Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Hillary as Feminist John Wayne?


I'm a little late to the table on this one, but interesting post by Susan Faludi over at Women's Voices group blog, on Hillary and the gender card. Says Faludi, tying it all back to her recent book:

Keep in mind: The gender card is always played. It’s even played in presidential campaigns where all the candidates are men....Given the political culture — and for reasons embedded in our history — that card usually involves a morality play in which men are the rescuers and women the victims in need of rescuing....Hillary Clinton’s rescue of women departs from the previous male version. In the old model, helpless women were saved from perilous danger by men. In the new, women are granted authority and agency to rescue themselves. Understanding the distinction is essential to an evaluation of current American politics.

Following the thread of Faludi's new book, then, does that make Hillary, um, the girlfriend's own inner John Wayne?

(Photo cred: The Plate Lady)

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