Kirsten Gillibrand
Not excited for next week’s launch of our Name It. Change It. campaign to expose sexism against women candidates? Bruce Blakeman, candidate in New York’s Republican Senate primary, is here to boost your enthusiasm:
“I think Kirsten Gillibrand is an attractive woman, I think she’s bright, and I think she’s probably a good mom herself,” Blakeman announced Tuesday at a debate with rivals Joe DioGuardi and David Malpass.
If you’re experiencing some 1950s flashbacks right now, it’s not just because of the black and white photo of the candidates, arranged in height order, found at that link. It’s 2010, and we are still judging women by ‘50s standards. True, Blakeman’s concession that the successful leader is “bright” could bear on her qualifications as a Senator, but he sandwiches it between evaluations of her looks and of her skills as a mother.
Blakeman, of course, believes this is a compliment:
“I hope Senator Gillibrand will say that I’m bright, that I’m attractive and that I’m a good dad. I’d be very happy with that and I would not be offended.”
He wouldn’t be offended because it would never occur to Senator Gillibrand or anyone else to say that about him at a debate. With his comments, he admits that he sees her first as woman, and second, if at all, as a politician. Gender never obscures Blakeman’s role in office.
A comment is not a compliment if it suggests a politician shouldn’t be in the Senate because she belongs in the home.
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2 Comments
I don’t think Senator Gillibrand intends being rude. I once had a boss (an older man) who would make all sorts of unusual comments about females. He didn’t really ever understand that his remarks could be construed as offensive. We simply laughed at him rather than with him. Some older people like to associate people with stereotypes. It’s like going for a job interview and the interviewer asks a friendly question about whether you are married or not. It is irrelevant to whether you can do the job and you just have to gently remind them to stick to the job interview.
I agree….at least he said “attractive” not “the hottest member” like Senator Harry Reid. I think you need to get a major press release out on this one as it’s obviously way more over the top than “attractive”. This has got to stop and it’s not the first time a freudian slip has shown him to be a racist AND NOW sexist! Remember his “not a hint of negro dialect” about the President? Now this?
Time to take a stand….demand he resigns as his opinion of women is obviously only as a hot object not a U.S. Senator. Sad in this day and age.