pleasing… and isn’t that a
wonderful compliment.
Five years ago, I was walking across the grocery store
parking lot and parked next to my car was a pick-up truck with a man sitting in
the passenger seat. It was a warm
afternoon and his window was rolled down.
I unloaded my groceries into the back of my Suburban and then walked to
the driver’s door, which was right next to the truck’s passenger door. He smiled and said, “Girl, you make my socks
roll down.”
I turned around and looked at him, somewhat startled by the
remark and unsure of what it meant. I
asked, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
He grinned, a toothless grin, and said, “Oh, that’s a good
thing, honey.”
“Thank you,” I said and got in my car, smiling.
Now, I could have been appalled by his remark. I could have said that the fact that he
called me “honey” was sexist and demeaning; but it wasn’t. In his quirky way, he was telling me he
thought I was attractive. It was a compliment
not a testament to me being a weaker sex. I’m not weaker, I’m equal.
And that is what we need to remember… we’re equal.
Women have fought for equality for a long time and the
result of that fight has brought both positive and negative ramifications. Women were once on a pedestal, but we are no
longer. We have leapt off that pedestal
and have proven we are strong enough, smart enough and good enough to excel in
the so-called “man’s world.” But, let me
pose this… Can we not still be treated
like a woman and still remain equal?
When did a compliment become a “sexist” remark? When did the phrase, “a good-looking woman” become
demeaning and disgraceful? Why can’t we
be both smart and beautiful? Why is it
okay for a man to comment on our intelligence but not on our beauty?
If the shoe was on the other foot and Kamala Harris would
have said that Obama was a “good-looking President” would that have been
considered a sexist and disgraceful remark?
Hmmmmm…. something to ponder.
How equal is our equality when the pendulum swings the other
way? If the shoe were on the other foot, I don't think there would be a foot in the mouth. So, why is there one now? ~
Isn’t it strange that people can accept something as real if
it happens to them, but dismiss something that happens to another person as an exaggeration
or an outright lie? Are we all that
jaded that it is easier to proclaim someone a liar than to accept the possibility
that a reality exists beyond our own perspective of personal experience?
Isn’t it weird that we have a propensity to deny what we
don’t understand instead of taking the time to look deeper?
