Iron My Shirt Shouldn’t Be A Taunt
At a recent speech by Hillary Clinton, a supposed protestor held up a big sign reading Iron My Shirt. Hillary Clinton immediately denounced the sexism of the taunt. Some people have suggested that the protestor was a plant.
I have no idea as to whether the protestor was a plant or someone genuinely anti-Hillary trying to make a point about how women should be doing household chores rather than participating in politics.
However, I do know that the slogan Iron My Shirt should not be a taunt. The truth is that there is nothing degrading about the necessary household tasks of domestic life. Dusting and polishing, mopping and scrubbing, sweeping and vacuuming, laundering and ironing are all worthwhile chores that help make our lives livable.
Unlike some Men’s News Daily posters and readers, I don’t yearn for an era of strict gender roles. Both women and men possess a rich variety of talents. It is perfectly fine with me to see women in politics and men performing domestic chores. The problem is that expanding either gender’s roles ought not to lead to a degradation of the traditional arenas — but it often does.
Despite stereotypes, not every woman is wonderfully clean and tidy and not every man is sloppy. Some women are not well suited for domesticity and some men may be perfectly fitted for it.
But a woman ironing a shirt is not something bad. It is something good – providing she is effective enough at ironing to get the wrinkles out!
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Stumble It!
January 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
You are right, Denise.
“Iron my shirt” should not be a taunt, but a polite request.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Let Hillary iron my shirt? No chance.
As for Hillary’s sensitivity to sexist rematks, how come? She makes them all the friggin’ time. What is she going to do when she meets some middle eatern potentate?; tell him that he should call himself a fecunditate?
January 17th, 2008 at 12:01 am
At a recent speech by Hillary Clinton, a supposed protestor held up a big sign reading Iron My Shirt.
Please notice the key here….big sign…..
With the security Hillary has I doubt very much if any sign could get through it if they did not want it to. Hillary’s reply was much too smooth for it not to have been preplanned for our victim in chief.
I contend that this and her “tears” helped her win this primary. If she is resorting to these things this early, it appears she is desperate.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:09 am
Those guys were very, very wrong. Holding up a sign like that just shows how degraded our society has become.
It should have read “Please iron my shirt”.