I’m a big fan of Dr. Reich – I really am. But today on his Facebook page he stated “Sexual harassment and predatory behavior are important issues, to be sure. But for the 2016 presidential election to come down to Donald Trump’s alleged groping and Hillary’s alleged enabling of Bill’s peccadillos is pathetic. America and the world face huge problems. They're being ignored while the presidential race turns into a giant tabloid.”
You’re privilege is showing Dr. Reich! It’s easy to dismiss the predatory actions (and words can be just as harmful as actions) of a major party nominee because you will never be targeted by his “tabloid behavior.” But tens of millions of women in this country have been victims of sexual and/or intimidating predatory behavior, many repeatedly over the course of their lives. So have their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, daughters and granddaughters. And so have yours! When someone is stalking a woman on TV at a debate, and it triggers a lot of assault victims’ PTSD – that’s not tabloid like – that is a national epidemic! And since this happens all over the world to women, it’s more of a pandemic.
And to blaming a wife for her husband’s behaviors is a symptom of the same problem – Sexism! There is little evidence of her knowledge of Bill’s exploits (whether they were consensual or not) before the Lewinsky affair. There is little evidence she intimidated these women because she didn’t know about them.
Not recognizing that these behaviors are part of a much wider issue is also HIGHLY problematic. It is because women are not seen as equals that they are seen as potential targets of predatory behaviors and then blamed for being the victims of these same behaviors.
This lack of being seen as an equal is also why we are seen as less valuable workers, more risky to invest in because we get pregnant, we receive unequal pay, we are more likely to be in low paying service jobs, less likely to get promotions, less likely to be positions of power and status, etc. Women are also more likely to live in areas with higher levels of pollution, poverty and environmental issues. Women breaking through glass ceilings are held to impossible standards (much higher than any male (especially white males) trying to hold the same job) and if they fall short it proves women are not capable of holding those positions. If they meet the target, the bar is raised again to stress that she is still not good enough. No man has EVER been held to the expectations that Clinton is being held to – and that includes Sanders. This is backed up by a ton of evidence all over the place in the media, including here at the Daily Kos, so I don’t feel the need to give links.
These are not separate or distinct issues - these are all ONE issue -SEXISM. It impacts not just that particular women, but everyone around her, who depends on her, and who cares for her. This is not tabloid level rhetoric – this is what all women face every day. It’s intimately linked to all of the other issues Dr. Reich speaks about. Shame on him for dismissing this so passively – must be nice to have that privilege.
PS — I purposely left out the discussion of other types of discrimination because it was not expressly brought up in the article or discussion, but all of them just add layers to issues women face. I just wanted to make sure you knew I knew they were there as well.