The Philosopher’s Attic

In a decade or maybe even a century where women have finally reached a place in society where they no longer are simply associated to their husbands’ name, someone is trying to win a vote, by doing just that.

For a long while in our world, spouses used to have no name of their own. Women all over the western world were just, Misses John Smith. Not Misses Alina Smith-Johnson. There are places in the world, where it still is considered the peak of knowing your place if you introduce yourself like this. (For instance France has still a complete nomenclatural system in place for wife of high placed functionaries and dignitaries. Wife of a General? It’s the Madame le General. Wife of an Ambassador? Madame l’Ambassadeur. Only if she is the Amassador is she now called Madame l’Ambassadrice. A change I have witnessed and thus is no older than 15 years.)
Of course - we are tempted to say to day - in these times, the name association was only an exterior sign of worse condescending of women and wives behind strong and influential names.

How odd that the first woman to run in a race for the US presidency uses exactly the same techniques without blushing to further her chances at sticking the POTUS pin on her lapel.
Mrs. Bill Clinton, who could have had all the sympathies of feminist movements of all colours all over the globe, finds nothing demeaning in the way she associates herself with the accomplishments of her husband’s administration. “Of course, behind every big man stands a strong woman” they say. And I am sure that during all the Lady’s programs she must have done when accompanying her husband on an official visit abroad, must have taught her how to do international or global politics.
And I am sure that when the pundits explain why she won Florida (“Well, voters are afraid of the impending recession and they feel that Clinton had a good way of balancing the economy, so they voted for her.”), she only finds it natural to use her husbands work for her means. It’s a line of thought she seems to be encouraging these last few weeks.

I can only wonder how low this woman is ready to sink in order to get this job. But what is worse, is the voters eating up the idiocies she serves them out of her hand. What woman that really respects themselves, would use the image of the husband that had one affair after the other and had been publicly exposed to further her own career? What woman that values their own sex and the advancements that have been made in the name of equality of the sexes in all aspects of society, uses the well seated name of their husband for their own power lust?

And the most evident question. What woman - if, how she claims she has made her peace with her husband’s escapades - uses his accomplishments over two legislatures as their own?

Wait. That is the best image of emasculation that I have ever seen. It’s a public castration.

And with that she managed a catch 22 of major proportions.

On one hand she uses her husband’s work for her own means instead of showing of her own successes (probably because there are none) and on the other she manages to behave as a strong feminist by publicly relegating her husband Bill to the rank of pure puppet for her means.

Lady Macbeth anybody…?