Fear of a Female Planet

I’m excited to be voting tomorrow. The choice is between two angels compared to what we’ve been forced to grow accustomed to, but I’m voting for Obama because I trust his judgment and character more. He’s the best choice to purge the crimes committed in our name over the past seven years from our system. With our current tyrannical executive branch and weak legislative branch, Obama’s tabula rasa message is an attractive approach to a system badly crippled by its own bad habits. I’d like to see a Democrat who can inspire and motivate people, who can rally the political will to take broad strokes that will uplift the national culture as well as the quality of its government. While Hillary may offer the safe bet of experience there’s a strong chance that not a whole lot will get done. Obama is the longshot that can bring about the sea change needed for the U.S. to improve its status with the world. Bill’s right, this election is a crap-shoot, I just think he got the odds wrong.

Out of respect to my mother (a national feminist leader in her own humble right) I can’t make the decision to vote against Hillary without a great deal of introspection. Is my aversion to Sen. Clinton really my own internalized chauvinism making me unable to accept a woman as Commander-in-Chief? Am I willing to choose over the more qualified candidate for the younger less experienced man simply because of gender? Do I have my own threshold, an internal glass ceiling I impose on the hierarchy of my political allegiance? The message that women are unfit to lead has been encouraged by Western culture, so it's conceivable that I am so brainwashed by fictional stories that portray women as evil and men as good, from the bible to Milton to my beloved horror films, that I am unconsciously unwilling to throw my support behind a Matriarchy. After all, I do have a hard time arguing that men as a whole have handled their time in history that well. The World Wars and the threat of nuclear devastation should be enough for a failing grade, isn’t it time to let the ladies take a try? In the LA debate last week Hillary played Kim Gordon to Barack’s Chuck D. “Hey, Kool Thing, Fear of a Female Planet?”

Maybe Senator Clinton is naturally a hawk on defiance, lot of Democrats are. I have a hard time believing, however, that she would not have voted for the war in Iraq if she had not thought it was the most politically useful move to make, especially if she is as experienced and qualified as she claims. Kerry voted for the bill and hurt his argument against W. in 2004, and why any of them didn’t demand more solid intelligence is unforgivable. Hillary’s tough stance shows she is able to wield masculine force and condone aggression as tool of intimidation and control. In her NYT Op-ed, Gloria Steinham wrote bluntly that the senator does not need to “prove her masculinity”, a blanket statement I find hard to swallow. I find it more likely that a President H. Clinton would have to constantly prove she is “hard” enough to make the tough decisions in the situation room to the point of overcompensation, causing an inability to successfully realign the priorities of our foreign policy. It makes sense that MoveOn would endorse Obama; on foreign affairs, Hillary often stakes out positions to the right of center. If elected, Hillary will have to give something to her base on foreign affairs, but her history says she’ll take their support for granted while trying to placate the right with saber rattling and big-stick diplomacy.

If she does win tomorrow, Hillary will continue to contend with a fear of female masculinity and the temptation to prove her legitimacy through forceful and possibly ill-conceived action. If she truly is to become the Phallic Mother, with one hand rocking the crib while the other lays on the button, she will need to navigate a minefield of complex gender issues no president has ever had to before. I think it would be a good for thing for our nation to join her on this journey, I just wish it was a woman I felt I could trust. I find it too bad Hillary is the only woman we can put forward, one who rose to power on her husband’s back, one who has failed to make sound moral choices when they mattered. Perhaps she really will lead the way to a new matriarchy based on empathy instead of self-interest, but I find it unlikely. Another Clinton administration will no doubt be better than W’s, but I’m afraid it would ultimately be more of the same old divisive and cynical politics, just dressed up differently. Why not take a chance on a leader who will demand we rise above? If I am to judge the sexes equally I must vote for whom I find to be the best candidate, despite the problem of his gender.

(For more on Hillary’s dubious record and campaign tactics check out Frank Rich’s NYT Op Eds from last month. (link in Horror Age News & Politics). Poster on top from Hammer’s The Gorgon (1964), a film that makes no bones about exploiting the fear of the archetypal phallic woman.