It's not my fault if you get wierded out.

I was watching Rachel Maddow and Geraldine Ferraro on MSNBC this morning speaking on gender issues and how they played into the presidential race. Maddow mentioned the incident pictured above, in which two men raised these signs and chanted during one of Senator Clinton's rallies. I'm not the most politcally aware person out there, but I keep fairly good tabs on current events; I hadn't heard about this until today. I looked for the story afterwards, finally finding a Fox report on it. Most of the hits were about the same sign being held at a golf protest. Maddow asked how the audience would have reacted had two men help up a sign that read "Shine My Shoes" at one of Obama's events.

Wow.

I'd actually just been thinking about that after a recent A Softer World comic which I believe addresses the same issue. (The comic touches on gender roles and stereotypes rather frequently*, as if I didn't have enough reasons to love it.) Personally, I don't support Clinton. While I find her charismatic, I am more interested in the things Obama has to say. However, I do not want him to win because Clinton has been criticized constantly and consistently for being either too manly (ie, assertive, well-spoken, successful) or too emotional (ie, feminine (and a stereotype that may harm men even more than it does women)). This is similar to voting for Obama simply because he's black. While I am thrilled to be a part of what will hopefully be the first black president, I want him to win because most of the country comes together to support the ideas he presents. I don't want his win to be tarnished by claims of victory for blacks in America or whatever else the headlines may read. His election would be a victory for all of us, both because of his ideals and ideas which may help our country and because of his status as a minority.

I've sidetracked to race, however, which is an entirely different kettle of fish (or is it, considering the average black family consists of a mother and her children? Some day soon...). The two are certainly bedmates, however, when it comes to accepted discrimination. Everyone of of us comes from a background of degredation and humiliation, whether it was because of a family's race, religion, nationality, or social status. While black enslavement has been one of the most recent shames in our troubled human history, it is still just one of many plights we have inflicted on each other. Today, passive aggressive racism is still very present though not condoned. Women, however, are still widely regarded as second class citizens, and I'm talking here in our own backyard, folks.

I'm not sure how to change things, though I think the first step is awareness, so I hope this has been somewhat enlightening. Mostly right now, I just hope that my daughters never want those popular shirts that say "Future First Lady."

I have much to tell you soon, dear Reader.

*Here are some others that I feel address related issues:
I used to want to plant bombs, the night of the prom.
serious inquiries only
She's never too tired.
nice girls don't
well, and playing with myself a bit too.
I contain a factory for producing my own prison.
any sufficiently complex system is hackable
Fuck this coy shit.