Hillary, Elton and Sexism

English pop star Elton John pulled in $2.5 million for Hillary Clinton with a Radio City Music Hall benefit concert last night. “Can U Feel the Love Tonite”? Mrs Clinton probably did. However, it was not the “love”, but one line from Mr. John caught the attention of the media quickly:

I’m amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country. And I say to hell with them…. I love you Hillary, I’ll be there for you.

This was another reference to the all too common accusations that anyone not supporting or disagreeing with Hillary Clinton is biased against women. Well, apparently if this argument stands, then we should be able to say that anyone’s lack of support for Barack Obama means he’s a racist, right? Both arguments collapse completely under the slightest bit of scrutiny.

In fact, it is real difficult to precisely weigh how factors like race and gender could affected political success. Probably because in modern society, certain forms or levels of racism and sexism might be invisible even to those who hold them. From a micro perspective, in other words, if there is a healthy public norm against either form of prejudice, survey respondents are reluctant to tell pollsters that they have a problem voting for a woman or a black.

Via the Monkey Cage, a team of political scientists from Northern Illinois University at least are trying to solve the micro problem in an very interesting research. In the research polls, respondents were asked how upset they felt contemplating a list of scenarios, and the researchers noted how much more upset their subjects reported being when “a woman serving as president” was added to the list. They concluded that about a quarter of the public, across many demographic categories, have a problem with a woman occupying the President office. However, as the paper has pointed out, the result is somewhat confounded in the present context, because it’s hard to say how many interviewees heard “a woman” and simply thought of “Hillary Clinton”. Then maybe the real problem is, just like some comments under that YouTube video:

It’s not that people find women “shrill,” but that they find Hillary Clinton shrill. Many people have no problem with a woman in the White House; they have a problem with Hillary Clinton in the White House.

Perhaps it’s time for Mrs Clinton to give her own “national conversation” speech?

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