How there’s been more talk about discrimination against women in the Congressional ranks than I’ve ever heard before, since Nancy Pelosi became the incumbent speaker.
This always happens whenever there’s some notable new female Fortune 500 CEO, too. Suddenly there are all these stories about whether she’s discriminating against other women.
When a straight white man can’t ever seem to find a woman, a gay man, or a man of color for any top positions, it’s always down to the lack of qualified candidates or legitimate policy differences. It’s never—heavens! gasp! no!—that he’s biased. A woman walks into a leadership position and looks poised to pass over another woman for a legitimate policy difference, and she’s instantly a self-loathing misogynist.
Which is not to say that a straight white man isn’t ever the best bloke for a job, or that women are never prejudiced against other women. It’s just to point out how differently these things get treated, depending on the sex of the leader in question.
If you think I’m making much ado about nothing, asking yourself when was the last time you heard the Beltway Gang examining whether Dennis Hastert, or Bill Frist, or even Harry Reid was a sexist…?
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