Hillary, Donald, and the Gender Wars

 

hillary_clinton_donald_trumpThe greatest failures of the past generation concern men, women, and sex — and there could not be two more awful representatives of what has gone wrong than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton delights in presenting herself as a feminist icon – but she is weighed down by the weaknesses of feminism and can boast few of the strengths. The weakness is her itchy trigger finger on accusations of sexism. She’s playing in the biggest of big leagues yet reaches for the sexism charge with dull predictability. If you criticize her cattle futures deal, the Clinton Foundation, her email server – anything – she or her minions will protest the double standard. One of her followers, Lena Dunham, published a list of words that ought to be forbidden when discussing Mrs. Clinton. They included “shrill,” “inaccessible,” and “difficult.”

Clinton uses feminism the way she has used people, ideas, and institutions throughout her long career – merely as instruments of her own advancement. When it’s convenient, she is the feminist role model. When her husband is being accused (accurately) of sexually harassing a cavalcade of women, she becomes the Wife Enforcer. The women who accused Bill Clinton were “trash,” she assured the world. Monica Lewinsky was a “narcissistic loony tune.”

Among successful women worldwide, Hillary Clinton may be one of the least self-made. Her own rise was due entirely to her alliance with her husband. Had there been no “Mrs.” in her title, there would never have been a “Senator” or “Secretary of State.” If she were capable of embarrassment, she’d pipe down about the “I am woman! Hear me roar” bit. Her shameless use of feminism is one of the things that drives people crazy about feminism – the feeling that too many use it as a cudgel to demand, rather than reject, double standards.

Donald Trump is a lout – even a chauvinist pig. If ever there were a fitting object for that nasty piece of feminist agitprop from the 1970s, he is the living embodiment. But it would be a mistake to see him only as a throwback. In some ways he is — the focus on women’s looks, for example. On the other hand, Trump demonstrates none of the virtues the traditional gentleman demonstrated toward women. There is no trace of respect, no protectiveness, no chivalry, no honor. He is a post-feminist, emasculated male searching for masculinity in all the wrong ways – as are his most perfervid followers.

There are fewer and fewer ways for men in our society to gain ratification for their masculinity. Football may be the last socially acceptable expression of manliness. The busy natural energy of boys is labeled pathological. The role of father and husband is disparaged, while single motherhood is everywhere praised as noble and heroic. To be a white male is to be scolded at every turn for your “privilege” — even if you come from a broken home of high school dropouts. Colleges presume young men guilty of rape even when both parties are drunk and irresponsible. Our schools and workplaces continue to provide material and psychological support to girls and women – even as women outpace men in education and income growth. The Democrats’ persistent recycling of the fraudulent “79” cents myth about women’s earnings angers everyone: Those who are deceived by it and those who know it’s a lie.

Trump brings his own peculiar baggage to this cultural confusion and appeals to men in the worst ways. He is not manly – he is a caricature of a manly man. He makes physical threats to protesters at his rallies — “I wish someone would punch him in the face” — from behind the cordon of Secret Service officers. He avoided the draft and disparages the heroism of those who served and suffered. Despite his many wives and concubines, he finds femininity itself confusing and threatening. He is made uncomfortable by the idea of menstruation – something most boys get over about the age of 14. He found Hillary Clinton’s bathroom break during a Democratic debate “disgusting.” He isn’t able to say accurately what Supreme Court justices do (he thinks they “sign bills”), but he is ready and eager to pass judgment on the appearance of women – especially accomplished women like Carly Fiorina and Heidi Cruz – who come within his orbit. Like misogynists everywhere, Trump is ready to defame the women he’s mistreated. Hillary Clinton called Monica Lewinsky a liar. Trump did the same to Michelle Fields.

Trump is no more a manly man than Clinton is a feminist model. Both use the gender wars to advance their own bottomless personal vanity and ambition. Plague. Houses.

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 18 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Mona,

    These two deserve each other. I can’t figure out how we deserved having them as the only two people to vote for. Our sins must be profound.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #1
  2. Dick from Brooklyn Thatcher
    Dick from Brooklyn
    @DickfromBrooklyn

    James Gawron:Mona,

    These two deserve each other. I can’t figure out how we deserved having them as the only two people to vote for. Our sins must be profound.

    Regards,

    Jim

    The good news is that there is no chance that these two have or ever will procreate – although Lena Dunham is a pretty close approximation of the hypothetical miscreant.

    • #2
  3. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    I am with you all of the way Mona. I have known Trump since our days together at Kew Forest School in the 1950s. He was a pampered peacock back then, and to the best of my knowledge he never changed or grew up beyond early adolescent hang ups.

    What I find far worse in friends of mine who I have always thought of a real conservatives who are supporting him. My only explanation is that they are so filled with angst against Obama and the left that they blinded to the fact that they are supporting a white version the same thing. If there is any difference at all, it is that Obama feigns a degree of culture, though not much. Trump is a boorish lout, a classic nouveau riche New Yorker. That people here in the west see that as somehow refreshing when compared to “establishment” types is inexplicable to me. He is a snake oil salesman, and these pseudosophisticates who think he is a messiah are completely deluded. I am reminded of the few Jews who supported Hitler early in his rise, thinking that they might control him or gain some protection through their betrayal.

    Clinton, I won’t even take the time to discuss. I am just appalled that in my so-called Golden Years I will have to watch the further dismantling of the country I love and fought for by one of the two worst candidates for office I have seen in my life.

    • #3
  4. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Dick from Brooklyn:

    James Gawron:Mona,

    These two deserve each other. I can’t figure out how we deserved having them as the only two people to vote for. Our sins must be profound.

    Regards,

    Jim

    The good news is that there is no chance that these two have or ever will procreate – although Lena Dunham is a pretty close approximation of the hypothetical miscreant.

    Dick,

    Have you ever thought of writing horror fiction?

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #4
  5. RyanM Inactive
    RyanM
    @RyanM

    Those two pictures do a great job of personifying why I will not be voting for either Trump or Hillary, at any time, ever, for any reason.

    • #5
  6. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    Mona,

    This is so spot on. I’ve been screaming the Hillary portion for years. It makes me crazy when people speak of her “accomplishments.”  Eugene K describes my perception of Trump, despite my never having the displeasure of meeting him. Sadly, though, the pox may be on all of our houses if they are our choice.

    • #6
  7. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Hillary takes the “i” out of “venial” sin.

    • #7
  8. Suspira Member
    Suspira
    @Suspira

    With two such awful candidates, perhaps the time is ripe to sell the idea of shrinking the federal government. In a better world, it would not be so consequential who presides as chief executive.

    • #8
  9. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    James Gawron:Mona,

    These two deserve each other. I can’t figure out how we deserved having them as the only two people to vote for. Our sins must be profound.

    Regards,

    Jim

    50 million dead babies?

    This is when I feel saddest for my children, when I think that, as a nation, we do indeed deserve Trump vs Hillary.

    As a friend of mine says, I will vote for Gary Johnson; if we’re going to be governed by either Hillary or Trump, pot needs to be legal.

    • #9
  10. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    Suspira:With two such awful candidates, perhaps the time is ripe to sell the idea of shrinking the federal government. In a better world, it would not be so consequential who presides as chief executive.

    But with these two candidates does it seem likely that there’s much of a market for the idea?

    • #10
  11. SpiritO'78 Inactive
    SpiritO'78
    @SpiritO78

    “Football may be the last socially acceptable expression of manliness.”

    Thank you for linking football and manliness. This needs to be said more often. I know your point was larger than sports but it hit home with me.

    • #11
  12. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    “Among successful women worldwide, Hillary Clinton may be one of the least self-made. Her own rise was due entirely to her alliance with her husband.”

    Let’s be even more precise.  Her rise to public office is due to Monica Lewinsky.  After the disastrous ’94 elections, Hillary was relegated to baking cookies and her poll ratings were lousy.  It was only when she decided to play Tammy Wynette and Stand By Her Man that her popularity rebounded and set up her 2000 NY Senate run.

    • #12
  13. Dick from Brooklyn Thatcher
    Dick from Brooklyn
    @DickfromBrooklyn

    SpiritO'78:“Football may be the last socially acceptable expression of manliness.”

    Thank you for linking football and manliness. This needs to be said more often. I know your point was larger than sports but it hit home with me.

    Means even more because our dear Mona is no sports fanatic.

    • #13
  14. Suspira Member
    Suspira
    @Suspira

    John Seymour:

    Suspira:With two such awful candidates, perhaps the time is ripe to sell the idea of shrinking the federal government. In a better world, it would not be so consequential who presides as chief executive.

    But with these two candidates does it seem likely that there’s much of a market for the idea?

    Not at first blush, and much spade work would have to be done. But both HRC and DJT are remarkably unpopular, with high negatives. I wouldn’t expect the big-government fans who vote for those two to go for it, but all those unenthused by this choice might give a listen.

    • #14
  15. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    The silver lining of either one being President?

    Secession.

    • #15
  16. aardo vozz Member
    aardo vozz
    @aardovozz

    James Gawron:

    Dick from Brooklyn:

    James Gawron:Mona,

    These two deserve each other. I can’t figure out how we deserved having them as the only two people to vote for. Our sins must be profound.

    Regards,

    Jim

    The good news is that there is no chance that these two have or ever will procreate – although Lena Dunham is a pretty close approximation of the hypothetical miscreant.

    Dick,

    Have you ever thought of writing horror fiction?

    Regards,

    Jim

    Given the way things are going politically, I would think horror FACT would be more frightening at this time.

    • #16
  17. Old Vines Thatcher
    Old Vines
    @OldVines

    An authoritarian boor verses a crony capitalist crook.  What could possibly go wrong?

    I don’t know Hillary but I have been involved in business dealings with Donald.  They can be summed up by reading “The Are of the Deal”, a book about the merits of screwing your partners.

    The question for Ricochet and others like us is: what do we learn from this catastrophe and how do we go forward from here?

    • #17
  18. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Old Vines: An authoritarian boor verses a crony capitalist crook.

    Which is which?

    • #18
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.