With All The Fuss Over Hillary Clinton, Why Hasn't The "Job" of "First Lady" Evolved Into Something More Than It Is?"
I am just amazed at all the drama over the potential First Lady. First, getting the job sucks. Second, the job sucks. Third, the job proves that women have not really evolved much in the last fifty years. Think about this ladies, in the 21st century, a woman is not a woman unless she has an extremely expensive strand or two of the finest pearls her husband can buy! And that's progress?
Both of these women have just as much or more education than the current sitting president and the two presidential candidates combined, but what is being critiqued the most is how they look, dress, and entertain the masses. Both women have evoked comparisons to Jackie-O, President Jack Kennedy's wife and I find that equally appalling. No disrespect to Jackie-O, but she was an icon of the 1960s, it's 2008! Women have some serious issues if 21st century America cannot distinguish and celebrate the similarities and differences between Jackie-O, Michelle Obama, and Cindy McCain.
What purpose does this cartoon character image of the "ideal first woman" of the United States serve? I mean how fake is it to believe that Obama who was a six figures earning, high powered executive and McCain who is a multi-millionaire heiress, are cooking hot meals everyday and cleaning their own homes? Please...................
I mean for goodness sakes, Cindy McCain had to plagiarize recipes from the Food Network to try to bolster her homemaker image. Do average working class folks really need to believe and expect women like Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain to be "Sally Homemaker"? Do folks really think that Laura Bush has been vacuuming rooms and cleaning toilets in the Oval office?
I keep thinking about the wasted potential of American first ladies. How many average everyday American women, homemakers, self-medicate with alcohol and prescription drugs? If Cindy McCain is all of that as the GOP keeps acting like, wouldn't it better serve women in America if she could speak openly and honestly about her own addictions and recovery? Considering America's persistent racial problems and issues, you would think the Americans would embrace Michelle Obama's perspectives on race and look to her to help lessen America's racial baggage.
America is always talking about role models and then it wants a straw woman stick figure to represent the first lady. We need more progressive first ladies like Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton, if women and girls are to become truly independent, confident, and equal Americans. Women and girls need purpose, not pearls!
