In the Blog
“Iron My Shirt?” Really?
Chris Matthews is a journalist and television talk show host, well known for his nightly hour-long talk show on MSNBC, “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” Last weekend, Chris Mathews pinched Hillary Clinton on the cheek. A journalist pinched a presidential candidate on the cheek. This “open letter” to Chris Matthews on Wonkette sums up my feelings exactly:
I’m so sure that this was entirely not a sexist way to assert dominance over a powerful woman that I double dog dare you to pinch the cheek of every candidate you talk to from now on… Otherwise, I will be forced to think that you believe we’re all totally “cute,” like babies and kitties and puppies are, and that you believe we’re likely to be equally effective in positions of power.
Add this to the endless list of sexist things that Clinton has been forced to endure since the start of her campaign. There was the biting criticism she endured after crying on camera when a woman in New Hampshire asked, “How do you do it?…How do you keep up beat and so wonderful?” Her tears became a reason for her rivals to question her “strength and resolve” as a leader.
More recently, a man stood up in the middle of an auditorium while she was giving a speech, held up a bright yellow sign that said “Iron My Shirt,” and began chanting the phrase over and over until he was ejected. Her response?
“Oh, the remnants of sexism are alive and well,” Mrs. Clinton said. When everyone had settled down a bit, she said, “As I think has just been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling.”
