Ok, Britney reference aside, obviously I don't mean leave her alone. She's running for president. May scrutiny abound.
Let me also say up front that this is not intended as an endorsement. Our primary is a little over a month away and I have yet to make up my mind.
But can we please stop saying that she's "acting like a man"? Clearly, I don't know Hillary Clinton. But as a fellow emotionally repressed Midwestern WASP, I would be willing to bet my next paycheck that she's not acting like anything. Like her or not, this is who she is.
Beside which, what does that even mean in this context, acting like a man? Having strong opinions on subjects aside from education? Not crumbling under pressure? Standing up for herself and her opinions? Not operating from raw emotion? Lack of public tears?
If all of that constitutes acting like a man, then that would make me one manly girl. Because let me tell you, I spend roughly 99% of my life not crying. I am not saying here that this makes me stronger or better than anyone else, just that tears are not my natural response to most things. I didn't even cry while watching The Notebook. I KNOW. But I'm not acting like a man. This is me. I'm much more a thinker than a feeler. Yet still a woman.
That's not to say at all that I don't have feelings. Sometimes this even becomes apparent when I am around people. Particularly if I am tired and frustrated. If I feel strongly about something and don't feel like people are hearing or understanding me, but whatever it is is so important to me that I NEED them to just get it already. In a situation like that, I'm still not likely to out and out cry in front of people, but I might tear up. You might hear it in my voice. And it would probably go away as quickly as it came.
If you have watched any TV lately, I'm sure you know what I'm getting at. We have all seen the tape and I have heard it debated whether this was genuine or staged. Trying to "act more like a woman", they say. I doubt it. Sure, I think she has intentionally tried to act more approachable since she tends to come off sort of prickly and WONKy and these efforts have come off contrived and ineffective. To borrow from the West Wing for a moment, Hillary Clinton is not folks. Probably you don't want to grab a beer with her. If, for some reason, this is what you're looking for in a president, then Hillary is not the candidate for you and she ought to stop trying to pretend that she is.
But if she's as much like me in this regard as I think she is, she doesn't cry to get what she wants. She wants to win because she's smarter and better and RIGHT, not because she cried. People like us have not developed the ability to cry on cue because we cannot imagine the situation in which we would be willing to use it. So no, I don't think this is her attempt to act like a woman. Because she wouldn't think that using tears to manipulate people is the way a woman worthy of her respect would act.
Of course personality and character and all of that are part of presidential campaigns. You're free to think she's cold and unfeeling or whatever. But let's stop framing it in terms of gender.
And now you may commence yelling at me, but if you could please refrain from throwing tomatoes, I'd appreciate it. I've just cleaned the floors.