Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter says "Send the Men Home!"

How can we get health care done? Easy, if you believe some women in Congress:

I heard about Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter's (D-N.H.) comments before they hit the mainstream media yesterday, thanks to XM Radio channel POTUS (Politics of the United States!) -- send the men home and we just might get health care reform done!

The poor congresswoman is taking all sorts of flack now for that comment with Republican men crying, "SEXISM!"  But is it sexist if it's true?

If both Democratic and Republican women are having chats in the ladies' rooms of Congress and really are rolling their eyes about the men who can't seem to agree on anything, then there's probably some truth to her point.

For the most part, women are the ones dealing with care-giving issues for children, parents, in-laws, sisters, and extended family. How can lawmakers really weigh in on what's needed to address these issues unless they've got first-hand experience with some of them? Of course, there are some men who take responsibility for these issues, but it's a pretty safe bet that most men in Congress, given the generations they are from, have not been the primary person in their families taking on these issues. And until you've lived those experiences, it's easy to have conversations about the more abstract issues of health care legislation (and how to keep your insurance company campaign contributors happy) than it is if you're the one who's had to deal with insurance companies denying coverage for needed medical care, watch family members be denied coverage or figure out if what little money they have is going to be spent for medicine or food.

So Shea-Porter is taking fire from the GOP who claims she should be focused on getting legislation passed to help her constituents instead of making what they've called inappropriate remarks. I think that's exactly what she's doing. It must be hard for the men on Capitol Hill to hear the truth. But they can't escape it by trying to call it sexist. And last time I checked, truth was an absolute defense!

MOMocrat Joanne Bamberger really is trying to stay focused on her writing her book about mothers and politics, but when Republicans say sill things she can't help herself!  You can also find her shaking her head over things that don't make sense at her place, PunditMom.

Comments

[TDOM]

Sexism is not about those things that could be accomplished if one sex or the other were excluded from the process. It is about the exclusion itself.

A couple hunddred years ago, a group of men got together and passed some fairly amazing legislation, The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc. and they managed just fine without the input of women for the next century or so. It seems to me, that much of what was accomplished was "right." So does that mean that sexism did not exist?

Women did not seem to think that it wasn't sexist just because it was "right." They seemed to think that it was sexist because they were excluded from the process. If this had been a male Representative saying "Send the women home and we could do much better..." I would bet you'd be singing a far different tune, even if he were right.

Anyone interested in eliminating sexism should be calling for Shea-Porter's resignation. whether she is right or wrong doesn't matter. She's a sexist, plain and simple and given what you've just written, so are you.

[PunditMom/Joanne Bamberger]

In a world that is still controlled and dominated by men, the suggestion that women could do things differently -- calling for something NOT the status quo -- isn't sexism. If you believe your theory, then do you buy into the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck theory of the world that the President has racist attitudes about white people?

[TDOM]

"In a world that is still controlled and dominated by men, the suggestion that women could do things differently -- calling for something NOT the status quo -- isn't sexism."

According to the Encarta Dictionary it most certainly is:
Sexism
NOUN
1. sex discrimination: discrimination against women or men because of their sex
2. sexual stereotyping: the tendency to treat people as cultural stereotypes of their sex

Shea-Porter fits both counts.

But you miss the point. It's not whether women would or could do things differently. Most likely they would. It's being excluded from the process and stereotyped that I object to.

Suppose a male representative had said "Send the women home and we men could pass a better health care bill. Women don't have the experience managing or running pharmacutical compnanies, hospitals, or insurance programs. Men simply understand the intracies involved because we have more experience in these matters." Would you still feel the same way even if he said he were joking?

As for Limbaugh and Beck, I think... well, I do want to remain polite so I won't say what I think of them. Syuffice it to say I NEVER watch (or listen to) them.

As for Obama, it is most certainly possible for a black man to be a racist. Whether he is one or not I can't really say. What I can say is that the man he claims as his best friend and mentor is mosrt definitely racist. His appointment to the Supreme Court made racist and sexist comment that if she were a white man, would have cost her the nomination. He criticized a white police officer for his interaction of a black man before he had the facts of the case. But none of these things actually demonstrate that Obama is racist, but it constitutes some pretty good evidence.

For the record (since you asked my opinion of Limbaugh and Beck I'll assume you think I'm conservative and Republican), I am not affiliated with either party as neither adequately represents my interests. I am neither liberal, conservative, or moderate. I hold a few extreme views on either end of the spectrum and a lot of views somewhere between. I am offended by racism and sexism in all of their forms regardless of who commits it and who it is committed against.