Singer, actress and liberal activist Barbara Streisand is trying to play the “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar” gender card on behalf of her pal and Democratic presidential front-runner, Hillary Clinton.
Streisand recently penned an op-ed in The Huffington Post last week, “The Sexism in American Politics,” and how Clinton faces “outright sexism” in the presidential race. Very original. We haven’t heard that one before.
She starts with the question, “Why is it that today even a woman as impressive as Hillary Clinton is judged not by her merits and extensive resume alone, but held to a pernicious double standard?”
She writes that 22 years ago she introduced Clinton at an award dinner, and what she said then, she still believes today:
There is no one in this country who would deny the competence, intellect, stamina, warmth and courage of Hillary Rodham Clinton... But the criticism of Hillary Clinton has again demonstrated that the strong, competent woman is still a threatening figure in our culture....A man who graduated high in his class at Yale Law School and made partnership in a top law firm would be celebrated. But a woman who accomplishes this is treated with suspicion... Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of the acclaimed biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, said of Hillary Clinton, ‘I don’t think there is a First Lady who has been treated as rudely and meanly except for Eleanor Roosevelt.’” Both of these women boldly risked the scorn of “those threatened by the image of a woman carrying the fight for social justice into the public arena.”
Streisand then goes into a long list of how she thinks females are seen in comparison to their male counterparts:
A man is commanding, a woman is demanding.
He's assertive - she's aggressive.
He strategizes - she manipulates.
A man is forceful - a woman is pushy.
He shows leadership - she's controlling.
A man is a perfectionist - a woman's a pain in the ass.
And then, Streisand ends with why Clinton is the woman for the job, sounding just as sexist herself. Citing a CNN poll showing Clinton comes across as more qualified than Donald Trump as commander-in-chief and more in touch with the middle class, she concludes:
This is a good sign because it is time we grew up as a nation. We should stop being afraid of women, and meet them on a level playing field without resorting to name calling and sexist condescension.
Hillary Clinton isn’t afraid.“Hillary Clinton isn’t afraid. It’s about time that a woman with strength, experience and compassion leads our already great nation in this time of global insecurity.”
Pot...meet kettle.
