Is Obama the First Female President?
Emily Esfahani Smith ·
Jun 30, 2010 at 12:40pm
Kathleen Parker thinks so.
Parker focuses on Obama’s passivity in the face of crises, arguing that that makes him feminine.
I think that there are two more qualities that make him girly: the first is his vainglorious self-obsession. Has any president ever been as televised or talkative as he is? He's cast himself as the celebrity-in-chief rather than the commander-in-chief.
The second is his emasculating submissiveness, which was in full bloom when he wanted to hold hands with Iran and later bowed to the Japanese emperor.
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Jun '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
If you girls want to claim him, fine with me. You can have him.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Here in California, where we've got two conservative women vying for state office, a lot of folks would object to your assertion that femininity in politics entails passivity in crisis, vainglorious self-obsession, and submissiveness! Are there any actual female heads of state who bear out these stereotypes?
Also, when you control the nuclear football and the most powerful military on earth, bowing to the emperor of Japan doesn't leave anyone confused as to who is in charge. But the real reason I am resistant to classifying Obama as feminine? I am very uncomfortable with the idea that a 49 year old woman could beat me at basketball.
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Hi Conor,
That’s a great point.
But I take the Harvey Mansfield approach to questions of manliness and womanliness. I think that there are certain qualities that are distinctively feminine (sensitivity and compassion—but also passivity and vanity) and other qualities that are distinctively masculine (courage and honor—but also hubris). Of course women can embody masculine traits (like Margaret Thatcher and the two amazons you mention in California) and men can take on feminine ones (as Obama does).
But in the area of basketball, I think Obama embodies manly traits--so you don't have to worry about being beat by a girl!!
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
I'm glad you linked that. I once worked at a start-up Web magazine where the managing editor would talk about how one day we might feature video lectures with titles like "Harvey Mansfield on manliness." That never happened, and I forgot until just now that I was curious what Professor Mansfield had to say on the subject. I fear you've led me to spend the next hour reading Mansfield around the Web, but I thank you for it anyway -- besides, that Obama is manly for basketball purposes saves me countless hours in the driveway getting the rust off my mid-range jump shot.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Is he unmanly or just whipped?
One of the things I would have loved about a Fred Thompson presidency is that I expect his diplomacy would have been blunt and honest. Manly diplomacy is the only type that will get us anywhere in the Middle East right now.
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
The Founders liked to talk about "manly firmness." Sometimes Obama seems to exhibit this characteristic. Sometimes not. Being able to adapt well to changing sets of challenges is typically seen as a manly capability (at least in democratic times). But fickleness is not. It's intriguing to me that Obama is consistently accused of arrogance; it does seem rather as if he wants to emphasize that he will decide when he's going to be firm and when he won't be. I don't want to read too far into it, but it's impossible not to formulate general impressions from the person who is the subject of unremitting national and even global attention. Also interesting: GWBush was accused of something similar. There isn't a lot of grandeur in the manly firmness of either Bush or Obama. Postscript: Obama's bowing is incomprehensible to me.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
I'm uncomfortable with the stereotypes here. I'm pretty sure Elena Kagan will present with plenty of "manly firmness" when she mixes it up with Scalia. I'm also just not buying the whole Founders argument James: I'm trying to imagine Alexander Hamilton donning his wig and pulling up his tights and fixing the bow on his pumps just before exhibiting some "manly firmness." Besides, there is plenty of fodder without resorting to name-calling.
But I do agree the bowing is incomprehensible.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
No, he's the first metrosexual president.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Obama feminine? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly, though, he's trying to feminize the populace: I cannot for the life of me understand how any American man could find appealing the notion of President as provider-in-chief, but millions did. Strikes me as profoundly emasculating.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
More important: Is Michelle the first manly first lady?
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Don't lump him with the females. The females I see i.e. Bachman, Palin, Haley have more guts to make tough decisions in their little finger than Barry has in his whole body. He's a wimp, but don't contaminate the females.
Jun '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Obama doesn't have any trouble in being very masculine in some areas. He practically drop-kicked the Churchill bust out of the Oval Office; he told people to "get into" his opponents' faces; he's told his opponents they needed to shut up and get out of the way. And he's very happy mauling all the Usual Suspect Evildoers deemed worthy of punishment by the Left in a quite masculine manner.
However, when it comes to apologizing to whomever he feels we have ever wronged - e.g. Muslims, the Japanese - he's ready to demonstrate quite dramatically his "emasculating submissiveness". What's frightening is that I think, in doing so, he is actually offering America to be the chosen party's...uh...submissive partner, perhaps in a reparations sort of way.
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
It's interesting that Parker feels she can get away with saying, "Doesn't Obama seem a little womanish to you?" but not with the more obvious "Doesn't Obama seem a little gay to you?" The first is considered provocative and daring, but the second would be seen as completely beyond the pale. Honestly, it's a bit cowardly, since we can all tell that's what she's getting at. It's a sneaky, feminine attack.
I say, if you're going to be obnoxious, Kathleen, go for the gusto. Just come out and say it. And then take your punishment like a man.
May '10
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Claire Berlinski: [...]Honestly, it's a bit cowardly, since we can all tell that's what she's getting at. It's a sneaky, feminine attack.
I say, if you're going to be obnoxious, Kathleen, go for the gusto. Just come out and say it. And then take your punishment like a man. · Jul 1 at 12:48am
Perfect.
Re: Is Obama the First Female President?
Trace Urdan: I'm uncomfortable with the stereotypes here. I'm pretty sure Elena Kagan will present with plenty of "manly firmness" when she mixes it up with Scalia. I'm also just not buying the whole Founders argument James: I'm trying to imagine Alexander Hamilton donning his wig and pulling up his tights and fixing the bow on his pumps just before exhibiting some "manly firmness." Besides, there is plenty of fodder without resorting to name-calling.
But I do agree the bowing is incomprehensible.
Obviously the Founders were preemptively smashing stereotypes when they took their lives into their hands with manly firmness while also rocking extremely flouncy duds. You're right to hint that even among our most manly founders there was something aristocratic that conflicts at a gut level with today's thoroughly democratic view of manliness. On the other hand, we shouldn't project much of our anti-metrosexual animus back on our aristocratic past. Not everyone in a wig and tights is a housebroken weenie. And at the same time, neither an aristocratic nor a democratic sense of entitlement should be confused with manliness. And here's where Obama may be in trouble.