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Monday, October 8, 2012

Say What? "American Voters Don't Like Older Women"


Why should I care?

Why am I letting it bother me that I heard yet another conversation telling me older women are distasteful and irrelevant?

The source of the specious judgment was a commentator I formerly admired, Melissa Harris-Perry, age 39, educated in my home state at venerable North Carolina colleges Wake Forest and Duke University. She’s a professor of political science at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Some Sunday mornings I watch Melissa Harris-Perry’s political talk show on MSNBC. Bright and savvy, she has guests who spark lively conversations. Related to their prospects of making presidential bids, a discussion of the age difference between Joe Biden, 69, and Paul Ryan, 42, came up, and segued to Hillary Clinton’s possible candidacy in 2016.

Melissa drew back in dismay at the mention of Mrs. Clinton’s name, pulling away as if burned. “No,” she said.

No? What does she mean, no? What is going on here? I wondered.

“American voters don’t like older women. We won’t even buy makeup from aging women…as an aging woman, Hillary Clinton becomes less and less appealing to American voters, not in a way that’s fair….”

One of her panel members, Republican strategist Robert Traynham, broke in, defending Hillary, proving once again that politics make strange bedfellows. A male Republican defending Clinton? Whoa.

Mr. Traynham wanted to argue that Harris-Perry’s concern about “aging women” didn’t apply to Mrs. Clinton for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, he was cut off by another commentator who took the conversation in a different direction.

I sat there in front of the TV, coffee cup in hand. Did I misunderstand, somehow?

Surely Melissa Harris-Perry was not dissing older women? I must have been mistaken.

So I’ve replayed the video several times since Sunday. Harris-Perry’s facial expressions, intakes of breath, and body language belied her attempts to temper her comments with “not in a way that’s fair,” and “no, she’s [Hillary Clinton] enormously popular right now.”

Harris-Perry even threw in a further tidbit: “it’s not hard to be popular,” dismissing all Clinton’s years of public service as a mere popularity contest which anyone could pull off.

It's not hard to be popular?

What?

Now, read my lips, my outrage is not so much for Hillary Clinton as an individual, as it is for all “aging women.” Hillary can take care of herself—she doesn’t need me to make her relevant or to tout her impressive resume.

My outrage is for how little attitudes have changed towards women at midlife and older. An enlightened woman like Harris-Perry taking such a dim view of older women is truly sad.

I would love to be around in 15 years, when Harris-Perry is 54, to replay this tape for her. I’d like to ask her then what she thinks of “aging women” and whether she thinks that whatever the “American people” think of older women means that we should dry up and blow away. We don’t need to consider running for president, because we offend the general public so much they won’t even buy makeup from us.

What will "older woman" Harris-Perry say then, do you suppose?

(The video is available at MSNBC’s website. The segment is called “Generation gap between vice-presidential candidates” on Melissa Harris-Perry’s Oct. 7th show.)

19 comments:

  1. It's MSNBC - - I wouldn't expect anything else from them.

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  2. It was eye-opening to me! I try to watch any political show with an eye out for hypocrisy, but didn't expect an assault on my age group before noon on Sunday.

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  3. Scary. It sounds like she's afraid of aging herself in an industry dedicated to the young. Here's hoping the sheer number of strong older women around now will now change this way of thinking.

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  4. I was sad for her, in a way. When I was 39 I guess I thought I'd be young forever, too. At 55 I still have a lot to give the world, whether the world wants it or not. Thanks so much for the comment!

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  5. I'm with Leanne on this one. Harris-Perry is likely not even aware of her fears. At 39, she thinks she knows it all. Oh boy, does she have a lot to learn!
    and, btw, I am glad to see you here! I've missed you!

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  6. It's hard to imagine her brushing off any other group in this manner: Latino women, Asian-American women, and so on. Just older women are a free shot.

    I've missed you too, and must come over to get caught up on your posts! Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  7. Luckily, one misogynistic TV host's opinion does not a majority opinion make.

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  8. Thanks for being a voice of reason, Megan. Can you tell she got on my last nerve, lol?

    Your blogs are looking spiffy, lady. I need to change your blog name and address for my blog roll!

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  9. And I need to add you to my new blogroll, doh! Thanks for the reminder :)

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    1. I was wondering where you'd gone, Mega. I have missed you. I need to go and checkout your site. :)

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  10. Awesome post, Melanie. We "aging" women need to stick together. :)

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    1. Thanks, Virginia, and who among us is not "aging???" That's me again, asking the BIG QUESTIONS, LOL.

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  11. Several weeks ago, there was a meme going around about Clinton just after she gave the interview during which she was asked by a female interviewer what designer she was wearing and she responded with, "Would you ask a man that question?" The meme wasn't about the interview. It was a picture of Clinton - not a great photo - showing her aging woman's neck. The gist of the meme was that no one could take someone with a neck like that seriously. And I exploded. Because it's the same double standard...an aging woman can't be taken seriously because she is no longer "attractive". ARGH!

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  12. I just don't understand why women do that to each other. Reducing someone's hard work and success to, "its not hard to be popular?" Wow.

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    1. That is silly. Considering the billions spent by politicians to "be popular," it ain't all that easy!

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  13. Old and fat seem to be the two areas still approved for public disdain and/or dismissal. Ridiculous.

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  14. Sorry I'm just seeing your comment-- for some reason you were locked in "to be moderated" jail. Yes, for some people it's acceptable to run down the old and obese in snide ways.

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  15. Like some other commenters, what I hear in Harris-Perry's tone and see in her eyes is not merely distaste but a bit of age-related panic. Thirty-nine is not so far from forty and based on her comments, forty probably feels like a terrifying cliff to her.

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    1. That's too bad that a smart lady like Harris-Perry may have a bit of an age phobia. I've watched her a few times since then, and she sounds reasonable in her tone about most topics. Apparently Hillary Clinton is a red flag in front of H-P, though.

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