I don't call myself a feminist (though I certainly believe in the worth, value, and abilities of my fellow women, and in our God-given rights as human beings)-- but a couple of things I've heard this week have irked me...
First:
Regarding the Weiner scandal-- I've seen people marveling over his infidelity (and yes, it is infidelity, whether or not he ever made physical contact with those other women) when they see a photo of his wife, a woman they find "pretty", "gorgeous", "beautiful", etc. The gist is this: Why would a guy feel the urge to "wander" when he had this kind of woman at home? And then there will be someone saying, oh, they've seen it over and over again. It's crazy, but some men will cheat on a beautiful wife with a "troll". (Come to think of it, I heard the same thing just a couple of weeks ago when the Arnold scandal broke.)
I know, I probably shouldn't expect better of (many) people, but good grief, that annoys me! What does it matter whether or not a cheater's wife is especially physically attractive? If he married her, he made a commitment to her, warts, stray hairs, extra pounds and all.
I guess it's (unfortunately) only natural to be find it even more shocking when a man cheats on an attractive wife than an unattractive one... Still irks me, though. And really, people, don't we know by now that in these cases, it usually has nothing to do with the looks or other qualities of the spouse? The issue is with the cheater him or herself. S/he would cheat on anyone.
Second:
Some woman called in to some talk radio program and suggested-- no, that's too mild a word-- insisted that the reason (some? most? all?) women-- including conservative women-- don't like Sarah Palin is sheer jealousy. They'll never admit it, but it's because they envy her. She "has it all". Palin's a "10" (on the physical beauty scale), and if a woman is below an "8", she simply can't stand to see another woman-- a "perfect 10"-- do well. These less attractive women can't help themselves. They're eaten alive with jealousy.
Ugh. Lady, you're a traitor to your sex. Please don't speak for the rest of us.
I won't deny that there can be jealousy among women (over looks, yes, among other things), but can you say that the same is not true of men? More importantly, plenty of us don't base major decisions on petty jealousies, no matter what we look like.
(My disgust over this has nothing to do with Palin herself, by the way. There are things I like about her and things I don't... Of course, I'd vote for her over Obama in a heartbeat, come 2012, but that's not saying much. I think it unlikely the GOP could produce a candidate I would not vote for over Obama... Just being honest.)
