Page 186 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

CHAPTER EIGHT

Gender Microaggressions

and Sexism

During the democratic presidential campaign, when candidates Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama ran against one another, the following op - ed piece
appeared in the January 10, 2008, New York Times, contrasting how gender and

race were influencing voter perceptions.

Women Are Never Front - Runners
by Gloria Steinem

The woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community
organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages
9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African
father — in this race - conscious country, she is considered black — she served as
a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national
unity.

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected
to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she
could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?
If you answered no to either question, you ’ re not alone. Gender is probably the
most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in
the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the
list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender
roles more than the average democracy.
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