Kissing Wide-eyed Justice

The problems of the equality (to men) and nature of women have been addressed here several times, particularly in two essays regarding Lawrence Summers' maligned comments at Harvard University four years ago this month (see this essay, and this).

Recall that it was asserted at Contratimes in the wake of Mr. Summers' embarrassment that men and women must be really quite different. One bit of evidence cited in defense of this assertion was the 2004 presidential candidacy of Carol Mosley Brown; Ms. Brown's campaign included the demand that it was time to "take the 'Men Only' sign" off the White House door. Surely Ms. Brown's supporters instantly knew what she meant: women bring very different qualities to governance and legislation than those qualities brought by men.

There is a real problem with Ms. Brown's demand, but it will be overlooked for now, especially since it was addressed in the two essays noted above. Indeed, there is a real problem even with the idea that men and women are basically interchangeable; if you are interested in some of my thoughts on that matter specifically, you can join the discussion at Political Cartel that began some weeks ago (see "The Problem without a Name"; my comments begin here).

But there is one thing very current about Ms. Brown's call to clear the White House of its "Men Only" tree-fort mentality, and it is its seeming similarity (at least its shared premise) to a comment from Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor:

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

Apparently Ms. Sotomayor also believes men and women are really rather different. How else to explain her comment? But if men and women are really rather different; if a woman will reach better conclusions than a male, then how are men and women at all equal?

Surely feminists can work that one out. And no doubt they will also work out what Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor were thinking when, as the resident of the "Men Only" White House was introducing her as his "inspiring" pick for the Supreme Court, she gushed like a school-girl as he -- the Commander-in-Chief -- kissed her without flinching.

Maybe if Mr. Obama gets to choose another Supreme Court justice, he'll choose a man he can whisper to as he hugs and kisses him before the whole world.

By the way, compare Mr. Obama's introduction of Ms. Sotomayor to George W. Bush's introduction of Harriet E. Miers. Fascinating stuff. (Just listen to the sort of qualities President Bush valued. The similarities and the differences between the two nominees and administrations are worth the 30 or so minutes of watching both videos. Plus, note the manner and setting of both announcements; notice how one uses spectacle.)

©2009/Contratimes. All rights reserved.