» Sexism

Playing the gender card
During the hype of the US presidential election of 2008, a few minor elections happened in my state. Though not nearly as "colorful" as the presidential election, the race for our state senator was moderately interesting. In one corner, we had the republican: a white, mildly conservative man. In the other corner, we had the democrat: a white, environmentalist, pro-choice woman, who, according to some, was desperate to win the election after losing to another republican two years previous.

My vote was with the democrat (as I am one blah blah) for the majority of the election until one day when I noticed something peculiar in my family's mailbox. Around election time, the ratio of election junk mail to legit mail nears that of catalogs near Christmastime, so I wasn't surprised to see four letters from the democrats attacking the republicans and two letters from the republicans attacking the democrats.

I was, however, surprised to see three duplicate mailings lauding our democrat. Apparently, my brother and my father weren't important enough to receive these mailings as only my mother, my sister, and I got them. These lovely, shiny postcards boiled down to: "Linda Stender worked in a flower shop with her mummy when she was little. Because she worked in a flower shop with her mummy when she was little, Linda Stender has the leadership and the drive to make a difference in the US Senate. A vote for Linda Stender is a vote for flowers." Sent to every woman in the state.

Length? About four inches after I ripped that postcard up.
(Thu 31st Dec 2009, 21:59, More)