Coming back from lunch today, I got in the elevator with two older men. One asked the other, "Are you over the election yet?"
"Not really," came the reply. "It's been rough."
"Well," said the first, as he exited the elevator, "the holidays will help. Have a good Christmas."
The doors closed and the second man, who looked to be in his late sixties, asked, "How are you today?"
I smiled and said, "I haven't gotten over the election, either."
To which he replied - and I swear I am not making this up - "Well, you look great. I love the way you've done your hair."
Now why didn't someone tell me this before? Here we liberals have been lying awake nights, grappling with the aftermath of the election and its implications for our future - but hey, it's all right, kids, because I have great hair!
I realize that this man was making banal elevator conversation for two floors. And I realize, too, that he's of a different generation. But what does it say when a woman offers a political opinion, and the response she gets is, "Well, you look great"?
It says that, reflexively, her mind is valued far less than her appearance. It says, "No one cares what you think, little girl - just shut up and look pretty."
It says that in 2004, in the United States of America - land of the free and home of the brave, or so they tell me - women still don't get taken seriously.
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3 comments:
If I was the second guy, I'd be offended that someone thinks the holidays would help me get over the horrifying vision of 4 more years with Bush. Like my pet died but "the holidays are coming" so I'll be over it soon. And if I was so offended I sure wouldn't want to pass on that kind of stupid comment by diminishing another human being.
True enough. I was still trying to process how the holidays could possibly make the election results less dreadful when I got hit with the "looking good" whammy.
What's wrong with Bush? We gotta have a president. So we have Bush.
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