Hillary Clinton was nearly 20 minutes into her speech tonight in Salem when a man stood up with a sign that read "Iron My Shirt" and started chanting the phrase. Then a few seconds later another man stood up with the same sign and was yelling it.
"Oooh, the remnants of sexism are alive," Clinton responded.
“If there’s anyone left in the auditorium who wants to learn how to iron his own shirt?” Clinton asked as the crowd laughed.
As the article points out, this isn't a new thing and it also happened back in 2003 at a protest/counterprotest at the Augusta National Golf Club, which was protested by women that didn't like it being a mens only event.
The Iron my shirt man is a relic but men like him give voice to other relics, some female, that still wish to play the gender card game to claim that "gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House."
To me, that is just as idiotic as the "iron my shirt" guy, because women are now a force in the workplace, careers that traditionally were considered "mens jobs", are being done, with great efficiency by women.
There will always be male chauvinists and there will also always be women that blame their gender for their inability to acheive what they want in life, but, in my mind, people that fit into both of those categories need to gow up and deal with the realities of today.
Chauvinists need to learn to deal with the fact that women can be and are, just as successful in fields that used to be dominated by men and "gender card babes" need to understand that hard work, determination and brains will get them what they want in life and whining about how hard it is to break into fields that were traditionally for men, only gives the chauvinists more ammunition.
A few key facts:
Nearly 10.4 million firms are owned by women (50% or more), employing more than 12.8 million people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales.
Three quarters of all women-owned businesses are majority owned by women (51% or more), for a total of 7.7 million firms, employing more than 7.1 million people, and generating $1.1 trillion in sales.
For the past two decades, majority women-owned firms have continued to grow at around two times the rate of all firms (42% vs. 24%).
We have come a long way since the days when we couldn't vote or even get a credit card in our name, and we have have seen countries led by women, industries and some of the most powerful corporations led by women... just start at number one on the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women for 2006 to see that gender hasn't hindered these women at all.
Note to women: Quit whining and trying to use the "gender card".
Note to men: Iron your own damn shirts.
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