The unpopularity of the workaholic
by digby
1. It’s bizarre that David Brooks’ op-ed on why people dislike @HillaryClinton does not mention gender expectations:https://t.co/fLw3TXYr94— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
2. For Brooks, Hillary’s problem is “akin to the unpopularity of a workaholic.” She’s seen as too industrious, calculated, goal-oriented.— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
3. It’s true that Hillary’s careerism can be off-putting to some. But idea that Americans do not like industrious workaholics is nuts.— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
4. Americans love workaholics, and always have. In business, obsessiveness and lack of sleep — Edison, Ford, Gates, Zuck — are venerated.— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
5. And sports heroes of last 30 years are almost all fanatics — Bird, MJ, Peyton, Brady, Kobe, LeBron. We fetishize the 10,000-hour rule.— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
6. But when the industrious, obsessive person is a woman, people fret that she’s “cut off from the normal intimacies of the soul.”— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
7. To say voters want more warmth from HRC because they don’t like workaholics just completely misses the sexism at work here.— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 24, 2016
I would also point out that whenever she talks about her grand daughter or has a beer everyone says she’s a phony so she can’t really win. But that’s an old story for women trying to gain entry into a closed boys club. You can’t go to the strip club or play on the basketball court or on the golf course. If you do something more “woman” oriented, you’re not a serious player. Like this, which was criticized as both phony and pandering:
So, any woman who wants to be successful has to be very serious and work focused and for women politicians I’m sure it’s even worse because they are supposed to be “men of the people” as well, but if they try, people don’t like it.
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