President Obama Knows Why There Hasn't Been a Female President in the U.S. Before
President Barack Obama knows there’s a reason why the United States hasn’t had a woman president before. “Hillary Clinton is consistently treated differently than just about any other candidate I see out there,” President Barack Obama said at an early voting rally for Hillary Clinton in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. “We have to ask ourselves, as men — because I hope my daughters are going to be able to achieve anything they want to achieve, and I know that my wife is not just my equal but my superior.”
Yet while POTUS is a shining example of a male feminist, he wants others to figure out why they’re not. “I want every man out there who’s voting to kind of look inside yourself and ask yourself, if you’re having problems with this stuff, how much of it is that we’re just not used to it? So that, like, when a guy is ambitious and out in the public arena and working hard, well, that’s okay, but when a woman suddenly does it suddenly you’re all like, ‘Well, why is she doing that?’”
Sexism is obviously a problem and one that the president has addressed multiple times. On Halloween night, Oct. 31, he sat down with Samantha Be and almost immediately the conversation focused on the question of gender and gender stereotypes.
The comedienne asked Obama what the former Secretary of State’s “birther” equivalent would be, in other words the fake origin story narrative perpetuated throughout his tenure in the White House, most notably by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “She’s tired. She’s moody. She’s emotional,” replied Obama, listing a slew of stereotypes used against professional women to demean their authority and ability.
The President continued, “When men are ambitious, it’s taken for granted. Well of course they should be ambitious. When women are ambitious — “Why?” That theme, I think, will continue throughout her presidency and it’s contributed to this notion that somehow, she is hiding something.”
“What a nasty woman,” answered Bee, utilizing Trump’s name-calling against Clinton during the third presidential debate.
The Obama-Bee interview was a short and sweet summary of the role that gender stereotypes have played throughout this presidential election, from Trump’s complaint that Clinton was using “the woman card” to garner support for his manterrupting of Clinton throughout the debates to the kinds of comments Trump has made about the women who have recently come forward with allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and groping against him.
And unfortunately, it’s not just Trump who has shown this kind of blatant sexism and employed sexist stereotypes against Clinton. There was Trump surrogate and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani saying, “Don’t you think a man who has this kind of economic genius is a lot better for the United States than a woman” and former Republican presidential nominee hopeful and Texas Senator Ted Cruz insisting that Clinton deserves “a spanking.” Not to mention all the Trump supporters who called for women to lose their right to vote after polling data revealed that without women, a Trump win would be a slam dunk.
Yet that’s barely scratching the surface. Which probably only underscores exactly why having a woman hold the highest office in the land would be so revolutionary — and helpful in bringing these kinds of stereotypes to their too belated demise.
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