By Hannah Groetsch
When we hear about sexism in politics, it’s typically at a national level; for instance Hillary Clinton or the women running in the 2020 D e m o c r a t i c primary facing sexist coverage and attacks. Yet sexism directed at women in politics happens everywhere, not just during news programs or on a debate stage. At the most recent trivia night at The Underground my friends and I saw an example firsthand when a final round question asked us to name Bill Clinton’s two Secretaries of State (Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright). Christopher’s name was announced and then Albright’s, immediately followed by a man calling out, “and she slept with him!” My friends and I sat there, legitimately stunned that he had thought it appropriate to loudly declare that Albright had slept with her predecessor and insinuate that she had slept her way to the top.
I know he didn’t say it to be cruel or cause harm, and he wasn’t really thinking about the implications of what he was saying. He was trying to make a joke. But when women in politics or other leadership roles are turned into the punchline solely because they have the audacity to be women with power, the work they do is demeaned. When women in politics are sexualized, when it is implied that they slept their way to where they are, it undermines their actual talents, qualifications and accomplishments.
More quantifiably, it discourages women from running for office. Fewer women than men run for office for a number of reasons, including a lack of support from local parties and family considerations. Potential female candidates are also less likely to run for office because of concerns that they would face sexism on the campaign trail or once in office. Whether it be gender bias in the media or jokes sexualizing women in power, it’s not hard to understand why there might be some added reluctance to a woman throwing her hat in the ring.
If we are to increase the number of women in our government, then we need to help encourage women to seek office and support them when they do, especially women of color who face additional hurdles to campaigning. We need to hold media outlets accountable when their coverage is gendered and criticize politicians for making gendered attacks. We also all have the power to think about how we talk about women in politics in our own daily lives and point out comments that are harmful. Sexism directed at female politicians is not an everyfour-year issue. It happens even when there aren’t women running for president, it happens in nonelection years and it happens every day in communities across the country where the next generation of potential female leaders are hearing it.
So, to the man who implied Madeleine Albright slept her way to Secretary of State: she didn’t. You can love her or hate her. You can joke about or satirize statements she made as Secretary of State, but the joke shouldn’t be that she’s a powerful woman. Most importantly, to the women who want to take on leadership roles and to women who haven’t ever considered it: you are more than capable and you are so much more than a punchline.