Thursday, June 26, 2008

Post-park Musings

I just got back from the park with my daughters and one of their friends. The girls had a great time riding their bicycles and playing in the sprinklers. I sat on a bench reading Golda Meir's autobiography. Leftist, shmeftist, who cares? She was one of the ballsiest Jewish women ever, and I admire her enormously. It did strike me, however, how unfair it was that she had to choose between her family and her career. Why is it that only women have to make that choice, and end up feeling incredibly guilty (as Golda did) no matter which one they choose? I kept thinking about Barack Obama. He has two very young daughters whose lives are being severely impacted by his Presidential ambitions, yet no one even mentions this. Could you imagine the kind of criticism his wife would face if SHE dared to run for office with 2 little kids at home? She wouldn't even make it out the door.

11 comments:

Ookamikun said...

Hillary's got 2 kids at home too. Well, a kid and a juvenile delinquent. I'll let you decide which one is which. ;-)

SuperRaizy said...

Nah, Moshe, it's not the same at all. Chelsea Clinton is an adult. And I know you were joking, but I take my love for Bill Clinton very seriously, so no dissing Bill around here!

Anonymous said...

True. It's still ok for dads to be away from home a lot not for moms.

Ilanadavita said...

Thought you might find this interesting, even if it is a bit beside the point:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/us/politics/18michelle.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1214568211-V5DrBIEOw4acufXnsOlD4g

SuperRaizy said...

ilanadavita-
Thanks for the link. I read the article, and I think that it illustrates how backwards the American media can be about gender AND race. Being a woman in this country still puts you at a disadvantage- being a minority and a woman is a double whammy of discrimination.

Lion of Zion said...

"She was one of the ballsiest Jewish women ever"

there was a recent WSJ op-ed that basically told hillary to stop whining and blaming her loss on sexism, and instead grow a pair of you know what and act like golda, thatcher and ghandi. they never complained about their sexist obstacles; they focussed on being successful.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121148557268715077.html

Rafi G. said...

Golda was more of a man than most of the prime ministers in Israel's history. She is my favorite .

SuperRaizy said...

lion and rafi-
it's good to hear men express that opinion!

Anonymous said...

I think Ben-Gurion also once described her as the toughest man in his cabinet.

Also many of us might have disagreed with her views on Judaism and economics but it is quite clear that she could see past those kinds of things to the idea of a Jewish people that all Jews were part of. For her, it was important to support Israel, not a left wing secular Israel but a Jewish state called Israel.

Finally, she never pushed herself forward as "I'm a woman so you have to vote for me". The other successful women you noted also did that and it worked for them. It's when the female politician plays the gender card that she loses.

SuperRaizy said...

garnel-
I agree. It is not just men who are responsible for sexism. Women must also present themselves as strong, intelligent, and capable if they want to be taken seriously.

JJ said...

The press are so in love with Obama that you'd be hard-pressed to find him critized for ANYTHING. Speaking of his daughters, I didn't hear anyone mention that he let their impressionable young minds be influenced by Rev. Wrong's garbage all those years.

Nope, I'm not an Obama fan. Not a Bill Clinton fan either, sorry!