One Democratic image maker admiringly predicts that our two most relentless blondes will outlast everyone: “When the world ends, there will be left only a few cockroaches, Cher, Hillary and Martha.”
So ends Maureen Dowd’s column “Alpha Gals Can Prosper as Victims” in my local newspaper today, a column that begins with:
Every culture has its own way of tamping down female power, be it sexual, political or financial. Americans like to see women who wear the pants be beaten up and humiliated. Afterward, in a gratifying redemption ritual, people like to see the battered women rewarded.
Unless, of course, you’re a version of Condi Rice, who, Dowd suggests
does not need to play the victim to make people feel better about her power because she was never seen as a termagant, pushing people around and bending them to her will. She always seemed subservient to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, a willing handmaiden and spokesman for their bellicose bidding.
When men fall from grace, it’s almost impossible for them to regain any kind of stature (except if you’re someone like Rush Limbaugh with a neo-conservative base that’s expert in denial, or if you’re one of the good ‘ol boys and your buddies keep you afloat in the background). When women fall from grace, it’s a different story — as Dowd goes on to explain:
Obviously, many men are uncomfortable with successful women, so when these women are brushed back, alpha men can take comfort in knowing alphettes are not threateningly all-powerful and they had better soften those sharp edges.
The double standard is alive and unwell.