On Huffington Post today you’ll find “Is a Female President Only a Pipe Dream” written about the subtle forms of communication that stand between women candidates and the presidency. Facts about women in congress indicate the extent of the problem in terms of the number of women representing us in the higher echelons of government. Certainly the problem is not solely one of communication habits that diminish the value of women, but those habits play a part. We are shaped by our culture, no matter where in the world, and we fool ourselves in the U.S. if we think we have risen above gender issues. The facts don’t bear this out. Until we identify forms of disparaging innuendo and subtle, demeaning politics based on gender, bring them out into the open and reveal them as the cheap shots they are, we are not likely to see a female president. There is no way to rid our culture of differences based on gender. Differences do exist. And differences do not mean better or worse. But using them to ridicule and undermine so that women are not well represented at higher levels of government doesn’t honor those differences. It manipulates them. That can be changed if we’re all more vigilant about letting those who stoop to such levels know they are not doing so without notice.
