When it became apparent that the three Democratic candidates would be Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards it was clear that this election would be one of firsts. There could be the first woman president or the first black president. With the possibility of this monumental change, I was excited to see how these firsts would play out over the next months in each candidate's campaign. I was also interested to see what stance the media would take on these two candidates and how they would present them to the public. It quickly became apparent that the media, and the public, were willing to run with the gender debate but not so quick to jump on the discussion about race and all that entails. I think this illustrates the interesting point that America in general is much more comfortable discussing gender and the supposed character traits that can be assigned by this division. Contrarily, the media becomes hesitant to discuss race and use it as a categorically defining trait. I do not believe that there should be extra focus on Obama just because he is black, but if people are going to judge Hillary because she is a woman, what is the difference?
The difference is that race is such a taboo subject in America. People are so worried about being deemed racist if they use any sort of racial remark; however, no one is ever hesitant to say "oh she's that way because she's a woman." Further, I am not sure if the general population is even aware that this often occurs. It does seem pretty obvious when the coverage of the Democratic is analyzed though. There have been numerous debates over whether or not Clinton is too hard and cold, but there has not been too much debate over whether or not Obama is black enough. While there was some discussion months ago about this notion of Obama's blackness it has quickly faded. Lately there has been more focus on Obama's experience, not his race; however, the focus on Clinton as a woman has not faded.
By looking at the discourse surrounding these two candidates it is interesting to see how comfortable America is discussing gender but not race. It is alright for people to attribute feminine characteristics to a woman, but it is not alright for people to characterize a man just because he is black.
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I think that the reluctance of the public and the media alike to make race a factor in the race for the Democratic nomination also stems from the fact that the differences between men and women are much starker than the differences between black and white men or black and white women. Gender roles are heavily entrenched in our society and are internalized much earlier and more completely than are racial roles. For example, female babies are dressed in pink clothes while male babies are dressed in blue whether they are black or white. Similarly, white children are given the same toys as black children for the most part e.g. female children are given dolls to play with whereas male children are given cars and trucks regardless of their race. While Obama is distinguished by his race simply because he will be the first black president if elected, his leadership style, as a male,will not differ from those of his predecessors as much as Hillary's will because of her gender. While race may be more of a touchy subject than gender in the public sphere, I feel that the media is devoting more attention to Hillary's gender than it is to Obama's race because gender differences in leadership style, as well as in other areas, are more pronounced than are racial differences, for better or for worse.
I also did my post on some of the gender issues that are being brought up in this election, and for my class project I want to look at the similarities in rhetoric between MLK jr. and Obama, so I too find this very interesting. This is certainly an election of firsts, and the way the campaigns are looking right now, I am sure we will be welcoming one of these "firsts" into the white house soon. It is very true that people are quick to judge gender because as Elyse has said, gender norms are embedded much earlier in life. Another thing that we experience here in the South is a great racial awareness. I feel like in no other area of the country are people more aware of race, and yet it is not acceptable to talk about. It is true that race has no bearing on character or intelligence, but as commented on above, it is also true that gender does not either. I think that most people would admitt to the irrationality in thinking gender has something to do with ability to be president, but acting against embedded feelings and accepting things that are against the norm is going to be much easier said than done.
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