blog entry

No Crying in Baseball?

When Hillary Clinton talks about the sexist treatment she’s endured, I tend to chalk it up to politics.  Shrug it off.  Move on.  But Brad Warthen’s blog at The State has me thinking about it again:  Does she—do women—have something legitimate to complain about?

Warthen (who, bless his heart, has admitted to being mystified by the ways of us ladies) helpfully linked me to an op-ed from the Washington Post.  It’s not the first list of grievances I’ve read.  

My nephew tells his brother he “plays like a girl” on the basketball court.  I think how lucky he would be if he could play like Candace Parker.   Should we have a sense of humor, laugh at the Hillary nutcracker (maybe even feel a little proud and say you bet she is)? 

In an interview with the Post, Clinton says: Oppression of women and discrimination against women is universal. You can go to places in the world where there are no racial distinctions except everyone is joined together in their oppression of women. The treatment of women is the single biggest problem we have politically and socially in the world. If you look at the extremism and the fundamentalism, it is all about controlling women, at its base.

Regardless of whether you think Clinton should keep running or bow out, whether you think she’s being treated fairly or not, she’s right about that.