Is Hillary Hatred simply misogyny?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I've been thinking about this a lot, but Sloww's thread on the Hillary campaign song has made me post.

I'm struck by the fact that people don't just hate Hillary, they hate her with a vehemence that I've never seen directed at any other presidential candidate, ever. It's so visceral, so personal, so fueled by a rage I can't even imagine feeling, that it's just beyond me. It's also so completely out of proportion with anything that she's actually said or done. It's just bewildering.

I've come to the conclusion that it's because Hillary's a woman; it's textbook Psych-101 castration anxiety, pure and simple. A male candidate with her exact same record wouldn't be subject to this kind of vitriol and abuse. Hell, Barney Frank wouldn't take this much crap if he ran for president.

So, whaddaya think? Let's make it a poll.

[Dis]

her marriage is a sham, and I do not respect her for that reason.

True enough, I don't actually know the details of her marriage. And I'm not going to be going on and on about wifely duties or some such. She's a free woman to do what she pleases. But a marriage with no sex (when it is obviously physically possible) is no marriage. I would feel the same way if Bill was withholding from her, it isn't right. the only reason to stay together is for political motivation.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Dis, I suspect you just described about half the people in Congress. Why is Hillary any worse than the rest?

[Dis]

and again I don't know the details of her or any of congress' marriages, I could be all wrong.

and I don't think Hillary is any worse than the rest. I have just as little respect for a male candidate who cheats on his wife, doesn't love his wife and stays together just in hopes they will run for the white house.

[Dis]

as for Hillary's political position. I think it's a little too bland and flip floppish. Didn't she support the war in Iraq originally? She has lessened her leftist policies for something more publically popular.

I actually support universal health care. And if she could institute it properly, I'd love to see her in the white house.

Even if I don't respect her on a personal level, if she does good in the white house, I'd love to have her. I felt the same way about Bill Clinton. I did not respect him on a personal level, but felt he was a decent president.

[Winston]

-> U.S. Forum

As for the actual election, luckily, since 1980, Democrats have needed at least 55 percent of the women's vote to win the popular vote, and I don't see Hillary Clinton managing that by a long shot.

But perhaps the women who have the good sense to "hate" her are misogynists too? Or could the OP be just a rather puny strawman?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Winston
But perhaps the women who have the good sense to "hate" her are misogynists too? Or could the OP be just a rather puny strawman?

The OP holds: I have trouble believing that Hillary's female detractors would bring the same level of intensity to their opposition to a male candidate. So, sure, misogyny; kind of a self-hating Jew thing, but for women.

[Winston]

-> U.S. Forum

The OP holds no such thing, and even if it did, it'd be a laughable notion. Instead, you were on about castration anxieties, apparently all of a sudden one of the well-established political motivators.

[joncha]

Why do I get the feeling that options 1 & 4 won't get very many votes?

[Cort Haus]

This poll is invalid. Where is the "dislike her politics" option?

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
This poll is invalid. Where is the "dislike her politics" option?

"I'm a Hillary hater, but it's about her personally, and I'd feel teh same way about a male politician with her views and attitudes" is the closest he gave us. I don't "hate" her, but I strongly dislike the way she triangulates EVERYTHING. The woman is like she's from the Neutral Planet in Futurama. Zap Brannigan was right to try to destroy them. She doesn't seem to have any convictions of her own from what I've seen and her whole handling of her own record on Iraq is utterly repellent.

I'll vote for whoever wins the Dem nom, but please God let it NOT be Hillary. The Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton(?) dynasty must stop.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
This poll is invalid. Where is the "dislike her politics" option?

Disliking her politics, of itself, wouldn't lead to the kind of rabid hatred I'm describing. And, in fact, her politics are barely distinguishable from a bunch of other Dem candidates, past and present, who were never subject to such vitriol. It's the rage, the hatred, the visceral emotional response to her that interests me here.

[Az]

I think it's sort of a trendy meme going around. The kind of virulent hatred I've seen ( in person, actually, with some american ForEx students ) is really bizzare - when confronted, the reasons given ( e.g.: OMG, she's not really a NY native yet she's a senator => Hitler ) are really unappropriate.

[DRoseDARs]

Well, she is a carpetbagger but I could care less about that...

...so long as she's not a Californian moving to Nevada; bunch of gutter trash they are.

[Elok]

I don't hate her, I just would be reluctant to vote for her. Largely because of refusing to apologize for supporting the Iraq war, and for that ridiculous flag-burning amendment. She also gives off a bit of a Kerry vibe, of having positions chosen to get her elected rather than positions she actually believes in (I don't think she's actually dumb enough to think flag-burning is a vital, pressing issue, f.e.). Finally, I think we need to stop electing presidents with no hope of crossing the partisan divide.