Whatever your opinion on the politics of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, it's is encouraging to have a woman in such a high-ranking government position. That said, this morning on NBC's Today Show, Nancy Pelosi really let me down.
Meredith Vieira opened the interview with a charming tagline: "If you thinka woman's place is in the house? Well, you're right! ...sort of." At 1:38, Meredith asks Speaker Pelosi about sexism in Congress. Pelosi answers that she doesn't "make a big issue of it," and rather, responds by "outperforming and outworking" her male peers, "hoping to gain respect."
How disappointing that such a powerful and potentially influential female role model would essentially tell us that the answer to sexism is to simply work harder (for the same pay) to gain the respect of our male peers, and to suggest that gender discrimination should be, in effect, swept under the rug (we ought not "be held up by it"). I feel it is this kind of rhetoric that holds up real progress against gender discrimination, suggesting that by "making a big issue" of sexism in the workplace we are somehow weak, whiny, and unworthy of respect. I'm a competitive person, but I sure as hell want the competition to take place on level ground.
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I don't know...at least she's not pretending that it doesn't happen, and she's saying that women are capable of outperforming men.
I do agree that it's unfortunate that she's suggesting that a woman should have to work harder for the same pay and to earn respect that seems to come naturally to her male counterparts, though. But unfortunately, sexism in the workplace is a reality for many (if not most) women, and Speaker Pelosi was just being honest about how she herself deals with it. I agree that it might not be all that effective in advancing the cause for all women, but that wasn't really the question. It's what Speaker Pelosi feels comfortable doing for herself, in her current situation.
I have continually been disappointed by Pelosi, so I've come to simply expect it.
I would certainly not say she's sweeping it under the rug, it sounds more like she isn't going to let it hold her back, she's going to do her job the best that she can, which is what anyone should do, male or female. She's going to work hard and let that earn respect, and as she said, if someone still has a problem with sexism, it's their problem not hers.
I haven't been paying much attention to what she's done as Speaker, but I respect the hell out of what she was saying in that interview.
I have to agree with the above posters who think she's not "sweeping it under the rug." At that level, when you experience any kind of discrimination, you really only have two options: complain about it, or try to work past it. I don't think complaining would really help much, but working past it and succeeding gives credibility that can be used to challenge that sexism. It shouldn't be that way, but that's how it seems to be.
In my own life, I always try to focus on a positive course of action rather than a negative one, and it's proved to be a good strategy.