In the Nov. 30 issue of The Daily Cardinal a cartoon was published depicting Sen. Hillary Clinton holding a cake with the caption of Since when does being someone's wife make you an expert?""
The idea that being a wife is all the senator has done is insulting enough. Consider only a few of her many accomplishments: she has served on the U.S. Senate, worked on the Nixon Impeachment and at age 30 was named to the United States Legal Services Corporation - a federal corporation involved in funding legal assistance to the poor. These three alone put her in a league few can claim membership to. But she has been a part of so much more and worked on many more things that naming them all would be almost impossible.
However, although it is not an easy thing to do, it is important to put her extensive experience aside for now. In this case it is the depiction of her as a woman that is just as upsetting as the claim that she lacks experience. Showing Clinton holding a cake brings up the tremendously outdated notion that women belong in the kitchen. After all these years of breaking stereotypes it is a shame this one is still so prevalent. In just the last decade women around the world have held positions of Prime Minister, CEO of numerous multi-national companies and U.S. Secretary of State.
Yet people still make the preposterous claim that Clinton is incapable of being president of the United States because she is a woman.
On a more general level, it is clear that, if given the same opportunities, women are just as smart, able and capable or any other adjective as men are. For instance, women make up 54 percent of this university - a statistic that would have seemed impossible to the previous generation. There are no longer any professions that women have not proven to be just as successful as men are, and there is no reason to think that president of the United States will be any different.
This country has made significant improvements in casting away its outdated stereotypes, but it is disappointing that there is still so far to go. This cartoon is a good example of the kind of thinking that needs to be discarded. The last seven years have shown that presidents should be chosen based on their ability to lead and govern - not on pantsuits and baking. When choosing our next president, let's focus on the positions and stances of our candidates and not their sex.
Pasha Sternberg
Chair, Students for Hillary
