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Mar. 26th, 2011 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sethrakIn 1984, I was six years old. Finding out that Geraldine Ferraro, a woman, and a relatively youngish one, to my childish eyes, was running for vice president blew my little mind.
I didn't follow most of the politics surrounding the campaign, but hitherto I thought jobs like President, Vice President, Senator, etc., were the exclusive province of elderly white men like Reagan and my granpa (no Granpa was never a politician) or at the very least middle-aged white men. I remember very clearly how utterly awesome I thought it was that a woman was running. I remember nearly as clearly the condescending, dismissive laughter with which my dad always spoke of her candidacy. I don't remember too clearly just what he had to say about it, but the laughter sticks. So does my silent burning outrage at it. I recall having the guts to ask why it was so impossible that a woman could win, since clearly there was no law against it, or she wouldn't be running at all, but I don't recall what he said, other than "women can't be in the White House".
I suspect the dismissal of her campaign stemmed as much from her gender as from her being a Democrat. Dad would vote straight-ticket Republican if Kang and Kodos won the GOP nomination. The man is a hardcore Republican.
That's pretty much all I have to say.
I didn't follow most of the politics surrounding the campaign, but hitherto I thought jobs like President, Vice President, Senator, etc., were the exclusive province of elderly white men like Reagan and my granpa (no Granpa was never a politician) or at the very least middle-aged white men. I remember very clearly how utterly awesome I thought it was that a woman was running. I remember nearly as clearly the condescending, dismissive laughter with which my dad always spoke of her candidacy. I don't remember too clearly just what he had to say about it, but the laughter sticks. So does my silent burning outrage at it. I recall having the guts to ask why it was so impossible that a woman could win, since clearly there was no law against it, or she wouldn't be running at all, but I don't recall what he said, other than "women can't be in the White House".
I suspect the dismissal of her campaign stemmed as much from her gender as from her being a Democrat. Dad would vote straight-ticket Republican if Kang and Kodos won the GOP nomination. The man is a hardcore Republican.
That's pretty much all I have to say.
