Not Understanding. Demanding, Domineering, Nurse Ratched Kind of Thing.

That is Rush Limbaugh's definition of Hillary Clinton and also his explanation for why white men don't want to vote for her. She's the wrong kind of woman, reminds them of all the white bitches they have met in their lives. A real woman is understanding, soft and cuddly, you know? Of course such a woman is also quite incapable of running for the president of the United States, so Rush has neatly sewn the bag shut. No escape for any woman, ever. Either you are a stuffed toy animal or you are a castrating toothed vagina. Neither of those will get the votes of Manly Men.

For similar sexist takes on the Hillary Clinton phenomenon, you can go to mensdailynews.com, where at least one writer argued that the downfall of Clinton shows how nobody should ignore the most important voting bloc: white men. The writer notes that, sure, white women are a bigger blog, but they're too ill-informed and too uninterested to matter in politics.

Why do I bother to tell you all this? Because these things are growing out there, like mold on an old shower curtain, and because we in the feminist circles debate each other on questions such as whether the time has already come when the gender of a candidate matters not one whit.

I personally think that we need at least, oh, let's say, three female presidents in the history of this country before we can assume that gender wouldn't enter into those calculations for many voters. And preferably a female Pope or two, too. That Utopian time is not one any of us will ever see.