"I think in any organization where women are not at the table, where it is skewed male in today's day and age, that's an organization that's deficient. That's an organization that's going to have problems. It's one of the problems we have structurally in the Republican Party. We don't have enough women at the table. But any company, any organization in today's day and age that doesn't give equal opportunity to women, that doesn't advance women to the table, is going to be an organization that has difficulty competing."—Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, on Meet the Press yesterday.
That is a good thing to say! However, this is, of course, not just a problem of institutional structure. It is a problem of systemic marginalization by way of entrenched misogyny, whether that's obstinately pervasive harassment of women in Corporate America or advocating policies that are deeply hostile to women's agency and consent in the Republican Party.
It's also an issue that is not solved by tokenism. Schmidt, of course, was the brains [sic] behind nominating Sarah Palin to the vice-presidency. It does fuck-all for the objective of meaningful inclusion for women to champion women who are keen to play the role of Exceptional Woman while expressing contempt for the very principles of inclusion that created opportunities for them.
Of course, the GOP is busily driving women like Senator Olympia Snowe out of the party.
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