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Originally Posted by UtahDan
I think it is exactly the opposite. I think if anything they get a pass because they are. Not so much Hillary of late because she has moderated her views, but don't forget that Lazio lost the election to her in no small part because of the perception that he had physically threatened her on stage.
I could just as easily say that Katherine Harris, who has been viciously attacked over her appearance, would not have suffered the hatred she has if she were a man. Maybe this is because the left is patronizing of women and minorities and has deep seated sexist tendencies that stem from paternalism. Or maybe the reality is that she just happens to be a women and the left has other good (in its collective mind) reasons not to like her.
I guess if someone wants to pat themself on the back and say "see how unelighten the other party is" there will always be evidence for it. I think the reality is that powerful people in the opposition always get attacked on whatever grounds are available. Hell, if you want to talk about a tough lady who has taken some heat on at least on the race front lets look at Condi Rice, and yet a huge chunk of us racists misogynists on the right would love to see her toss her hat in the ring (won't happen) for 2008. Go figure.
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Women from across the political spectrum have their femaleness used against them. The media dwell more on their appearance and perceived feminity (or lack thereof). Ann Coulter's Adam's apple, Katherine Harris' man hands, Monica Lewinsky's weight, Paula Jones' big hair, the color of Hillary's pant suit--it never ends. And I'm not even getting into the PMS cracks or descriptions of men as "assertive" and women as "bitchy." People (men and women both, actually) are more apt to play the gender expectation card on women they don't like--but it gets played. Sure, men occasionally get taken to task in similar ways, but it isn't as frequent or as intense.
The CBers conservativism doesn't make them advance such criticisms, but it does go pretty far in explaining why certain women are their targets.