- picture taken by Cedric
With the number of senators retiring or choosing not to run for re-election, a number of candidates are eying soon to be vacant senate seats. Recently I was made aware of one particular candidate. I wont mention her by name, but she seems quite competent for the job.
For three terms in the State legislature she has been serving the citizens of [insert any town USA here]. She is recognized as one of the State’s most outspoken advocate for victims of sexual abuse. A tireless supporter of veterans’ causes, leader in the fight against wasteful government spending, and supports returning more education money and local aid to cities and towns.
This potential candidate graduated from renowned institutions for both undergraduate and law school. In addition, she has served her country for nearly three decades as a Judge Advocate General. Like many other American women, she is a modern-day Wonder Woman: balancing her days in the state legislature, with family time and emotional support to her husband and two daughters.
She is an all around solid candidate with one teeny-tiny little blemish on her record.
In the 1980s she posed nude for Playboy.
Oh wait! SHE is a HE. His name is Scott Brown. And he is now the Senator-elect from Massachusetts.
The previous biography is his; except he did not pose nude for Playboy, he posed nude for Cosmo.
Let’s forget party lines for a minute and look at this from a different angle.
If the roles were reversed would Americans Massachusetts’ residence elect a woman into office if she once posed nude for a major publication (excluding maybe a PETA ad campaign)?
Ideally I would love to believe in a fair-minded America, but I know there is no such thing. Just like some voters in Tennessee could not overlook Harold Fords bachelorhood and blackness, similarly women are held to a different standard.
And so I have no doubt that in today’s America my made-up candidate would never be taken seriously for any election, no matter how qualified she may be. Simply because of a taboo past.
Which begs the question… If I were a boy, what would my world be like?
**this post is in no way shape or form written to question the candidacy of Scott Brown. His story is merely an example I used in raising the question of acceptable gender based behavior in society and in particular national campaigns.
0 Responses to “not if he was a girl (even if the world was flat)”