Word: babbitt
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...Former Democratic presidential candidate Bruce Babbitt, who spent two days at Harvard this week as a special Institute of Politics fellow...
...debates may be bad. But the way in which Babbitt cast aspersions on the debates was significant--he said "the League of Women Voters" as though those words were a put-down in and of themselves. He used the group as an adjective to signify weak and laughable, and he furthered the stereotypical image of women as irrelevant busybodies with the term "prissy." In essence, he carried all the baggage of traditional sexism that has marginalized women in the political process...
...most disturbing moments in yesterday's class came when the students in the overwhelmingly male class applauded. These future politicos, members of Harvard's male elite, were lauding Babbitt's remarks--even after many students, and even Babbitt, had just indicated that those words were delivered in a highly sexist and offensive context. They were learning it from a political hero and regurgitating it. How can these young men be expected to accord women respect in politics, when sexist remarks like these are tolerated and even celebrated...
...Babbitt was one of the most liberal candidates in the Democratic field, a strong proponent of child care, poverty programs and military cut-backs. If a candidate who backs issues that a majority of women have supported can make such offensive remarks, how can a woman expect to be taken seriously, by anyone...
Women have always been shut out of the halls of political decision-making. Only 25 women are in Congress. They comprise less than 16 percent of state legislatures. With men holding the clutch on power, subtly putting down women's involvement with snide remarks like Babbitt's and overtly barring women from behind-the-scenes decision-making, the attitudes and means of exclusion are reinforced...