Apartheid in South Africa was not only about race: it was also about gender. In those days, women were not allowed to enter a bar or join the Toastmasters Association. Even if a woman earned a higher salary than her husband, she was not allowed to open a credit account in a shop without her husband's permission (read "Murder @ Work" for more insights on the topic).
All that has changed. And yet, in the run-up to the 2009 General Elections, there is no sign of women candidates. I imagine South Africa is simply not ready for a woman president. What about USA?
Says Earl Ofari Hutchinson in "
The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House":
(...) There were also mixed signals if whether being a woman would help more than hurt Clinton even with women in a wide segment of America. In a Newsweek poll in July 2007, fewer voters said they would vote for a woman candidate for president than a black candidate. Hillary scored just as dismal when asked whether the country was ready for a female president. More said no to this question than said no for a black president. The gender reluctance by big chunks of voters was in part offset by the experience factor. Hillary scored big on this in the polls.
The Hillary distaste in part explained why in February 2007 Hollywood mogul David Geffen, a long time Clinton family cheerleader and campaign bankroller sucker punched Clinton with the knock that she would polarize voters. The implication was that she would be a disaster for the Democrats if she were to get the party presidential bid. Geffen rapped Clinton at the moment that he and some other Hollywood movie big shots pumped a reported cool million dollars into Obama’s campaign coffers. (...)
At the same moment, a slew of conservative hit groups loudly announced they had sunk loads of cash into a pack of “stop Hillary” websites, muckraking pieces and scheduled attack ads on her. They vowed this was just the start of a freewheeling, no holds barred disinformation effort to sabotage her campaign.
For more information about Earl Ofari Hutchinson and T
he Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House, visit his blog blitz homepage -
http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz. To order your copy of the Ethnic Presidency, visit
www.ethnicpresidency.com or
www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Presidency-Decides-White-House/dp/1881032256
