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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKatha Pollitt: The End of Likability Politics
From the article:
The nasty women of America are delivering on their promisesand they dont care what their conservative male colleagues think....
Because what is likability if not a deference to menwith a self-deprecating smile? A likable woman doesnt talk too loud or too much. She doesnt take up too much space, isnt too sexy or too dowdy, and gracefully eludes confrontation. In short, she doesnt demand anything that men would rather keep for themselves, be it political power or sexual autonomy or the right to be safe after having a couple of drinks. A likable woman doesnt challenge women, either, by reminding them of the compromises theyve made and the edges theyve trimmed off their personalities.
Recently, though, there have been encouraging signs that women have stopped looking over their shoulders every five minutes for male approvaland its driving conservative men berserk.
Because what is likability if not a deference to menwith a self-deprecating smile? A likable woman doesnt talk too loud or too much. She doesnt take up too much space, isnt too sexy or too dowdy, and gracefully eludes confrontation. In short, she doesnt demand anything that men would rather keep for themselves, be it political power or sexual autonomy or the right to be safe after having a couple of drinks. A likable woman doesnt challenge women, either, by reminding them of the compromises theyve made and the edges theyve trimmed off their personalities.
Recently, though, there have been encouraging signs that women have stopped looking over their shoulders every five minutes for male approvaland its driving conservative men berserk.
To read more:
https://www.thenation.com/article/aoc-tlaib-warren-womens-march/
Another excellent article by Pollitt. The double standard is never so obvious as when conservatives use it against Democratic women.
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Katha Pollitt: The End of Likability Politics (Original Post)
guillaumeb
Jan 2019
OP
Phoenix61
(17,006 posts)1. One of the joys of being an older woman
is being unlikeable whenever the hell I feel like it. I don't go looking for confrontation but I don't go out of my way to avoid it either.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)2. My view is that often men label women as unlikeable when
they cannot refute what the woman is saying.
All of the nonsense about Elizabeth Warren and her supposed unlikability.
Phoenix61
(17,006 posts)3. Yep. It's their go to when they know they
are wrong. When they are really, really wrong they resort to name calling.